Drummer Jonathan Blake plays with explosive power and impeccable timing. NPR describes the Philadelphia-raised musician as 'the ultimate modernist'. Anyone who heard him play with, for example, Pharoah Sanders, Chris Potter, or in Kenny Barron's trio, understands why. With his quintet Pentad, he seeks a fuller, more explicit sound. It is a band driven by trust and following intuition. With My Life Matters (Blue Note, 2025), he created an album about family and the duty to speak out against injustice. Silence, Blake's message goes, makes you complicit. Live, Pentad translates that vision into intuitive, tight improvisations where silence is anything but the only option.
