Blake & Ryu were paired for TJG's Mentor Series in 2023 and from there Dabin went on to record her album “Trio” with Johnathan joining her on drums; they performed together again at NoMad Jazz Festival this past August, and are headed back at TJG this December!
Johnathan Blake - drums
Dabin Ryu - piano
Jaleel Shaw - alto saxophone
Emmanuel Michael - guitar
Dezron Douglas - bass
Johnathan Blake, one of the most accomplished drummers of his generation, has also proven himself a complete and endlessly versatile musician. Blake’s gift for composition and band leading reflects years of live and studio experience across the aesthetic spectrum. Heralded by NPR Music as “the ultimate modernist,” he has collaborated with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Tom Harrell, Hans Glawischnig, Avishai Cohen, Donny McCaslin, Linda May Han Oh, Jaleel Shaw, Chris Potter, Maria Schneider, Alex Sipiagin, Kris Davis and countless other distinctive voices.
DownBeat once wrote, “It’s a testament to Blake’s abilities that he makes his presence felt in any context.” A frequent presence on Blue Note records over the past several years, Blake has contributed his strong, limber pulse and airy precision to multiple leader releases from Blue Note artists including Bill Frisell Four (2022), Dr. Lonnie Smith’s Breathe (2021), All in My Mind (2018) and Evolution (2016) and Kenny Barron’s Concentric Circles (2018), the latter whose trio Blake has been a vital member for nearly 15 years. Blake’s own Blue Note leader albums include Homeward Bound (2021) and Passage (2023), both featuring his band Pentad with Immanuel Wilkins, Joel Ross, David Virelles, and Dezron Douglas.
Award-winning pianist and composer Dabin Ryu brings cerebral depth and emotional richness to every performance. Born in Seoul and based in NYC, she’s a Juilliard Artist Diploma candidate with prior degrees from Berklee and Manhattan School of Music.
Ryu’s music reflects a profound grasp of jazz history, filtered through a highly personal lens. Winner of the 2024 UNISA International Piano Competition and the 2025 Jazz Gallery Residency Commission, she has played iconic venues like Smalls and Dizzy’s, and collaborated with greats like Ralph Peterson. With her trio, she explores original compositions with nuance, improvisational elegance, and magnetic presence.
About The Jazz Gallery Mentoring Series
Mentorship has always been a key theme in jazz history. Most of today’s great jazz musicians were raised through informal channels and gained invaluable experience working alongside their heroes. Future generations of great jazz will depend on the continuation of this community-minded mentoring tradition that is, unfortunately, becoming less common as jazz education has become more formalized in conservatory and university settings.
The Jazz Gallery developed its Mentorship Program to cultivate a group of senior-level jazz musicians as mentors and to provide aspiring musicians with the opportunity to learn the music and business of jazz under the guidance of their contemporary heroes.
These young musicians will have the opportunity to learn by preparing for and performing in 4 concerts that are booked as a mini-tour, which will provide mentees with the opportunity to deepen their creative practice and performance skills. This will also teach mentees more practical skills of being working artists—skills set that are not taught in conservatory classrooms.
SPONSORSHIP
The Jazz Gallery is a not-for-profit arts organization presenting emerging artists who challenge convention, take creative risks, and lead their field as performers, composers and thinkers. We provide a platform for artists to discover their unique voice and a home for established musicians to continue to experiment and grow. At The Jazz Gallery, artists and audiences come together from around the world to explore new creative ideas, collaborate and celebrate jazz as a dynamic art form that reflects our ever-changing world.
We rely on the generosity of our members and community to keep the music playing, thank you for your continued and much appreciated support! If you would like to sponsor a Livestream Concert, please use the links above or be in touch with our Executive Director, Janet Luhrs, here.