Dan Blake

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Dan Blake has developed a wide-ranging career as a contemporary composer, performer and educator that “regards tradition as a welcoming playground best approached with a sense of wonder and adventure” (The Boston Globe). Blake was dubbed a “virtuoso” by The New York Times for his work touring and recording both with his own projects and with luminaries of jazz and popular music like Grammy-winner Esperanza Spalding, Leo Genovese, Anthony Braxton, Terry Riley, Alune Wade, and many others. He has been commissioned by The Mivos Quartet, the Tri Centric Orchestra, and in 2022 received a fellowship from New York Foundation for the Arts. His ensemble The Digging features legendary drummer Jeff Williams (Lookout Farm, Stan Getz Quartet) and their 2021 release Da Fé (Sunnyside Records) was called "One of the most relevant and musically rich albums of 2021 in any style of music" (Alan Young). His 2025 release "Got My Wings" (Adhyâropa Records) is a solo project expanding on his work with electronics (www.gotmywings.org).

In his compositions, Blake seeks to expand upon the improvised music traditions through developing platforms that are at once highly referential to the jazz tradition but also entirely out of the ordinary. To accomplish this, he emphasizes a diverse range of music he has encountered. A common thread uniting all of Blake’s music is a committment to collaboration as a means to developing new improvisational strategies.