Ran Blake & Jeanne Lee - Free Standards Stockholm 1966 (2013)

In 1961 singer Jeanne Lee (1939-2000) and pianist Ran Blake (born 1935) emerged as one of the most innovative duos on the New York jazz scene. Presenting an almost freely improvised reading of standard and original melodies, they blended voice and piano in a manner seemingly without any boundaries except those imposed by their individual disciplines. It was a stunning combination, but aside from a few concerts, a local television show, a praised RCA Victor album, and an appearance at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival, they found little work in the US.

In Europe, however, it was a different story. There the duo’s subtlety, daring and wit, along with Lee’s warmth and precision and Blake’s inventiveness, were immediately appreciated. They opened a series of well-received North-European concerts in 1963 at Stockholm’s Golden Circle and returned there three years later, when these examples of their unique artistry were captured in a studio recording session. In combination they pass, blend, meld, and move around each other in a manner both delicately nuanced and vaguely disconcerting, demanding attention in a way no other group of this kind has done.