Oliver Lake with Lafayette Gilchrist, Micheal Formanek, and Eric Kennedy
Creative Alliance is THRILLED to welcome a jazz LEGEND to its stage.
Oliver Lake is an explosive and unpredictable alto saxophone soloist with a truly distinctive sound that has set him apart from his peers for the past four decades. His piercing, bluesy, biting tone has earned him accolades and an enduring fan base.
Oliver was born in Marianna, Arkansas in 1942 and moved to St. Louis at the age of two. As a child he played percussion and by his teens, he began to take a serious interest in jazz and the saxophone. From the late '60s to the early '70s, he taught school, played in various venues around St. Louis, and led -- along with Julius Hemphill and Charles "Bobo" Shaw, among others -- a musicians' collective, the Black Artists' Group (BAG). Lake lived in Paris from 1972-1974, where he worked in a quintet comprised of fellow BAG members. By 1975, he had (along with most of his BAG colleagues) moved to New York, where he became active in the vibrant loft jazz scene, quickly establishing himself as one of its most adventurous and multi-faceted artists. In 1976, with Hemphill, Hamiet Bluiett, and David Murray, he founded the World Saxophone Quartet. Over the next two decades, that band reached a level of popularity perhaps unprecedented by a free jazz ensemble. Their late-'80s albums of Ellington works and R&B tunes attracted an audience that otherwise might never have found its way to such an esoteric style.
In the decades since, Lake has continued to push boundaries. In the 21st century, he formed Trio 3 with bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille, truly a jazz super group. For his show at the Creative Alliance, Oliver will be joined by the vanguard of the Baltimore jazz scene, Lafayette Gilchrist on baby grand piano, Michael Formanek on bass, and Eric Kennedy on drums. This will be more than just a jazz show, this will an opportunity to see jazz royalty, surrounded by some of the finest players in the scene in Baltimore’s best listening room. 8pm, $25, $22 members, $28,$25 doors
