Michael Blake - Dance of the Mystic Bliss (2023)

Michael Blake has always deviated from typical jazz formulas in a career that, as a leader, started with Kingdom of Champa (Intuition Records, 1997), and evolved in groups such as Blake Tartare, The Herbie Nichols Project and The Lounge Lizards. His newest outing, Dance of the Mystic Bliss, is dedicated to his late mother, Merle Blake, a dancer, singer, gardener, and cat lover. Here, making the most of the rhythmic talents of his new Chroma Nova group, which combines bilateral percussion and four stringed instruments, he brings Brazilian folk influences into 10 originals.

“Merle the Pearl”, a joyful dance where an Afro-Latin pulse meets soulful post-bop, is marked by a 14-beat-cycle guitar motif on top of which violinist Skye Steele engraves his pizzicato work. Blake’s fully articulated tenor solo is enlightening. His erudite language is equally compelling when he switches to soprano on “Le Coeur du Jardin”, a piece that, featuring cellist Christopher Hoffman, conveys relaxing vibes, a charming rhythm, and a circular harmonic progression.

New musical partners allowed Blake to revamp his sound and explore different territories. “Little Demons”, for example, denotes an invigorating percussive trait that follows a meter signature with seven beats per measure. Brazilian percussionists Mauro Refosco and Rogerio Boccato provide that warm tropical feeling, while Blake’s tenor fascination comes to the fore. Another Brazilian, the guitarist Guilherme Monteiro, enjoys a change of tempo, applying distortion and discernment to speak a mix of jazz, rock and blues idioms.

If “Topanga Burns” comes infused with a warm tango-ish impression that morphs into spiritual clamor during the eloquent soprano solo, then “Prune Pluck Pangloss” embraces catchy Middle Eastern-flavored notes. On this one, burnished tenor lines cross the harmonic pavement traced by Monteiro before dramatic strings and flute meet up on a vamping triple-metered section.

“Weeds” incorporates propulsive and reflective moments alike, making an impression with the layered arrangement and that terrific passage that takes us from the bass to the tenor improvisation. The album is completed with the achingly lyrical “Cleopatra”, featuring Blake on clarinet in complete communion with Steele and Hoffman.

The group is as tight as it gets, with interesting rhythm-oriented foundations and with Blake showing strong melodicism and refined taste all around.

Personnel - Michael Blake: tenor and soprano saxophones, flute; Guilherme Monteiro: electric guitar; Skye Steele: violin; Christopher Hoffman: cello; Michael Bates: acoustic bass; Mauro Refosco: percussion; Rogerio Boccato: percussion