Seamus Blake

A gifted saxophonist and composer, Seamus Blake is a forward-thinking improviser and bandleader with a distinctive approach to modern creative jazz. He won wide critical acclaim after winning the 2002 Thelonious Monk Jazz Award. Blake is a longtime member of the Mingus Big Band and Opus 5, and has worked with artists including Alex Sipiagin, Victor Lewis, and John Scofield. As a leader, and released his own adventurous jazz albums, including 1997's Four Track Mind, 2007's Way Out Willy, and 2009's Bellwether. In 2017, his Superconductor album was nominated for a Juno award. He followed it two years later with the globally acclaimed Guardians of the Heart Machine. In 2022 he collaborated with Swedish jazz singer Vivian Buczek on Roots, and in 2023 collaborated with pianist Emanuele Filippi on Heart Chant. Two years later, Blake's quartet released The Electrifying Seamus Blake Plays the Music of Eddie Harris: Eh! Born in England in 1970, Blake grew up in Canada and eventually studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. While there, he recorded with drummer Victor Lewis and Franco Ambrosetti. After graduating, he relocated to New York City and quickly established himself as a go-to sideman, working with such luminaries as drummer Billy Drummond, pianist Darrell Grant, saxophonist Mark Turner, and others. He has also toured with John Scofield, and is a regular member of the Mingus Big Band, having appeared on six of the group's Grammy-nominated albums. As a leader, Blake made his debut with 1993's The Call on Criss Cross. An acoustic post-bop date, it featured the saxophonist alongside guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Bill Stewart. For his follow-up, 1997's The Bloomdaddies, Blake incorporated electronics and pushed the music in a more funk and rock-influenced direction. The shift exemplified his stylistically far-reaching aesthetic, and his subsequent releases would often find him moving across genres from album to album. He moved back to acoustic jazz for 1997's Four Track Mind, bringing along tenor saxophonist Turner and trumpeter Tim Hagans. He then split the difference, delving into funk and edgy jazz on 1999's Stranger Things Have Happened, which also featured guitarist Rosenwinkel and pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Grenadier, and drummer Jorge Rossy. In 2000, he paired with fellow Berklee alum drummer Marc Miralta and bassist Avishai Cohen for Sunsol, followed a year later by Echonomics with pianist David Kikoski, bassist Ed Howard, and longtime associate drummer Lewis. Kikoski was also on board for 2007's Way Out Willy and 2009's Bellwether, both of which showcased a hard-swinging post-bop sound. In 2010, Blake released the concert album Live at Smalls, featuring such longtime bandmates as drummer Bill Stewart, guitarist Lage Lund, bassist Matt Clohesy, and Kikoski. A member of drummer Adam Nussbaum's BANN ensemble, Blake appeared on the group's 2011 debut album, As You Like. Also around this time, the saxophonist made his debut with the Criss Cross label ensemble Opus 5, appearing on 2011's Introducing Opus 5 alongside trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, pianist Kikoski, bassist Boris Kozlov, and drummer Donald Edwards. The group, which is modeled after Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, has continued to work regularly, issuing 2012's Pentasonic, 2014's Progression. In 2015 he released Tickle and Superconductor. The following year, he joined Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba on the Grammy-nominated album Suite Caminos. A year later he joined Norway's Bridges on their eponymous debut album. In 2018, Blake also picked up his first Juno Award nomination for Jazz Album of the Year for Superconductor. The following year, Blake issued the globally acclaimed Guardians of the Heart Machine, and served as a featured guest on both the Brad Turner Quartet's Jump Up and Bridges' Continuum. In May 2020 during the global pandemic, he guested with the Maik Krahl Quartet on their album Fraction. Two years later he joined Roger Waters' road band, was a featured guest with Ipocontrio on Children's Soul and, with Swedish jazz vocalist Vivian Buczek, released Roots. In 2023 he joined pianist/composer Emanuele Filippi on the duo set Heart Chant. In January 2025 he rejoined Krahl's band as a co-billed guest on The Magic of Consistency, and recorded the duo offering Caipora with Brazilian drummer Edu Ribeiro. The following year Blake released the dynamic The Electrifying Seamus Blake Plays the Music of Eddie Harris: Eh! leading a cast that included pianist/keyboardist Sam Yahel, bassist Tim Lefebvre, drummer Corey Fonville, and vocalist Dawn Pemberton. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi