Drummer, composer, and bandleader Johnathan Blake follows up his acclaimed 2021 Blue Note debut Homeward Bound with Passage, an uplifting sequel that once again features his band Pentad with Immanuel Wilkins on alto saxophone, Joel Ross on vibraphone, David Virelles on piano, and Dezron Douglas on bass. Dedicated to the memory of his father John Blake Jr., a jazz violinist whose stirring composition “Passage” gives the album its title, the 10-track set also features five new originals by Blake, as well as pieces by Douglas, Virelles, and Blake’s drum teacher and mentor Ralph Peterson Jr.
