Johnathan Blake – My Life Matters

American master drummer presents a suite about speaking out against injustice with his band Pentad.

With My Life Matters, master drummer Johnathan Blake brings a suite about the relevance of making your voice heard in the face of injustice: those who remain silent become part of the problem. The work, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, is a commission from The Jazz Gallery in New York and was released in 2025 on the renowned Blue Note. Blake performs the suite with his band Pentad, the quintet he assembled to write for a fuller and more pronounced band sound than in his previous projects.

Blake grew up in Philadelphia and played with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Tom Harrell, Chris Potter, Maria Schneider, Donny McCaslin, and Kris Davis. For almost fifteen years, he has been part of Kenny Barron's trio, and he was featured on multiple albums by Dr. Lonnie Smith. His field of work is broad: he also played with the Mingus Big Band and rapper Q-Tip. As a bandleader, he previously released Homeward Bound (2021) and Passage (2023), both on Blue Note.

‘Johnathan Blake is the ultimate modernist. As a drummer, he’s as comfortable steering ensembles led by jazz veterans such as trumpeter Tom Harrell and saxophonist Oliver Lake as he is providing the pulse beneath rapper Q-Tip and deep-house diva Monday Michiru.’ (NPR)

Morgan Guerin saxophones/EWI, Jalen Baker vibraphone, Fabian Almazan piano/electronics, Dezron Douglas double bass/electric bass, Johnathan Blake drums