“Right around that time when I was writing this music, it seemed like every other day I was watching or listening to the news, and it was another person of color — another Black and Brown person — being taken away from us at the hands of people that were supposed to serve and protect us,” says Blake. “I didn’t want to become numb to the things that were unfolding in front of me. I wanted to speak up through my music.”
He also drew inspiration from the lessons his parents taught him. “When my sisters and I were growing up, my folks used to always say that if you see injustice happening and you do nothing, you are just as much the problem.”
What resulted are 14 original compositions, many of them aptly titled by Rio Sakairi, Artistic Director of The Jazz Gallery, who heard the music at its inception. “All of the interludes, and most of the album’s songs, she came up with those titles. I allowed her to sit with the music, and she just understood what I was trying to convey.”
My Life Matters often oscillates between two opposing forces: present and future, tragedy and hope, reality and conception. Known for pushing the boundaries musically, whether it is with groups like Robert Glasper Experiment or on numerous projects for film and television, Hodge’s hand in the production can be heard and felt throughout the album.
The lead track “Last Breath” is a nod to the late Eric Garner, who died after an officer placed him in an illegal chokehold. Baker’s command of the vibes is immediately apparent as he opens the track, before a tidal wave of contrasting sounds crashes in, notably the vigor of Stephens on EWI and Almazan’s piano. Much like Garner’s last words (“I can’t breathe”) helped define the Black Lives Matter movement, “Last Breath” reverberates that palpable rallying cry.
While Blake never set out to make a protest album in the vein of Max Roach’s We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, he will gladly take up the charge established by his predecessors as part of this music’s continuum. “Those musicians set the bar very high for us to follow. If we’re not following their lead, then we are doing them a disservice.”
Blake’s acclaimed 2021 Blue Note debut Homeward Bound will receive its first-ever vinyl release on Dec. 5 as part of the Tone Poet Vinyl Series. The album was a celebration of life and legacy featuring Blake’s quintet Pentad with alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, vibraphonist Joel Ross, keyboardist David Virelles, and bassist Dezron Douglas.
Tracklist:
1. Broken Drum Circle for the Forsaken
2. Last Breath
3. A Prelude to An Unnecessary Yet Tragically Banal Oratorio
4. Requiem for Dreams Shattered
5. In A Brown Study
6. I Still Have A Dream
7. My Life Matters
8. Can You Hear Me? (The Talking Drums Have Not Stopped)
9. Always the Wrong Color
10. That Which Kills Us Makes Us What?
11. Can Tomorrow Be Brighter?
12. Lullaby for An Eternal Rest
13. We’ll Never Know (They Didn’t Even Get To Try)
14. Prayer for A Brighter Tomorrow
