Ron Blake

The origins of Ron Blake’s tradition-honed eclecticism can be traced back to his homeland of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Grammy and Emmy Award winning saxophonist and composer has worked extensively with Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, Roy Haynes, Art Farmer, Meshell Ndgeocello, Yerba Buena, and recently completed his 18th season with NBC’s Saturday Night Live Band.

Between his playing and performing, his teaching, his music and education efforts in the Virgin Islands (for which he alongside the members of Dion Parson & the 21st Century Band were recognized by the Virgin Islands Legislature and United States Congress), it’s difficult to imagine a jazz artist who has had a fuller or more wide-ranging career. Have we failed to mention that he founded the Caribbean Jazz Institute at the Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney, Maine? And that he has presented master classes and clinics across the country? His upcoming release, Mistaken Identity, on 7tēn33 Productions, is his first in 15 years.

In the end, there is no mistaking how important Blake is to jazz. And there’s no better place to appreciate that than Mistaken Identity.

The origins of Ron Blake’s tradition-honed eclecticism can be traced back to his homeland of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Grammy and Emmy Award winning saxophonist and composer has worked extensively with Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, Roy Haynes, Art Farmer, Meshell Ndgeocello, Yerba Buena, and recently completed his 18th season with NBC’s Saturday Night Live Band. Between his playing and performing, his teaching, his music and education efforts in the Virgin Islands (for which he alongside the members of Dion Parson & the 21st Century Band were recognized by the Virgin Islands Legislature and United States Congress), it’s difficult to imagine a jazz artist who has had a fuller or more wide-ranging career. Have we failed to mention that he founded the Caribbean Jazz Institute at the Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney, Maine? And that he has presented master classes and clinics across the country? His upcoming release, Mistaken Identity, on 7tēn33 Productions, is his first in 15 years. In the end, there is no mistaking how important Blake is to jazz. And there’s no better place to appreciate that than Mistaken Identity.