Piano Talk: Carl Blake

Carl Blake seated at the instrument he played for his Piano Talks recital (screen shot from the video being discussed)

Last night the Ross McKee Foundation presented the November installment in its monthly Piano Talks series. Carl Blake presented a solo recital entitled Jazzed Classics, a survey of composers influenced by Black cultural and musical traditions. Blake’s credentials include a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Cornell University, serving as Artistic Ambassador for the United States Department of State, and currently Director of Music of The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples here in San Francisco. He also taught piano and performance at The Music and Arts Institute when McKee served as Director. Last night’s offering was live-streamed and has now been archived as a YouTube Web page.

The scope of last night’s program was impressive. The earliest composer on the program was Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, son of his father George Bologne by an African slave. He served as a colonel in the Légion St.-Georges, fighting on the side of the Republic in the first all-back regiment in Europe. He is currently considered the first known classical composer of African ancestry. He does not appear to have composed much for solo piano; and Blake’s selection, an adagio movement in F minor, was not performed until 1977 when Natalie Hinderas played an edition prepared by Dominique-René de Lerma.

More interesting were the selections of familiar composers from the early twentieth century that revealed an interest in jazz. The more familiar of these is Claude Debussy, represented by “Minstrels,” the final piece in his first book of solo piano preludes, completed in February of 1910. This was preceded by “Granen” (the spruce), the final composition in Jean Sibelus’ Opus 75 set of five pieces given the title The Trees. While there were definitely jazzy qualities to Sibelius’ use of seventh chords, it is unclear that he was aware of emerging jazz practices as keenly as Debussy was. Similar doubts may be applied to the Cançó opening of the sixth of Federico Mompou’s Cançons i danses series. I tend to side with the Wikipedia author that attributed this music to influences from Cuba, Argentina, and Brazil, which may or may not have been racially based.

Blake seemed more in his comfort zone in approaching music by more recent Black composers based in America. These include Calvin Taylor’s arrangement of “This Little Light of Mine” from his Spirituals for Worship collection for solo piano, Jacqueline Hairston’s ode based on “Great Day,” “Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley,” and “Every Time I Feel the Spirit,” Robert Nathaniel Dett’s “As His Own Soul,” and the last of Richard Thompson’s set of six preludes for piano.

Blake was clearly comfortable with the breadth of his repertoire. His verbal introductions, on the other hand, tended to be awkward, perhaps because he was too occupied with reading a prepared text. Nevertheless, there was a diversity in his program that is seldom encountered in piano recitals. As a result, there is much to be gained from becoming better acquainted with all the the music he presented.