Mainstream jazz still seemed like a commercially viable proposition less than 40 years ago. I didn’t think twice about acquiring John Blake’s Twinkling of an Eye alongside hit albums by the likes of LL Cool J, R.E.M. and Sade in 1985.
The melodies and rhythms employed by the violinist struck me as every bit as catchy as Madonna’s current single. Passage, the new album by drummer Johnathan Blake, is also loaded with musical hooks.
Yesterday, I belatedly learned that Blake is the violinist’s son. The relationship makes perfect sense. Blake and a band of prominent ringers revitalize mainstream jazz on Passage. Bad Bunny, Travis Scott and Taylor Swift need to watch their backs.