2009, Ecstatic Peace
John Blum was born in New York City, April 15, 1968 and has been a mainstay of the free-jazz community there for over 15 years. While in Europe in 1992, he recorded with Clarinetist Tony Scott's Trio which included Antonio Grippi on Alto Sax. Upon returning to New York City, Blum became a member of the Improvisers Collective (1993-1995) and also initiated projects as a soloist and a group leader. By early 1998 he joined together with Antonio Grippi on Saxophone, William Parker on Bass, and Denis Charles on Drums to form 'The Astrogeny Quartet'. An album of this group was released on Eremite records in 2005. In 2001 Blum recorded a solo piano album for Drimala Records entitled 'Naked Mirror', and was also featured on Butch Morris 'Conduction 117' released on JumpArts Records. In 2003, Blum recorded with Sabir Mateen on Tenor Sax in Sunny Murray's Trio and is featured on Murray's album 'Perles Noires Volume 2 on Eremite Records. He joined the Steve Swell Quintet in 2005 and an album was released on NotTwo Records of their 2006 NYC Vision Festival performance. In addition to this Trio recorded in 2008, Blum also recorded a solo album Who Begat Eye to be released on Konnex Records in 2009.
First heard John at Bennington (where I teach part-time in the college's Writing Seminars), affectionately kicking around some bebop and Thelonious Monk tunes with a bassist and a drummer. His chops, inventiveness and taste—how many pianists would think to pull out Monk's 'Pannonica' caught my attention immediately, but I didn't hear the real John Blum until he sent me the album you now have in your hands. Not only is he a master musician if a pitcher were this fast and pinpoint-precise, he'd be out-earning Johan Santana and C.C. Sabathia combined but his playing seems to encapsulate the whole history of jazz piano: if you listen hard, you'll catch bits of Harlem stride, Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Monk and Taylor, all recombined in a flow almost but not quite too rapid for the ear to absorb and the mind to process. Like every great jazz improviser, from Louis Armstrong on, he's a self-portraitist, registering the play of his own thoughts and intuitions as they arise. His abundance of ideas and ideas springing from those ideas and morphing into yet other ideas suggests a teeming, almost Joyceian inner world. The titles of his pieces allude to the context of struggle in which this world exists; but the music itself, sometimes majestic, sometimes frightening, sometimes witty, many-colored and ceaselessly inventive, is an ideal universe of freedom.
John Blum and his collaborators [William Parker and Sunny Murray] have created work of enduring value and endless fascination. As many times as I listen to these pieces, I always hear something fresh and surprising: further revelations, deeper interconnections. It's a gift fromgenerous spirits, straight from their hearts and minds to yours.David Gates, Senior Writer Newsweek
First heard John at Bennington (where I teach part-time in the college's Writing Seminars), affectionately kicking around some bebop and Thelonious Monk tunes with a bassist and a drummer. His chops, inventiveness and taste—how many pianists would think to pull out Monk's 'Pannonica' caught my attention immediately, but I didn't hear the real John Blum until he sent me the album you now have in your hands. Not only is he a master musician if a pitcher were this fast and pinpoint-precise, he'd be out-earning Johan Santana and C.C. Sabathia combined but his playing seems to encapsulate the whole history of jazz piano: if you listen hard, you'll catch bits of Harlem stride, Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Monk and Taylor, all recombined in a flow almost but not quite too rapid for the ear to absorb and the mind to process. Like every great jazz improviser, from Louis Armstrong on, he's a self-portraitist, registering the play of his own thoughts and intuitions as they arise. His abundance of ideas and ideas springing from those ideas and morphing into yet other ideas suggests a teeming, almost Joyceian inner world. The titles of his pieces allude to the context of struggle in which this world exists; but the music itself, sometimes majestic, sometimes frightening, sometimes witty, many-colored and ceaselessly inventive, is an ideal universe of freedom.
John Blum and his collaborators [William Parker and Sunny Murray] have created work of enduring value and endless fascination. As many times as I listen to these pieces, I always hear something fresh and surprising: further revelations, deeper interconnections. It's a gift fromgenerous spirits, straight from their hearts and minds to yours.David Gates, Senior Writer Newsweek
Tracklisting
Disc 1
| 1 | In the Shade of Sun (Part 1) |
| 2 | First and Last |
| 3 | Misanthrope's Dream |
| 4 | Out of this Nettle |
| 5 | Transmigration |
| 6 | In the Shade of Sun (Part 2) |
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