Alex Blake

Alex Blake (actually Alejandro Blake, born December 21, 1951 in Panama) is an American jazz bassist.

Life and work

Blake grew up in Panama and first learned trumpet. He had in New York with Reggie Workman and Harry Constant education; Mentor was Richard Davis. He first played in Afro-Cuban Latino bands such as Mongo Santamaria, Machito and Celia Cruz. Around 1969 he became a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra, listening to his album My Brother The Wind, Vol II (as Alejandro Blake ). In 1971 he joined with Ra at the Berlin Jazz Festival and at the Donaueschingen Music Festival on (Black Myth / Out in Space ).

In the 1970s he participated in recordings of Billy Cobham, Carlos Garnett, Ryo Kawasaki, Yusef Lateef, Frank Lowe, Airto Moreira, Don Pullen, Sonny Rollins, Pharoah Sanders, Charles Sullivan, Kazumi Watanabe and Lenny White; at the New York Jazz Loft Sessions 1976 he played in a trio of Randy Weston. in the 1980s he worked as an accompanist of Manhattan Transfer, further including Jimmy Buffett, Joey DeFrancesco, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Klugh, Carmen Lundy, Brownie McGhee, Charles " Bobo " Shaw and Janis Siegel. In the 1990s productions followed, inter alia, with Ahmed Abdullah, Greg Bandy, Malcolm Braff, Jonathan Butler, Chico Freeman, Phyllis Hyman, Carlos Ward and Dom Um Romão. In the 2000s he took with Babatunde Lea ( March of the Jazz Guerillas, 2000) and Kazumi Watanabe ( Village Bubbles, 2004) on.

In 1979 he had the opportunity to release an album ( Especially for You), published but only in Japan Denon first time; a teammate was Hiram Bullock. In 1999, a live recording at the Knitting Factory with Pharoah Sanders, Victor Jones, John Hicks and Neil Clark ( percussion), the Blake under his own name in Bubble Core Records under the title Now Is the Time: Live at the Knitting Factory published. Was released in 2007 the album In Motion, including with Chris Hunter and Victor Jones. In 2011 he performed at the Newport Jazz Festival.