Oliver Lake

Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer and poet. He is known mainly for alto saxophone but he also performs on soprano and flute.

During the 1960s Lake worked with the Black Artists Group in St. Louis. In 1977 he founded the World Saxophone Quartet with David Murray, Julius Hemphill, and Hamiet Bluiett. He has worked in the group Trio 3 with Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille. He is the father of drummer Gene Lake.

Lake has been a resident of Montclair, New Jersey.

Awards and honors

• Guggenheim Fellowship (1993)
• Melon Jazz Living Legacy Award (2006)

Discography

As leader

• 1971: Ntu: Point from Which Creation Begins (Freedom)
• 1974: Passin' Thru (Passin' Thru)
• 1975: Heavy Spirits (Freedom)
• 1976: Holding Together (Black Saint)
• 1976: Joseph Bowie/Oliver Lake (Sackville)
• 1978: Shine (Arista Novus)
• 1978: Life Dance of Is (Arista Novus)
• 1978: Buster Bee (Sackville)
• 1979: Zaki (Hat Art)
• 1980: Prophet (Black Saint)
• 1981: Jump Up (Gramavision)
• 1981: Clevont Fitzhubert (Black Saint)
• 1982: Plug It (Gramavision)
• 1984: Expandable Language (Black Saint)
• 1986: Gallery (Gramavision)
• 1986: Dancevision (Blue Heron)
• 1987: Impala (Gramavision)
• 1988: Otherside (Gramavision)
• 1991: Again and Again (Gramavision)
• 1992: Boston Duets (Music & Arts)
• 1992: Virtual Reality (Total Escapism) (Gazell)
• 1994: Edge-ing (Black Saint)
• 1996: Dedicated to Dolphy (Black Saint)
• 1996: Matador of 1st & 1st (Passin' Thru)
• 1996: Movements, Turns & Switches (Passin' Thru)
• 2000: Talkin' Stick (Passin' Thru)
• 2000: Kinda' Up (Passin' Thru)
• 2001: Have Yourself A Merry (Passin' Thru)
• 2003: Cloth (Passin' Thru)
• 2004: Dat Love (Passin' Thru)
• 2005: Oliver Lake Quartet Live (Passin' Thru)
• 2006: Lake/Tchicai/Osgood/Westergaard (Passin' Thru)
• 2008: Makin' It (Passin' Thru)
• 2010: Plan (Passin' Thru)
• 2011: For a Little Dancin' (Intakt)
• 2013: Wheels (Passin' Thru)
• 2013: All Decks (Intakt)
• 2015: To Roy (Intakt)

With Trio 3

• Live in Willisau (Dizim, 1997)
• Encounter (Passin' Thru, 2000)
• Open Ideas (Palmetto, 2002)
• Time Being (Intakt, 2006)
• Live at the Sunset (Marge, 2008)
• At This Time (Intakt, 2009) with Geri Allen
• Berne Concert (Intakt, 2009) with Irene Schweizer
• Celebrating Mary Lou Williams (Intakt, 2010) with Geri Allen
• Refraction – Breakin' Glass (Intakt, 2013) with Jason Moran
• Wiring (Intakt, 2014) with Vijay Iyer
• Visiting Texture (Intakt, 2017)

With World Saxophone Quartet

As sideman

With Anthony Braxton

• New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)

With Alex Cline

• For People in Sorrow (Cryptogramophone, 2013)

With Billy Hart

• Enchance (Horizon, 1977)

With Michael Gregory Jackson

• Karmonic Suite (Improvising Artists, 1978)

With Wadada Leo Smith

• Song of Humanity (Kabell, 1977) also released on Kabell Years: 1971-1979 (Tzadik, 2004)

With James Blood Ulmer

• Are You Glad to Be in America? (Artists House, 1980)

With Mulgrew Miller

• Trio Transition with Special Guest Oliver Lake (DIW, 1988)