A native New Jerseyan, Daniel Blake is a whimsical reedist, pedagogue, and composer. The muse touched him ever since he was a kid--playing piano at 5 years old and saxophone at age 10--and without further ado, he was inspired by the New York jazz hullabaloo. He then moved to Boston where he was quickly remarked upon amidst his fellows.

Sharing the stage and recording with jazz greats, Phil Markowitz, Sofia Koutsovitis, Herbie Hancock, Claudio Ragazzi, Danílo Perez, John Betsch as well as the influence of the brilliant Steve Lacy and Dave Liebman (the later being his mentor), giving him the ardor to become co-founder of "The Boston Jazz Collective" and the strength to enjoin his own voice on the Boston jazz scene.

In 2005, ASCAP endowed him with the "Young Composer’s Award" for his adventurous independent release, The Party Suite. These compositions are illuminated by the jazz heritage and Blake has merged into this album his personal green, tuneful cricks. With tenor, altoist, clarinetist Alec Spiegelman, bassist Jorge Roeder, drummers Jorge Perez-Albea and Richie Barshay, as well as vibraphonist Alexei Tsiganov in tow, Blake makes a redoubtable assemblage.

Smartly enforced with the timbral trial that introduces the six suites of his party, Blake darts hastily into a blistering free-bop-like tempo architecture; a boisterous saxophone far acute and bluffing.

All of the tracks on The Party Suite drive in an affirmed, wiggly groove of intellect and quintessence. The eight original compositions are feasted with treads, chiefly showcasing Blake's melodic inspections, but they also delineate the forceful anchor in rhythm by his peers.

This is jazz’s fulfillment beyond, and the contemporary onrush of this finger popping release, with licit comparisons to Bechet and Monk. Blake does more than abrade over other’s jazz for newfangled stylish. An interlinked, orchestrated amenable fibre lies in Blake’s composition as The Party Suite album makes an utterance for these days. Dan Blake’s release is a beauteous paragon of swayed exemption.