Johnathan Blake: My Life Matters
W/ DAYNA STEPHENS, JALEN BAKER, FABIAN ALMAZAN & DEZRON DOUGLAS
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Originally filmed on FEB 9, 2024
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This week on Fridays Live, we broadcast a live performance featuring one of the most accomplished drummers in modern jazz, Johnathan Blake and his stellar quintet. The group features Bay Area raised saxophone great Dayna Stephens and piano phenom Fabian Almazan along with young vibraphone virtuoso Jalen Baker and Blake’s longtime collaborator, bassist Dezron Douglas.
ABOUT JOHNATHAN BLAKE
Known worldwide for his 15-year membership in Kenny Barron’s working trio and sideman duty with Pharoah Sanders, Chris Potter, Bill Frisell, and Tom Harrell among others, one of the most accomplished drummers in modern jazz makes his West Coast debut as a leader, joined by his quintet My Life Matters — a band named for the dynamic new suite of music they will be performing.
Featuring Bay Area raised saxophone great Dayna Stephens and piano phenom Fabian Almazan along with young vibraphone virtuoso Jalen Baker and Blake’s longtime collaborator, bassist Dezron Douglas, the group performs material from Blake’s new suite My Life Matters as well has his 2023 sophomore Blue Note release Passage.
Commissioned by New York’s Jazz Gallery, My Life Matters is a dual treatise on the importance of family values and the social imperative to stand up in the face of injustice.
In the composer’s words, “It’s not just about Black Lives Matter, it’s about us as a whole. We have to learn how to coexist. We were all created here to live in harmony with one another. These pieces will hopefully serve as a jumping point for open discussion on that.”