The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave the album a maximum four star rating, and additionally awarded it a "Crown", signifying a recording that the authors "feel a special admiration or affection for". [5] [6] The Allmusic review by Stewart Mason awarded the album 41⁄2 stars stating "All That Is Tied touches on every facet of Blake's unique piano style, summing up this underrated composer and educator's career in the space of 12 brief original compositions". [3] On All About Jazz Norman Weinstein noted "Blake performs the twelve numbers with characteristic daring. The Monk influence has grown refined over the decades. It began with a foregrounding of Monk's surprising dissonances and a widening of Monk's oddly placed silences. But unlike Monk, Blake brings a kind of European classical sensibility, both melodically and harmonically, to his improvisations" while Jerry D'Souza said "The pianist's thoughts are as fertile as one could ever wish them to be, and he makes fulsome use of them as he enunciates with authority on All That Is Tied, a solo recording made forty years after his first album. Time has not stilled his passion; it still beats strongly within him, along with his sense for discovery. Blake is always alert for a new direction which will spring a surprise. His sense of fun is an integral part of his makeup, and he continues to explore it delightfully". [4] [7] Not all reviews were as enthusiastic. The JazzTimes review by Thomas Conrad felt "a program of unrelieved, halting, gnarly Blake compositions makes for an austere evening... There is no pleasure in reporting that for me it is the longest 43 minutes of the jazz year to date". [8]
All compositions by Ran Blake except as indicated
Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Waldron led his own bands and played for those led by Charles Mingus, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, and Eric Dolphy, among others. During Waldron's period as house pianist for Prestige Records in the late 1950s, he appeared on dozens of albums and composed for many of them, including writing his most famous song, "Soul Eyes", for Coltrane. Waldron was often an accompanist for vocalists, and was Billie Holiday's regular accompanist from April 1957 until her death in July 1959.
Ran Blake is an American pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for his unique style that combines blues, gospel, classical, and film noir influences into an innovative and dark jazz sound. His career spans over 40 recording credits on jazz albums along with more than 40 years of teaching jazz at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he started the Department of Third Stream with Gunther Schuller.
The Carnegie Hall Concert is a live solo piano double-CD album by the American pianist Keith Jarrett recorded in concert on September 26, 2005, at the Isaac Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall, New York City (USA) and released on a double-CD by ECM Records in 2006.
Young at Heart/Wise in Time is an album by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams released by the Delmark label in 1970 that featured an LP side-length solo piano composition and Abrams accompanied by Leo Smith, Henry Threadgill, Lester Lashley and Thurman Baker on the other side.
Claire Ritter is an American composer and pianist working in a style that fuses jazz with classical, new music, and occasionally other world music cultures.
Improvisations is an album of piano duets by the American jazz pianists Ran Blake and Jaki Byard recorded in 1981 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.
Duke Dreams is an album of solo piano performances of material written by or associated with Duke Ellington by the American jazz pianist Ran Blake recorded in 1981 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.
Suffield Gothic is an album by the American jazz pianist Ran Blake featuring saxophonist Houston Person. It was recorded in 1983 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.
Short Life of Barbara Monk is an album by the American jazz pianist Ran Blake featuring saxophonist Ricky Ford recorded in 1986 and released on the Italian Soul Note label. The album's dedicatee (1953–84) died from cancer and was the daughter of the jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.
Epistrophy is an album of solo piano performances of material written by, or associated with, Thelonious Monk by the American jazz pianist Ran Blake recorded in 1991 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.
Unmarked Van is an album of material associated with Sarah Vaughan by the American jazz pianist Ran Blake recorded in 1994 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.
Solo in Mondsee is a live album by pianist Paul Bley recorded in 2001 and released on the ECM label in 2007.
Basics is a solo album by pianist Paul Bley recorded in 2000 and released on the Justin Time label.
Sunshine of My Soul: Live at the Keystone Korner is an album of a live solo performance by American jazz pianist Jaki Byard recorded in 1978 and released as a CD on the HighNote label in 2007.
Driftwoods is a solo album by pianist Ran Blake recorded in 2008 and released on the Tompkins Square label in 2009.
First Set is a live album by pianist Cedar Walton recorded in Denmark in 1977 and released on the Danish SteepleChase label.
Breakthru is an album of solo piano performances by the American jazz pianist Ran Blake recorded in 1975 and released on the Improvising Artists label.
A Memory of Vienna is an album by pianist Ran Blake and saxophonist Anthony Braxton performing jazz standards recorded in 1988 and released on the hatOLOGY label in 1997.
Kenny Barron at the Piano is a solo album by pianist Kenny Barron that was recorded in early 1981 and first released on the Xanadu label.
Invitation is an album by pianist Kenny Barron which was recorded in late 1990 and first released on the Dutch Criss Cross Jazz label.