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INTRO
Heralded by NPR Music as “the ultimate modernist,” the Philadelphia-raised artist has collaborated with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Tom Harrell, Hans Glawischnig, Avishai Cohen, Donny McCaslin, Linda May Han Oh, Jaleel Shaw, Chris Potter, Maria Schneider, Alex Sipiagin, Kris Davis and countless other distinctive voices. DownBeat once wrote, “It’s a testament to Blake’s abilities that he makes his presence felt in any context.” A frequent presence on Blue Note records over the past years, Blake has contributed his strong, limber pulse and airy precision to multiple leader releases from Blue Note artists including Dr. Lonnie Smith’s Breathe (2021), All in My Mind (2018) and Evolution (2016) and Kenny Barron’s Concentric Circles (2018), the latter whose trio Blake has been a vital member for nearly 15 years.
Blake’s band Pentad is a quintet of musicians whose expressions inhabit that mystery of time and space. “The name represents us as five individuals coming together for a common cause: trying to make the most honest music as possible,” says Blake who assembled the band with the intention of composing for a fuller, more explicit chordal sound than his past projects have featured. The result is a wildly intuitive, tight sound that embraces spontaneity and relies on trust.
FEATURED VIDEO
PHOTOS
PENTAD LINE UP
Johnathan Blake, drums
Dayna Stephens, saxophone & EWI
Fabian Almazan, piano & keyboards
Jalen Baker, vibes
Dezron Douglas, bass
REVIEWS
“New York drummer Johnathan Blake delivers rhythm with a finde balance of tension and ease. Equally at home playing cutting-edge modern jazz or R&B, his credits span two decades and range from Mingus Big Band and rapper Q-Tip to an upcoming Village Vanguard residency with Bill Frisell. Yet his own-named releases have been few and far between. … [on] Passage, his fifth solo album …Blake’s sensitivity and creative support continue to shine and his compositional skills impress.”
– Financial Times, 4 Aug 2023
“Band-leading drummers have a tendency to be over-present, to get in the way of the music. Not so Johnathan Blake. the 47-year old Philadelphian, who has backed everyone from Lonnie Smith to Q-Tip, remains a team player even with his own group.”
– Neil Spencer, The Observer