Ran Blake is 91 years old, battling cancer and other serious health issues, and needs our help with the mounting costs of care.

This fundraiser is organized by people close to Ran: Sara Serpa and Dave Fabris, longtime friends and musical collaborators, and Yukiko Takagi, who has been dedicated to Ran's financial and healthcare needs since 2022. Ran Blake is the beneficiary of all donations and the funds will be deposited directly into Ran's bank account.

Since the 1950s he has been one of the most original pianists in American music, drawing from blues, gospel, film noir, and modern classical into a sound that belongs entirely to him. His 1962 recording with vocalist Jeanne Lee, The Newest Sound Around, was a landmark: a record that arrived fully formed and like nothing anyone had heard before, winning the RCA Album First Prize in Germany, the Prix Billie Holiday, and announcing a voice in American music that would only deepen over the decades that followed.

The New England Conservatory has been his home since 1967, where he founded the Contemporary Improvisation department and spent decades teaching musicians not just how to play but how to truly listen.

He is a MacArthur Fellow whose influence runs quietly and deeply through generations of American musicians, a dedicated educator who gave his students something that cannot be found in any curriculum, and an elder who carries within him stories, traditions, and an unique way of playing and hearing music that does not exist anywhere else.

Why We're Raising Funds:

Healthcare in America is expensive and unforgiving, especially at 91. Ran is dealing with cancer and other health issues and needs help covering in-home care and daily expenses.

Ran requires full-time, around-the-clock care costing more than $14,000 per month. His income alone is not enough to cover these expenses, making your support more critical than ever.

What Your Donation Covers:

Whatever you are able to give is welcome and needed.

Please share this campaign with every jazz lover, every NEC alumnus, every person who has ever been moved by a Ran Blake record or a Ran Blake class. The community he built is large. Let's show up for him when he needs the most.