| Ran Blake Plays Solo Piano | |
| Type: | Studio |
| Artist: | Ran Blake |
| Cover: | Ran Blake Plays Solo Piano.jpeg |
| Border: | yes |
| Recorded: | May 1, 1965 |
| Studio: | New York City |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Length: | 36:19 |
| Label: | ESP-Disk |
Ran Blake Plays Solo Piano is a solo piano album by Ran Blake. It was recorded in 1965 and released by ESP-Disk.
The album of solo piano performances by Ran Blake was recorded in New York City on May 1, 1965.[1] The material is a mix of standards, major jazz compositions, and four Blake originals.
Ran Blake Plays Solo Piano was released by ESP-Disk. The liner notes were written by Gunther Schuller. ESP issued the album on CD in 2014.[2] Apart from "one very poorly distributed Italian bootleg CD in the mid-90s", this was its first appearance on CD.
The JazzTimes reviewer wrote that, in trying to combine "jazz, 'popular music' and classical styles [...] the pianist was probably still trying to figure out how to best utilize all of these resources. Still, Plays Solo Piano stands as an engaging session".[3] The DownBeat review of the 2014 release commented that Blake "combined liberal dissonance and a pitiless editor's instinct for what to leave out, with a very light touch and an evident appreciation for the blues, albeit fairly abstract blues."[4]