Search - Blake Tartare :: More Like Us

I've always been puzzled by the name of this band, Blake Tar

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 01/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

". . . meaning, as it does, "Raw Blake." Is it just a clever reworking of "steak tartare," that Mongolian culinary delicacy, which originated, I'm told, from Tatars putting raw meat under their saddles and consuming same after a long day's ride? That is, is there some weird corollary between the food and the musical concept? One doesn't know.



Or, is this music thought to be rawer, more spontaneous, than Blake's other, perhaps more thought-out and stylized offerings? Again, one simply doesn't know.



Nor does it really matter. With music this fine, this varied, this smart, one ceases to be concerned with such mundanities.



I do, admit, however, that there's a certain insouciance, an in-the-nonce vibe all over this disc, that, although entirely appealing to me, has somewhat disconcerted those looking for more "serious" and "weighty" musical endeavors.



But ignore the naysayers and debunkers. This music reeks of authenticity, of heartfelt and slyly executed lasting ephemerality, which is what jazz is all about.



My favorite cut is the band's wacky reading of John Lurie's already strange Yiddish blues, "Happy Old Yoy," featuring perhaps Steven Bernstein's most compelling slide trumpet playing on disc, Jeppe Kjellberg channeling Bill Frisell, and leader Blake blowing altogether righteous sax.



But it's all good, even if it's a little on the raw side . . .



Highly recommended"