The first volume of Painted Rhythms, from the same sessions as its partner, was an excellent introduction to pianist
Ran Blake's style, for it included his reharmonizations of a variety of jazz standards and obscurities. The second volume ranges from
Blake's often-scary originals ("Shoah!," "Babbit," "Storm Warning") to 1,000-year-old melodies written by Spanish Jews and a fourth reinterpretation of "Maple Leaf Rag" (the first three were on the first volume). Throughout,
Blake was quite concise (only "Shoah!" exceeded four minutes and seven other sketches were under two), very expressive, and, as usual, totally individual. ~ Scott Yanow, Cadence