Roger Blank (born December 19, 1938, New York City) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

drummer. Blank's grandfather played saxophone and his father William Blank was a trumpeter who had performed with Cootie Williams. Blank worked with Hank Mobley in Harlem for several years and studied under Charlie Persip. He worked with

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

starting in 1964 and recorded several times with him. He worked extensively on the New York jazz scene in the 1960s and 1970s; he played with and was influenced by Ornette Coleman, and helped found a group called the Melodic Art-Tet in 1971 which was devoted to playing in Coleman's

harmolodic Harmolodics is a musical philosophy and method of musical composition and improvisation developed by American jazz saxophonist-composer Ornette Coleman. His work following this philosophy during the late 1970s and 1980s inspired a style of forwa ...

style. This group also included

Charles Brackeen Charles Brackeen (born March 13, 1940 in Eufaula, Oklahoma, United States; died November 5, 2021, Carson, California) was an American jazz saxophonist who primarily played tenor saxophone, but also played soprano saxophone. He was previously ma ...

Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (born Leroy Bland; May 10, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter who was a prominent member of Sun Ra's band. Biography He began playing the trumpet at age 13 in his native New York City. One of the first groups he performed with wa ...

, William Parker, and

Ronnie Boykins Ronald Boykins (December 17, 1935 – April 20, 1980) was a jazz bassist and is best known for his work with pianist/bandleader Sun Ra, although he had played with such disparate musicians as Muddy Waters, Johnny Griffin, and Jimmy Witherspoon pr ...

. Other associations included work with Bill Barron,

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

Dennis Charles Denis Alphonso Charles (December 4, 1933 – March 26, 1998) was a jazz drummer. Biography Charles was born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and first played bongos at age seven with local ensembles in the Virgin Islands. In 1945, he moved to Ne ...

Walt Dickerson Walter Roland Dickerson (April 16, 1928 – May 15, 2008) was an American jazz vibraphone player, most associated with the post-bop idiom. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, Walt Dickerson graduated from Morgan State U ...

, Kenny Dorham, Frank Foster, Charles Greenlee,

John Hicks Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economi ...

, Ken McIntyre, Pharoah Sanders,

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

, and Charles Tolliver. Blank appeared on the piece "Hambone" with Shepp on the 1965 live album '' The New Wave in Jazz''. He relocated to Atlanta in the 1980s and led an ensemble there, but moved back to New York in the 1990s, where he lived in the Williamsburg neighborhood. His daughter

Radha Blank Radha Blank (born September 24, 1976) is an American actress, filmmaker, playwright, rapper, and comedian. Born and raised in New York City, Blank is known for writing, directing, producing, and starring in '' The Forty-Year-Old Version'' (2020), ...

is a filmmaker, writer, and actress, known for the Sundance-winning film ''

The 40-Year-Old Version ''The Forty-Year-Old Version'' is a 2020 American comedy-drama film written, directed, and produced by Radha Blank, in her feature directorial debut. It stars Blank, Peter Kim, Oswin Benjamin, and Reed Birney. Loosely based on Blank's own lif ...

.''

Discography

As sideman

With

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. After early experience playing R&B and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Howev ...

* '' Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962–70)'' (Revenant, 2004) one track With

Earl Cross Earl Cross (December 8, 1933 – 1987) was a free jazz trumpeter best known for his association with saxophonists Noah Howard and Charles Tyler and percussionist Juma Sultan, as well as with the 1970s loft jazz scene in New York City. Career Cros ...

* ''Jazz of the Seventies: Sam Rivers Tuba Trio & Earl Cross Sextet'' (Circle, 1977) With

* '' Impressions of a Patch of Blue'' (MGM, 1966) With Frank Foster * ''Shiny Stockings'' (Denon, 1977) With Andrew Hill * ''

Nefertiti Neferneferuaten Nefertiti () ( – c. 1330 BC) was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in which ...

'' (East Wind, 1976) With Leroy Jenkins and the

Jazz Composer's Orchestra The Jazz Composer's Orchestra was an American jazz group, founded by Carla Bley and Michael Mantler in 1965, to perform orchestral avant-garde jazz. Its origins lay in the Jazz Composers Guild, an organization founded by Bill Dixon which grew out ...

* ''

For Players Only ''For Players Only'' is a live album by violinist and composer Leroy Jenkins, his first as a leader. It was recorded in January 1975 at Wollman Auditorium, Columbia University in New York City, and was released by JCOA Records later that year. On ...

'' (JCOA, 1975) With

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after ...

* ''The Complete Clifford Jordan Strata-East Sessions'' (Mosaic, 2017) With

Jimmy Lyons Jimmy Lyons (December 1, 1931 – May 19, 1986) was an American alto saxophone player. He is best known for his long tenure in the Cecil Taylor Unit. Lyons was the only constant member of the band from the mid-1960s until his death. Taylor never ...

* '' Push Pull'' (Hathut, 1979) With The Melodic Art-Tet (with

, William Parker, and Ramadan Mumeen * '' Melodic Art–Tet'' (NoBusiness, 2013) With Sam Rivers * ''

Crystals A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

'' (Impulse!, 1974) With Pharoah Sanders * ''

Tauhid Tawhid ( ar, , ', meaning "unification of God in Islam ( Allāh)"; also romanized as ''Tawheed'', ''Tawhid'', ''Tauheed'' or ''Tevhid'') is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religion's central and single ...

'' (Impulse!, 1967) * ''Priceless Jazz Collection'' (compilation) (GRP, 1997) * ''Anthology: You’ve Got to Have Freedom'' (compilation) (Soul Brother, 2005) * ''The Impulse Story'' (compilation) (Impulse!, 2006) With

* '' The New Wave in Jazz'' (Impulse!, 1965) one track With

* '' Other Planes of There'' (Saturn, 1966) * '' The Magic City'' (Saturn, 1966) * ''

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two ''The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two'' is a 1965 recording by the jazz musician Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra. Where '' ''Volume One' of the ''Heliocentric Worlds'' series had predominantly featured short abstract pieces, ''Volume Tw ...

'' (Saturn, 1966) * '' Nothing Is'' (ESP-Disk, 1970) * ''Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 3 (The Lost Tapes)'' (ESP-Disk, 2005) * ''The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Vols. 1-3'' (compilation) (ESP-Disk, 2010) * ''Heliocentric Worlds 1 & 2 Revisited'' (compilation) (Ezz-thetics, 2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blank, Roger American jazz drummers Musicians from New York City 1938 births Living people 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Jazz musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians