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Alexander artiest Seamus Blake

Seamus Blake
"After years of frustration with reeds I have finally found some that are
consistent, well crafted, and longer lasting. Alexander Superial and "DC" reeds
are a joy to play. During the the Thelonious Monk Competition, I was trying
them out comparing them with another well known brand. I ended up playing a
Superial No. 4 and it won me 1st prize!
The Superial tone is full and beefy with excellent response and altissimo is
effortless. Superials offer a huge range of sound from ppp to fff. In addition to
superior tone they have a longer life span and that means less frustrating
moments looking for a good reed and more time spent practicing. They are the
best reeds out on the market."
Seamus Blake is a very talented saxophone player whose career has been
skyrocketing.... Why? Because among other things, Seamus was recognized
early on as being an exceptional saxophonist and this was verified by his taking
First Prize in one of the most prestigious honors in jazz...The 2002 Thelonius
Monk International Jazz Competition for Saxophone.
That Seamus Blake has been endowed with an extraordinary amount of talent
can be attested to by, among other things, the fact that soon after arriving in
NYC he started playing with some top musicians on the scene there. John
Scofield picked him up and brought him on tour when he was 26. Since then,
he's gone on to play to perform live and or record with such artists such as
Kenny Barron, Gary Bartz, Brian Blade, Don Braden, Randy Brecker, Scott
Colley, Adam Cruz, Ronnie Cuber, Billy Drummond, Robin Eubanks, Craig
Handy, Philip Harper, Vincent Herring, Conrad Herwig, John Hicks, Kenny Drew
Jr., David Kikoski, Frank Lacy, Victor Lewis, Andy Mckee, Brad Mehldau, the
Mingus Big Band, Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Renee Rosnes, Mark Shim,
Gary Smulyan, Bill Stewart, John Stubblefield, Mark Turner, Steve Turre, Jeff
Tain Watts, Steve Wilson , Britt Woodman , and others. Seamus is obviously
more than a "Young Lion"... a mature and highly advanced jazz musician whose
name and music we are sure you are going to be hearing more and more about
in the coming years...And he's not just tied to one style of jazz either, as you
can witness with his work in the Brooklyn based Bloomdaddies, which melds
eclectic grooves of funk/rock/jazz/country into an intense musical blend.
To return to Seamus's winning performance in the Monk Competition, it's both
interesting and relevant to note what some of the judges had to say. Unlike
some competitions or prizes whose panel of judges might be made up of non
playing critics, the Monk board is different. They are all players and in this case,
I do mean PLAYERS: Wayne Shorter, George Coleman, James Spaulding, Don
Braden, and fellow World Artist Joshua Redman. Joshua, who by the way won
the competition himself in 1991, had this to say about Seamus Blake: "Seamus
had this musical completeness. He had the most beautiful sound, incredible
lyricism, total command of harmony, incredible time. And what really stood out
was his ability to tell a story. He was playing a pile of tenor, but he had his own
voice in everything that he did. I was a judge six years ago when Jon Gordon
won, and I thought that was an incredible level of competition. But I think this far
surpassed it."
Redman, however, said Blake's triumph didn't come as a great surprise
"Seamus was on the scene in Boston when I was learning to play," he recalled.
"I consider these guys peers, really -- that's why being a judge felt a little
strange. Seamus is one of the best players of his generation."
Seamus Blake has been a World Artist now for several years and I had a great
time hearing and hanging out with him at the Mingus Big Band's 2005
Christmas Week gig at the Tokyo Blue Note. In a group of ALL blowing
saxophonists, Seamus stood out with a tone and ideas that were so hip and
distinctive, and it's was obvious why so many people are talking about him
these days.
Recent gigs have included stints with the Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra,
Joanne Brackeen, Tom Harrell, Vincent Herring, & Mulgrew Miller at Carnegie
Hall, Alex Sipiagin, Ari Hoenig and many others, as well as a new recording with
his own band and some more info about Seamus's cds can be found at his
record company www.crisscrossjazz.com