To consider that saxplayer Seamus Blake was inclosed in the Downbeat Critics Poll as an “artist deserving of wider recognition”, that Pat Metheny described him as “the best tenor player I’ve heard in a couple of years” (JazzTimes April 1997), that John Scofield hired him for his Quiet Band, calling him “extraordinary, a total saxophonist” or that he placed 1st in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in February 2002, all that only attests a part of this very interesting musician’s course. London born - but Vancouver raised - saxophonist showcases a fluent phrasing both on tenor and soprano, forged during the best years of jazz in ’90s New York City, together with his pals Mark Turner, Kevin Hays, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Larry Grenadier. He also worked as long standing member of the Mingus Big Band - featuring on their last recordings on Dreyfuss - and has just recorded with Victor Lewis Quintet for the third time. He also borrows his sax to some of the most intriguing bands of the modern scene, like Bloomdaddies (a funky, alternative grunge jazz), and the very jazz Sangha Quartet.

With his own quartet, Seamus Blake releases his very first live album, Live in Italy, under JazzEyes, a double Cd where the refined band – which lines-up David Kikoski on piano, Danton Boller on double-bass and Rodney Green on drums – plays some powerful Blake’s tunes, one by Kikoski, and pieces from Scofield, Ellington and VanHeusen/DeLange, as well as an astonishing jazz version of Debussy’s String Quartet in G minor.