BIO
Blaise first started playing the saxophone at the age of 12 and at the age of 14, debuted as a principle soloist with the Central Coast Philharmonia in Adam Gilberti’s award winning Genesis Concert in 2004. Shortly after his musical debut, he started performing and touring with the Violent Femmes’ horn section called The Horns of Dilemma where he studied and performed with Steve MacKay (Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and Violent Femmes) until Steve's death in 2015.
Blaise has since become an integral member of the Violent Femmes and is now the leader of the Horns of Dilemma. Over the last 14 years, he has performed, recorded, or toured with: Colin Hay (Men at Work), Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil), Jack Howard (Hunters and Collectors), Barenaked Ladies, Sly Stone (Sly and the Family Stone), Amlak Tafari (Steel Pulse), Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), and Mike Watt (Foo Fighters, Minutemen, Sonic Youth). Highlights of his musical career include performances at the Sydney Opera House, Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada, Montréal Jazz Festival in Montréal, Canada and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, USA.
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Blaise is a passionate saxophone collector whose collection ranges from the Soprillo to the Contrabass Saxophone. His collection was on display at the NAMM Museum of Making Music. While his primary focus are the lowest members of the saxophone family, he regularly performs on the Sopranino sax with the Violent Femmes as well as the more obscure Slide Sax, and F-Mezzo Soprano sax.
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Aside from playing all types of saxophones, Blaise plays a multitude of other instruments including: trombone, clarinet, keyboard/piano, flute, shakuhachi, harmonica, Native American traditional cedar flutes, and many other world instruments.
In addition to touring and performing, Blaise is an avid composer, studio musician and audio engineer. His compositions have been premiered at the University of California Los Angeles and the University of California San Diego. He currently resides in Hobart, Tasmania Australia where he works at MONA in the music department.