Seamus Blake (born December 8, 1970) is a British-born Canadian tenor saxophonist.

Early life and education

Blake was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and raised in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. His mother introduced him to jazz when he was a child and he later attended the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Career

Upon graduation, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In February 2002, he won the

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

International Saxophone Competition. He currently plays with his own quintet (featuring

David Kikoski Dave Kikoski (born September 29, 1961) is an American jazz pianist and keyboardist. Biography Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Kikoski learned piano from his father and played with him in bars as a teenager. He studied at the Berklee College ...

Lage Lund Lage Fosheim Lund (born 12 December 1977) is a Norwegian jazz guitarist. Early life and education Initially aspiring to become a professional skateboarder, Lund began playing guitar at the age of 13. He later founded a jazz trio and performing ...

, Bill Stewart, and Matt Clohesy) and has been a regular with the

Mingus Big Band The Mingus Big Band is a 14-piece ensemble, based in New York City, that specializes in the compositions of Charles Mingus. It was managed by his widow, Sue Mingus, along with the Mingus Orchestra and Mingus Dynasty. In addition to its weekly Monda ...

as well as many other New York musicians. In 2022 Seamus became a member of

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

touring band for the

This Is Not a Drill This Is Not a Drill is the seventh concert tour by English songwriter Roger Waters. The tour, originally scheduled to take place between July and October 2020, was suspended after the COVID-19 pandemic advance, and rescheduled to take place in ...

tour. Seamus is playing sax on

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

classic songs as well as Waters solo material.

Discography

As leader

* ''The Call'' (Criss Cross, 1994) * ''The Bloomdaddies'' (Criss Cross, 1996) * ''Four Track Mind'' (Criss Cross, 1997) * ''Stranger Things Have Happened'' (Fresh Sound, 1999) * ''Sun Sol'' (Fresh Sound, 2000) * ''Echonomics'' (Criss Cross, 2001) * ''Live Au Cabaret'' (Effendi, 2001) * ''Way Out Willy'' (Criss Cross, 2007) * ''Live in Italy'' (Jazz Eyes 2008) * ''Bellwether'' (Criss Cross, 2009) * ''Live at Smalls'' (SmallsLIVE, 2010) * ''As You Like'' with BANN (Jazz Eyes 2010) * ''Superconductor'' (5Passion 2015) * ''Reeds Ramble'' with Chris Cheek (Criss Cross, 2014) * ''Let's Call the Whole Thing Off'' with Chris Cheek (Criss Cross, 2016) * ''Guardians of the Heart Machine'' (Whirlwind, 2019) With Opus 5 * ''Introducing Opus 5'' (Criss Cross, 2011) * ''Pentasonic'' (Criss Cross, 2012) * ''Progression'' (Criss Cross, 2014) * ''Tickle'' (Criss Cross, 2015)

As sideman

With

Lea DeLaria Lea DeLaria (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actress, and jazz singer. DeLaria is credited with being the first openly gay comic to appear on American television with her 1993 appearance on ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. She is best kno ...

* ''Play It Cool'' (Warner Bros., 2001) * ''Double Standards'' (Telarc, 2003) * ''House of David'' (Ghostlight, 2015) * ''The Live'' (Smoke Sessions, 2008) With

* ''The Maze'' (Criss Cross, 1999) * ''Combinations'' (Criss Cross, 2001) * ''The Five'' (DIW, 2002) * ''Limits'' (Criss Cross, 2006) With

Victor Lewis Victor Lewis (born May 20, 1950) is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator. Early life Victor Lewis was born on May 20, 1950 in Omaha, Nebraska. His father, Richard Lewis, who played saxophone and mother, Camille, a pianist-vocalist ...

* ''Eeeyyess!'' (Enja, 1997) * ''Know It Today, Know It Tomorrow'' (Red Record, 1993) * ''Three Way Conversations'' (Red Record, 1997) With

Monday Michiru is a Japanese American actress, singer, and songwriter whose music encompasses and fuses a wide variety of genres including jazz, dance, pop, and soul. She is arguably best known for being a pioneer of the acid jazz movement in Japan in the ...

* ''Episodes in Color'' (SAR, 2002) * ''Don't Disturb This Groove'' (Grand Gallery, 2011) * ''Brasilified'' (Billboard, 2013) With

* ''Blues & Politics'' (Dreyfus, 1999) * ''I Am Three'' (Sunnyside/Sue Mingus, 2005) * ''Live in Time'' (Dreyfus, 1996) * ''Live in Tokyo'' (Sunnyside/Sue Mingus, 2006) * ''Que Viva Mingus!'' (Dreyfus, 1997) * ''Tonight at Noon... Three or Four Shades of Love'' (Dreyfus, 2002) With Eric Reed * ''The Baddest Monk'' (Savant, 2012) * ''Groovewise'' (Smoke Sessions, 2014) * ''The Adventurous Monk'' (Savant, 2014) With

Alex Sipiagin Alex Sipiagin (born June 11, 1967) is a Russian jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. Biography Sipiagin was born on June 11, 1967. He moved from Russia to the U.S. in 1990. His first major job in the U.S. was with the Gil Evans Band. He has p ...

* ''Mirrors'' (Criss Cross, 2003) * ''Returning'' (Criss Cross, 2005) * ''Mirages'' (Criss Cross, 2009) * ''Live at Smalls'' (SmallsLIVE, 2013) * ''From Reality and Back'' (5Passion 2013) With others *

Franco Ambrosetti Franco Ambrosetti (born 10 December 1941) is a jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer. He was born in Lugano, Switzerland; his father, Flavio, was a saxophonist who once played opposite Charlie Parker.Live at the Blue Note'' (Enja, 1993) *

Diego Barber Diego Barber is a classical and jazz guitarist. He has recorded albums for Sunnyside and Origin Records. Early life Barber was born into a family of musicians. He studied at the Lanzarote Conservatory of Music with Miguel Ángel Calzadilla and ...

, ''411'' (Origin, 2013) *

Ronnie Blake Ron Francis Blake (born May 23, 1972) is a trumpeter from Los Angeles. He has recorded and performed alongside numerous artists such as Elton John, Aaliyah, Ben Harper, Dr. Dre, and Ziggy Marley. Blake also played with Green Day on their '' Amer ...

, ''Assimilation'' (Hi Speed Horns, 2017) *

Erin Bode Erin Bode is an American singer from Minnesota who describes her music as a combination of jazz, folk, and pop. Biography In the decade-plus since Erin Bode began her professional recording career, she has garnered much critical praise for her ...

, ''Over and Over'' (Maxjazz, 2006) *

Monika Borzym Monika Borzym (; born March 3, 1990) is a Polish jazz singer who studied at Los Angeles Music Academy. Her debut album ''Girl Talk'', released in 2011 was certified platinum in Poland. History Early life and education (1998–2008) Monika Borzy ...

, ''Girl Talk'' (Sony, 2011) *

Robi Botos Robi Botos is a Hungarian-Canadian jazz pianist. He has recorded several albums as a leader and was the winner of the Concours de Jazz, TD Grand Jazz Award at the 2012 Montreal International Jazz Festival. In 2016, Botos won the JUNO Award for Bes ...

, ''Movin' Forward'' (A440, 2015) *

Brazilian Girls Brazilian Girls is a band from New York, United States, known for their eclectic blend of electronic dance music with musical styles as diverse as tango, chanson, house, reggae and lounge (but no Brazilian rhythms at all). None of the member ...

, ''Brazilian Girls'' (Verve Forecast, 2005) * Brazilian Girls, ''Lazy Lover'' (Verve Forecast, 2004) * Dave Douglas, ''Freak In'' (Bluebird, 2002) *

Billy Drummond Willis Robert "Billy" Drummond Jr. (born June 19, 1959) is an American jazz drummer. Early life Billy Drummond was born in Newport News, Virginia, where he grew up listening to the extensive jazz record collection of his father, an amateur dr ...

, ''The Gift'' (Criss Cross, 1994) *

Fleurine Fleurine Verloop, known professionally as Fleurine, is a Dutch jazz vocalist."Fleurine"

, ''Fire'' (Coast to Coast 2002) *

Sara Gazarek Sara Gazarek is an American jazz singer from Seattle. Life and career Gazarek was born in Seattle, Washington and moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to attend the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. In college her teache ...

, ''Return to You'' (Native Language, 2007) *

Wycliffe Gordon Wycliffe A. Gordon (born May 29, 1967) is an American jazz trombonist, arranger, composer, band leader, and music educator at the collegiate-conservatory level. Gordon also sings and plays didgeridoo, trumpet, soprano trombone, tuba, and piano ...

, ''Dig This!'' (Criss Cross, 2002) * Wycliffe Gordon, ''United Soul Experience'' (Criss Cross, 2002) *

Danny Grissett Danny Grissett (born 1975) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer. Early life Grissett was born in Los Angeles in 1975. He first played the piano at the age of five, taking classical music lessons. He graduated with a B.A. in M ...

, ''Form'' (Criss Cross, 2009) *

George Gruntz George Gruntz (24 June 1932 – 10 January 2013) was a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist, and composer known for the George Gruntz Concert Big Band and his work with Phil Woods, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker, ...

, ''Sins'n Wins'n Funs' Left-cores and Hard-core En-cores'' (TCB, 1996) *

Kevin Hays Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

, ''Go Round'' (Blue Note, 1995) *

David Hazeltine David Perry Hazeltine (born October 27, 1958) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator. Early life Hazeltine was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 27, 1958. He began studying the piano at the age of nine, and first pe ...

, ''For All We Know'' (Smoke Sessions, 2014) *

Conrad Herwig Lee Conrad Herwig III (born 1959) is an American jazz trombonist from New York City. Biography Herwig began his career in Clark Terry's band in the early 1980s and has been a featured member in the Joe Henderson Sextet, Tom Harrell's Septet and ...

, ''Unseen Universe'' (Criss Cross, 2000) * Conrad Herwig, ''Obligation'' (Criss Cross, 2005) *

Scott Kinsey Scott Kinsey is a keyboardist and member of the band Tribal Tech. He is a 1991 graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Career In addition to playing in Tribal Tech with Scott Henderson and Gary Willis, Kinsey has worked with phil ...

, ''No Sleep'' (Kinesthetic Music, 2017) *

Jane Monheit Jane Monheit (born November 3, 1977"Jane Monheit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 33. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2001. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2017-05-07.) is an American jazz and pop singer. Early life Monheit was b ...

, ''The Lovers, the Dreamers and Me'' (Concord, 2008) *

Josh Nelson Josh Nelson is an American jazz pianist and composer. Nelson produced his independent debut album ''First Stories'' at age 19. His second album, ''Anticipation (Josh Nelson album), Anticipation'', was released in 2004 with all his compositions. ...

, ''Let It Go'' (Omagatoki, 2007) *

Robert Sadin Robert Sadin is an American jazz musician, conductor, arranger, composer and producer. He was conductor of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Discography As leader * ''Art of Love: Music of Machaut'' (Deutsche Grammophon, 2009) As producer * Kathl ...

, ''Art of Love: Music of Machaut'' (Deutsche Grammophon, 2009) *

Antonio Sanchez Anthony Sanchez, Antonio Sanchez or Tony Sanchez may refer to: Sports * Antón (footballer) (1914–2005), Spanish footballer born ''Antonio Sánchez Valdés'' * Antonio Sánchez (boxer) (1905–?), Spanish boxer * Antonio Sánchez (footballer, ...

, ''

The Meridian Suite ''The Meridian Suite'' is an album by jazz drummer Antonio Sánchez which was released by CAM Jazz in 2015. Reception The ''PopMatters'' review by John Garrett stated "Sánchez doesn't use the ''Meridian Suite'' to show off much fancy stickwork. ...

'' (CAM Jazz, 2015) *

Ken Schaphorst Ken Schaphorst (born May 24, 1960 in Abington, Pennsylvania) is a composer, performer, and educator. Career Before moving to Boston in 2001, Schaphorst served as Director of Jazz Studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin for ten years. ...

, ''Purple'' (Naxos, 1998) *

John Stetch John Stechishin, better known as John Stetch (born 1966 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian jazz pianist. Stetch's family was ethnically Ukrainian, and as a boy, Stetch played in ensembles at Ukrainian weddings and sang in community choirs. He stu ...

, ''Carpatian Blues'' (Terra Nova, 1996) * Bill Stewart, ''Telepathy'' (Blue Note, 1997) * Bill Stewart, ''Space Squid'' (Pirouet, 2015) *

Helen Sung Helen Sung is an American jazz pianist. Music career Sung is a native of Houston, Texas, and is of Chinese heritage. She attended Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and went on to receive undergraduate and master's degrees ...

, ''Going Express'' (Sunnyside, 2011) * Mark Turner, ''Yam Yam'' (Criss Cross, 1995) * Manuel Valera, ''Forma Nueva'' (Mavo, 2004) *

Jesse van Ruller Jesse van Ruller (born 21 January 1972) is a Dutch jazz guitarist and composer. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition in 1995 and has recorded several albums as a leader and more as a sideman. Early life Van Ruller wa ...

, ''Circles'' (Criss Cross, 2003) * Jesse van Ruller, ''Views'' (Criss Cross, 2006) *

Sam Yahel Sam Yahel (born 1971) is a jazz pianist and Hammond organist. In 1990 he moved to New York City and worked with Bill Frisell, Wycliffe Gordon, Ryan Kisor, Maceo Parker, Madeleine Peyroux, and Joshua Redman. Discography As leader/co-leader * ...

, ''Jazz Side of the Moon'' (Chesky, 2008) * Peter Zak, ''One Mind'' (Fresh Sound, 2018) * Mark Zubek, ''Twentytwodollarfishlunch'' (Fresh Sound, 2009) *

Dan Costa (Composer) Daniel Greco Costa (born 7 April 1989) is a British-Italian-Portuguese pianist and composer, known for his original work and for his collaborations with artists such as Randy Brecker, John Patitucci, Mike Stern, Hermeto Pascoal, Dave Liebman, Iv ...

, ''Skyness'' (Independent, 2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Seamus 1970 births Living people Musicians from London Canadian jazz saxophonists Male saxophonists Musicians from Vancouver Chesky Records artists 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century Canadian male musicians Canadian male jazz musicians Mingus Big Band members Basho Records artists Criss Cross Jazz artists Fresh Sounds Records artists