Dayna Stephens

Commissioned by the Jazz Gallery in NYC, Blake's new album, My Life Matters is a music suite that focuses on the idea of speaking up when we see injustices happening instead of becoming part of the problem. 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. 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.