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Announcer: Listener Supported, WNYC Studios.

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Kerry Nolan: This is All of It. I'm Kerry Nolan in for Alison Stewart. If you frequent any of the jazz clubs in and around our listening area, there's a good chance you've seen Johnathan Blake on the stage for the gig behind the drums at least once. He's a drummer born and raised in Philadelphia who started playing drums at the age of 10, and since then he's played in lots of bands, including with Kenny Barron, Pharoah Sanders, Robbie Coltrane, and many more, but he also has his own quintet called Pentad. Last Friday, he released his new album, Passage, his second album on the Blue Note label. Let's listen to a song from the album. This is Groundhog Day.

[MUSIC - Johnathan Blake: Groundhog Day]

Passages is an ode to Blake's late father, the jazz violinist John Blake Jr. who passed away in 2014, and who was obviously influential in how his son chose to earn a living. The title track of the album was composed by Blake's father, and there are also five original compositions from Johnathan Blake himself. The album's out now, and Johnathan Blake and his band will be celebrating its release at Smoke Jazz Club from August 24th to the 27th. He joins me now for an in-studio listening party. Welcome, Johnathan.

Johnathan Blake: Thank you, Kerry. How are you doing?

Kerry Nolan: I'm good. I'm so glad to meet you.

Johnathan Blake: Likewise.

Kerry Nolan: You composed five songs on the album. As someone who plays the drums, how do you usually compose the basic structure of a song? Do you do it always with the drums in mind?

Johnathan Blake: Not always. One of the prerequisites for me being able to play drums, both my parents told me that I had to take piano lessons. [laughter] As a young kid, you'll do anything to get what you want, so I said, "Okay, I'll take piano lessons." When I look back, I'm so happy that they told me to do that because now I compose at the piano mostly.

Kerry Nolan: Oh, okay. The drums, it's not necessarily like a beat comes into your head and you write around that?

Johnathan Blake: Not always, not always. Sometimes I'll hear the melody first. Other times I'll hear a specific rhythm and then I'll compose around that. Having the basis of harmony and melody have really helped shape my composing.

Kerry Nolan: Let's talk a little bit about the recording process, recording that album with the band. First, where was it recorded?

Johnathan Blake: Oh, it was recorded in a little studio in Paramus, New Jersey, actually.

Kerry Nolan: Very nice.

Johnathan Blake: A friend of mine named Tom Tedesco, he recorded it. He's an amazing engineer, he's been around for years. He has a studio in his house, and he always gets a great sound on all the instruments. He has such great ears, and he has amazing equipment, some older equipment like the Moog keyboard, Fender Rhodes piano, and they're all in great working shape, and also the drums are amazing, so I said, "Oh, I have to record there."

Kerry Nolan: When you were recording, did you do it with the full band, or was it track by track by track and then mixed?

Johnathan Blake: No, it was with the full band. I think what helped was we had played a couple concerts prior to the recording. I think we did a week at the Vanguard, and it really helped because we were so well prepared. By the time we went into the studio, we just felt so comfortable with the music that we didn't really have to think much about it. It was like riding a bike again after not doing it for some time.

Kerry Nolan: Rehearsing and getting paid?

Johnathan Blake: There you go.

[laughter]

Kerry Nolan: This album is your second release on Blue Note. Your first one came out in 2021. Was there something different about the creative process of putting together this album versus your first?

Johnathan Blake: I think both of the records are very special to me, but this one was very, very near and dear to my heart, because it celebrates my father's life and legacy. The title track, as you mentioned, was written by my father, but unfortunately, he never was able to record it. We did our best to do our rendition of it. For me, this was a very special, near and dear recording to me. I think with this particular recording also, I think as a group, we were able to bring our own experiences to it. I feel like the more we play, the more we mature as musicians. I feel this record showcases us on a more elevated level maybe than the prior release, I think.

Kerry Nolan: If you're just joining us, my guest is Johnathan Blake. He's here for a listening party for his brand new album, Passage, which is out now. Johnathan and his band will be celebrating the album's release at the Smoke Jazz Club from August 24th to the 27th. The album, as you said, is dedicated to your dad, who was an accomplished jazz violinist who played with people like Grover Washington Jr., and McCoy Tyner. He passed away in 2014. I'm curious about because the violin is a lesser-- not lesser, but it's less used instruments in jazz. How did your dad came to pick that up?

Johnathan Blake: It's funny. He and his siblings, he had four other siblings, two younger brothers, one older sister and one younger sister, and everyone in the family had to do something within the arts. Their parents, my grandparents, always told them that they had to do something in the arts. My dad's older sister, my aunt, Vivian, she's a church organist. His younger sister, Charlotte, is a world-renowned storyteller. His younger brother, Allen, my uncle Allen, is a keyboardist and programmer, computer programmer. His youngest brother, Elliot, who unfortunately passed away earlier this year, was a drummer and a sitar player, so there was always music going around.

Kerry Nolan: That explains why you had to learn the piano.

Johnathan Blake: Yes, exactly. My father's first instrument was actually piano. Then I guess he heard violin in the orchestra and he really fell in love with the instrument. Then it wasn't until college, he went to West Virginia University. It wasn't until then where he heard a recording of Eddie South, the great violinist, Eddie South, and he said, "Man, violin can do that? I want to do that." He started learning how to improvise on the instrument.

Kerry Nolan: What made you decide to make an album in his memory?

Johnathan Blake: I just wanted to celebrate his life and also maybe introduce people who weren't familiar with him to his music. He was my first influence for this music, and so what better way to celebrate his life and legacy than to present music in honor of him?

Kerry Nolan: Let's listen to something from your dad.

Johnathan Blake: Okay.

Kerry Nolan: This is called A City Heaven.

[MUSIC - John Blake Jr.: A City Heaven]

Kerry Nolan: That's a little something from jazz violinist, John Blake Jr. It's called A City Heaven, and we are sitting here with Johnathan Blake, his son, who's got a new album out dedicated to his dad. It's called Passage. Tell us a little more about your father. What made him him? What was his personality like?

Johnathan Blake: Oh, he was such an even-keeled person. You really rarely saw him lose his cool. Everybody was like family to him, especially his students. He was big on education. All of his students became like his sons and daughters, and in turn, they became my brothers and sisters. One very close to me is the great violinist Regina Carter. She used to come down from Detroit as a very young lady and come to Philadelphia and come to my parents' house and study with my father.

Kerry Nolan: Oh, wow.

Johnathan Blake: He was just really big on education and just really treating everybody fairly and equally. I try to live by that rule to this day and try to take my cue from him.

Kerry Nolan: There's a great picture, the album cover of you was a baby in his arm. I thought that was very sweet.

Johnathan Blake: My godfather took that picture. It was funny when I approached him about using that photo. I talked to his son, my godbrother, and he said, "I talked to my dad. He said he remembered everything about that photo." I couldn't believe it because I think my [unintelligible 00:10:43] was a little older than my dad so he might be maybe late 70s, maybe early 80s. He remembered everything. He was like, "Oh yes, he had like a little donut in his hand when he was taking [unintelligible 00:10:53]. He remembered everything about that photo.

Kerry Nolan: That was a big day.

Johnathan Blake: He remembered everything about that photo.

Kerry Nolan: Now, the title track of the album, Passage, is one that was actually composed by your dad. Of all his compositions, why this one?

Johnathan Blake: I just always loved the melody and the harmony together. I remember listening to it on a sequencer that we had in his keyboard. I always just was so fascinated by the melody because it seemed so very uplifting. It just reminded me so much of his personality. As a composer, you can really tell a lot by the person, by the way they compose. This tune alone was so upbeat and that was his personality when I was coming up. That's what I always remembered about him. When I bought it into the band, I think they felt that lift, so to speak, immediately. Then the way they play over it is just incredible.

Kerry Nolan: Now we have to listen to some of it.

Johnathan Blake: All right.

Kerry Nolan: This is a little bit of Passage

[MUSIC - Johnathan Blake: Passage]

Kerry Nolan: That is all upbeat and sweet and lovely. We were dancing in a little bit-

Johnathan Blake: That's right.

Kerry Nolan: -in the studio here. Just to be transparent about these things. What do you hear in that song that reminds you of your dad's musical style?

Johnathan Blake: Oh, man, I think the freedom of expression, and just the joy that comes when he's composing. I could always see-- I can remember his face. Like when he was downstairs, sometimes he would compose really late, so he would have on headphones, but then when it was finished or completed, it was like he was so happy. It's like, "Come and listen." Everybody in the family would have to listen. My two younger sisters, my mom. It was this joyous occasion whenever he completed something that he really felt strongly about. This was one of those pieces. He walked around singing it a long time, and he let everybody listen to it. I reflect on that joy that came out of that.

Kerry Nolan: We're talking with Johnathan Blake, drummer and composer about his new album, Passage. We're going to take a quick break, come back, listen to some more music because it's a listening party here at All Of It. Give us a minute. We'll be right back with you.

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Kerry Nolan: It's All Of It on WNYC. I'm Kerry Nolan in for Alison Stewart. I'm sitting here with Johnathan Blake, jazz drummer, and he has this wonderful new record out called Passage. I made a mistake in announcing one of the other songs, one from your dad, John Blake Jr. I called it A City Heaven. It is A City Called Heaven, and it comes from a really interesting album. Tell me.

Johnathan Blake: It was a really personal project for my father. He grew up playing and performing in the church with his sisters and my grandmother, who was an organist. The record is called Motherless Child. It's actually an album full of spirituals that he arranged for choir and quartet. The cover of the record is really special. It was taken from a trip that he took with part of a group to Africa where they visited with orphans. The picture is actually taken outside with him, with a bunch of children around him. Like I mentioned earlier, he was really big on family, and so to see that picture, it reminds me of all these children that became his children, so to speak. He really loved kids. Seeing that was almost like, "Oh man, these are my little brothers and sisters." That was a piece from that record.

Kerry Nolan: Speaking of family, you grew up in Philly, In Germantown. Everybody knows that Philly's got a really deep, rich musical history. What do you think it is about Philadelphia that makes it so musically diverse and deep and rich?

Johnathan Blake: I always wondered that. I tell stories about growing up in Philly and how I would play house parties, and I would be with a DJ, like Questlove would be the DJ. Questlove from the Roots would DJ the Party and I would be playing drums behind them. I don't know, it was just this melting pot of different music from all different types of genres. It wasn't separate. It was just like we all came together. If you could play, it was like, "Oh, yes, I have this concert over here," or, "Check this music out." It was always one.

Kerry Nolan: It wasn't like, "I do Philly Soul and I do Philly Jazz." It was just all blended?

Johnathan Blake: No. We were all blended together, so to speak. It was a beautiful thing. It still happens today. One of the musicians on my record, Emmanuel Wilkins, I remember him when he was like six or seven years old. He's about 20 years younger than me or so. He got hired to play the Star-Spangled Banner at all the Eagles games. [laughter] Now I think he's playing with Leon Bridges. We were exposed to so much music, but it wasn't like, "Oh, we're going to just do this over here." It was like, "No, let's come together and try to learn the different styles and just play it."

Kerry Nolan: Would you say then that Philadelphia's jazz, in as much as it's sort of a, as you described, a melting pot, different from New Orleans Jazz or Chicago?

Johnathan Blake: Yes. It definitely has a different sound, so to speak. It has this-- they call it the Philly Soul. It has a really special sound. Those different cities that you mentioned all have a very unique sound that's very unique to where it's from. Like New Orleans has a certain sound when you hear them playing second line or some kind of groove. It's the same thing with Philly. Philly has a certain sound. I remember somebody trying to explain it, it was like there's this deep groove and it has this sense of urgency to it, but you don't want to rush to get to it type of thing.

Kerry Nolan: Got you.

Johnathan Blake: If I could explain it. I think that's what's special and unique about all these different towns. I've been to so many places. I've been to New Orleans, I've been to Chicago, and it's really nice to go into the city and really hear what's happening. I think people in turn have that same effect when they come to Philly and listen to music. There's a really certain special sound and people feel it right away. Also, I always talk about the Philly audiences. I don't think there's any other place on earth with-- Philly audiences are very special, and they will let you know if something's good or something's bad. They're not afraid to show their emotions.

Kerry Nolan: Speaking of Philly, the last track on the album is one that you composed called West Berkeley St, and it features the voice of your dad.

Johnathan Blake: Yes.

Kerry Nolan: Let's listen to a little bit of that.

[MUSIC - Johnathan Blake: West Berkeley St]

Hey, Johnathan, this is your dad. Just give me a call when you get a chance. Bye. Hey John, I know you might be tired, but give me a call when you get a chance. I want to talk through this whole thing this weekend if you can get a chance. Bye.

Hey, John. This is your dad. I want you to come up tomorrow.

Hey, John, this is your dad catching up with you

Kerry Nolan: That is West Berkely St. from the new album, Passage, from Johnathan Blake. You perform with your quintet on this album, and the group is called Pentad. One member is the alto saxophonist, Immanuel Wilkins. He's also from Philly.

Johnathan Blake: He is also from Philly.

Kerry Nolan: You've known him a really long time.

Johnathan Blake: I've known him a long time.

Kerry Nolan: My research says that you've known him since he was a kid. What have you made of him rising through the musical ranks to become so respected?

Johnathan Blake: Oh, man, it's so beautiful. I feel like a proud father, just in a way. I have kids of my own, my two younger, not so young now. Watching him, I remember him when he was really young. We all came out of this program in Philadelphia called the Lovett Hines, Clef Club Youth Ensemble. Lovett Hines, who's still alive, he just turned 80, he taught a bunch of us, Christian McBride, Joey DeFrancesco, the late Joey DeFrancesco, Jaleel Shaw, myself, Immanuel Wilkins. I remember coming back and doing masterclasses and hearing this young alto player. I was already blown away. To see how he's flourished, it's just amazing. I just came back from the Newport Jazz Festival, and his group was one of the ones that was featured. Just to see the command that he has of not only the band, but the audience, he really captivates the audience. It's so beautiful to see, and I'm so proud of him. I'm just like, "Man, it's really amazing."

Kerry Nolan: The rest of the group is made up of vibraphonist, Joel Ross, pianist, David Virelles, and bassist, Dezron Douglas. How did you put the band together?

Johnathan Blake: It's funny. The word Pentad, it's meaning five entities coming together to create one thing. I feel that that's what happens with this band, it's five entities coming together to make one sound. David Virelles and Dezron Douglas and I have played together for over a decade now with Ravi Coltrane's quartet. That's where we first met and first started playing together. It was just a connection right away. Then, of course, the connection with Immanuel and I goes back. Then what's beautiful is the connection that Immanuel and Joel have. They both went to school together, and they both played together. Joel plays in Immanuel's group sometimes, Immanuel plays in this group, and they're both on Blue Note. There was this connection.

The first few concerts that we did together, it was actually just a quartet without David, and that connection was immediately apparent. People who came to the show, they were raving about it. Then, when I added piano to it, I knew it would work because I was like, "Man, David has that connection with all of us," and it just came together, and it was just beautiful. I get asked a lot like, "What do you look for when you're putting a band together?" I said, "I do look forward to people who can play the music, but I also look forward to people that I can get along with on and off the band standing." These are all near and dear friends to me.

Kerry Nolan: Do you find that because they float between each other's bands, that there's an unspoken music language that you know what the other one's thinking?

Johnathan Blake: Yes. You really know what they're thinking, you know what they're capable of. That's why it's so beautiful. When I bring music to the band, I know that they're going to take it and run with it, so to speak. I never really worry about the music. Our personalities are pretty similar where we like to have fun, we joke around. I remember the first couple of gigs that I did, Dezron and, we're jokester, we joke around. I could hear Immanuel and Joel whispering to each other, "Oh, man, they're just like us. They're silly just like us." We share that common bond. We just have so much fun on and off the band standing, and I couldn't ask for better bandmates.

Kerry Nolan: If you're interested, you can see Pentad, along with Johnathan Blake at the Smoke Jazz Club from August 24th to the 27th. The new album is called Passage. It's on Blue Note Records. It's out now. I have had such a good time.

Johnathan Blake: I did, too.

Kerry Nolan: I hope you had fun this afternoon.

Johnathan Blake: Thank you, Ms. Nolan. Thank you, Kerry. It was so much fun.

Kerry Nolan: It's my pleasure. We're going to go out with one more little piece. It's called Muna & Johna’s Playtime, from the album Passage.

[MUSIC- Johnathan Blake: Muna & Johna’s Playtime]

 

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