About

Joe Block is a pianist, composer, bandleader, and musical director from Philadelphia, PA. He started playing classical piano at age two before he took an interest to jazz in middle school. He now lives in New York City where he is in high demand and has toured with artists including Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Leslie Odom Jr. Block is hailed by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of "jazz's most promising young composers", and is a 2024 recipient of the ASCAP’s Herb Albert Young Jazz Composer Award. He was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition. As a bandleader, he leads the Open Heart Trio and the Joe Block Quintet, where he plays many of his original compositions. Block is also the musical director of the Future of Jazz Orchestra. He is a graduate of the Columbia-Juilliard dual-degree program (BA ‘21 and MM ‘22).

Music

I am classically trained and began studying jazz as an early teenager. My influences include McCoy Tyner, Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Brad Mehldau, and Duke Ellington. I also compose my own music and enjoy playing it. I draw my repertoire from classical, jazz, broadway, and the popular music worlds, and often mix them together.

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