Alex Blake

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For other people named Alex Blake, see Alex Blake (disambiguation).
Alex Blake
Blake performing with Randy Weston, Billy Harper and Neil Clarke at the Jazz Standard, March 2007
Blake performing with Randy Weston, Billy Harper and Neil Clarke at the Jazz Standard, March 2007
Background information
Birth nameAlejandro Blake Fearon Jr.
Born (1951-12-21) December 21, 1951 (age 72)
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Double bass, bass guitar
Websitealexblakebass.com

Alex Blake (born Alejandro Blake Fearon Jr., 1951) is a jazz bass player.

Biography

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Blake was born in 1951 in Panama and moved to the United States at the age of seven, growing up in Brooklyn, New York. He began his career with Sun Ra's band Arkestra. Blake became one of the major proponents of the fusion movement in the late 1970s through his writing and performances with Lenny White and Billy Cobham.[1]

A live performance compilation was released by Bubble Core Records in 2000 titled Now Is the Time: Live at the Knitting Factory. The album featured Blake's own quintet, which included Pharoah Sanders, Victor Jones, John Hicks and Neil Clarke (percussion).[2]

In addition to leading his own group, Blake also performed and recorded with Randy Weston, as well as other musicians.

Discography

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Blake playing

As leader

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As sideman

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With Billy Cobham

With The Manhattan Transfer

With Pharoah Sanders

With Sun Ra

  • It's After the End of the World (MPS/BASF, 1971)
  • My Brother the Wind Vol II (El Saturn, 1971)
  • Newport Jazz Festival the Electric Circus (Transparency, 2009)
  • Live in London (Transparency, 2010)
  • Live at the Red Garter (Transparency, 2013)
  • In the Orbit of Ra (Strut/Art Yard, 2014)
  • The Intergalactic Thing (Roaratorio, 2016)

With Kazumi Watanabe

  • Lonesome Cat (Denon, 1978)
  • Village in Bubbles (Better Days, 1978)
  • The Best Performance (Better Days, 1982)

With Randy Weston

  • African Sunrise (Antilles, 1992)
  • Saga (Verve/Gitanes, 1995)
  • Khepera (Verve, 1998)
  • The Spirits of Our Ancestors (Verve, 1992)
  • Spirit! The Power of Music (Gitanes, 2000)
  • Live in St. Lucia (Image, 2003)
  • Zep Tepi (Random Chance, 2006)
  • The Storyteller (Motema, 2010)

With others

References

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  1. ^ Randy Weston website, African Rhythms.
  2. ^ Taylor, Ken. "Alex Blake Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
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