About
Joseph Block is a pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader from Philadelphia, PA.
He began playing piano at the age of three, studying classical piano for ten years before switching to jazz in middle school. He was fortunate to be able to learn and study the music in Philadelphia, a city with a rich jazz history, at educational programs including the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz, the Kimmel Center, and Temple University. Now in college, Joseph resides in New York City where he attends both the Juilliard School and Columbia University. He studies with Frank Kimbrough and Bruce Barth. Joseph has worked and played with a list of many esteemed artists including Wynton Marsalis, Terell Stafford, Jaleel Shaw, Tim Warfield, Joe Farnsworth, and Byron Landham. He is an active bandleader and sideman in the Philadelphia jazz scene (Chris’ Jazz Cafe, South Jazz Parlor, @exuberance, the Kimmel Center, Clef Club, etc.) and frequently performs with his own quintet and the Philadelphia Ambassador Big Band which he co-founded and co-leads. He has performed in New York at Dizzy’s Club-Cola, Birdland, Bar Next Door, Symphony Space, Shapeshifter Lab, and at festivals including Montclair Jazz Festival, Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, Next Generation Jazz Festival, and Telluride Jazz Festival. Joseph was the 2017 YoungArts Jazz Piano National Finalist and was selected for the 2018 Telluride Jazz All-Stars Workshop. In December of 2018, he served as the musical director and pianist for Wynton Marsalis’ annual holiday performance at the NYC Brooks Brothers Flagship Store.
Hailed one of “jazz’s most promising young composers” by Jazz at Lincoln Center, Joseph is a skilled composer and arranger in both the jazz and classical genres.
He has written music for the Wynton Marsalis Septet, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, the Philadelphia Ambassador Big Band, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, and the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, for which he was commissioned to arrange part of a world premiere big band arrangement of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” in 2018. He was awarded in 2016 with the prestigious J. Douglas White Essentially Ellington Composition Competition and in 2017 with a National YoungArts award for jazz composition. He applies similar large ensemble arranging and compositional techniques when writing for his quintet.
Joseph teaches lessons in piano as well as arranging, in person or via Skype. If interested, please contact him through this page.
Schedule
3/16/19, 6:30-10:30pm
Eddie V’s Prime Seafood
King of Prussia, PA
Michelle Lordi Quartet
3/17/19, 6:30-9:30pm
Kelsey’s
1545 Pacific Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Tony Day Trio
3/22/19, 6:30-9:30
Hewn Spirits
42 Peddler’s Village Road, Store #42, Lahaska, PA 18931
Duo with Dylan Band
3/23/19, 7:00 and 9:30pm
South Jazz Parlor
600 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130
Joseph Block Trio + 1 featuring Joe Farnsworth
along with Larry McKenna and Nathan Pence
3/27/19, 5:30-9:30
Lambs Club
132 W. 44th Street, New York, NY 10036
Emily Braden Quartet
3/29/19, 7:00
Shapeshifter Lab
18 Whitwell Place, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Joseph Block Quintet
Featuring Noah Halpern, Abdias Armenteros, Kimon Karoutzos, and Francesco Ciniglio
Past Performances
2018
4/17 – Shrine World Music Venue – Jacob Melsha Quintet
4/21 – Columbia-Juilliard Exchange Recital – Duo with Joe Bell
4/29 – Triumph Brewing Company – Duo with Liam Sutcliffe
5/7 – Silvana – Jacob Melsha Quintet
5/10 – Bar Next Door at La Lanterna Di Vittorio – Trio with Adam Olszewski + Christian McGhee
5/11 – St. Ann’s School – Zaq Davis Senior Recital
5/17 – Sassafras – Duo with Dylan Band
5/18 – Chris’ Jazz Cafe – Philadelphia Ambassador Big Band
5/20 – Clark Park – Shyam Natarajan Sextet
5/25 – @exuberance – Joseph Block Quartet
5/28 – Del Frisco’s Steakhouse – Ben Turner Group
5/30 – Vintage Bar and Grill – Michelle Lordi and Richard Hill
6/1 – Mt. Zion Church in Devon, PA – Cedric Napoleon Trio
6/3 – Act II Playhouse – Philadelphia Ambassador Big Band
6/8 – Kimmel Center – Arranger for Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia’s performance of Holst’s “The Planets” (movement: Venus)
6/10 – Kelsey’s – Tony Day Trio
6/14 – Messiah College – Guest Speaker at Central PA Jazz Camp
6/14 – Sassafras – Duo with Ben Turner
6/19 – La Cour – Liam Broderick Quintet
6/22 – Spangalang Brewery – Rico Jones Quartet
6/24 – Birdland – DW Jazz Orchestra with Benny Benack III
7/6 – Cedar Park – Nazir Ebo Quartet
7/7 – Hewn Spirits – Dylan Band and Dylan Reis
7/8 – Paris Bistro – Joseph Block Trio
7/12 – Spectrum – James Haddad Quintet
7/13 – Cedar Park – Dylan Band, Rani Barlas, and Nazir Ebo
7/15 – Maxwell on Main’s – Lucas Ebeling Trio
7/25 – Chris’ Jazz Café – Brian Morris Quintet
7/27 – Chris’ Jazz Café – Joseph Block Sextet Plays Monk
7/29 – Hatboro Baptist Church – Joseph Block and Friends (Quartet)
8/4 – Telluride Jazz Festival – 2018 Telluride Jazz All-Stars
8/8 – Dazzle – Liam Broderick Quintet
8/10 – Bookstore Speakeasy – Ben Turner Group
8/11 – Manoff Market Gardens (2018 Peach Festival) – Lucas Ebeling Trio
8/12 – May The Jazz Never Stop Café – Brian Morris Quartet
8/17 – Chris’ Jazz Café – Philadelphia Ambassador Big Band
8/20 – 1867 Sanctuary – Alex Laurenzi Quartet
8/24 – Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz – Band, Halpern, Block, Hill, and Landham
8/27 – Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola – DW Jazz Orchestra with Benny Benack III
8/29 – Vintage Bar and Grill – Michelle Lordi, Mike Boone, and Sonny Troy
8/30 – Malcom X Park – Dylan Band, Nathan Pence, and Nazir Ebo
9/20 – Spectrum – Joe Block/Dylan Band Duo
9/30 – Jazz Exchange Secret Show @ Tazso Espresso Bar – Austin Zhang Quintet
10/13 – South Jazz Parlor – Emily Braden
10/15 – Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola – Juilliard Jazz Max Roach Ensemble with special guest Brianna Thomas
10/25-27 – Jazz at Lincoln Center Rose Hall – Guest arranger of “Ruby, My Dear” for JALC plays Monk concert
11/2 – GMHC – Solo piano
11/4 – Grace Lutheran Church – Vocalists Michelle Lordi and Shakera Jones
11/21 – Eddie V’s Prime Seafood (King of Prussia) – Michelle Lordi Quartet
12/4 – Juilliard School, Paul Hall – Juilliard Jazz Max Roach Ensemble featuring special guest Carla Cook
12/13 – Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola – Riley Mulhakar’s Red Hot Holiday (Riley Mulhakar)
12/18 – 2018 Brooks Brothers Holiday Celebration – Wynton Marsalis and Friends (musical director and pianist)
12/21 – Chris’ Jazz Café – Philadelphia Ambassador Big Band
12/22-23 – Philadelphia City Hall Courtyard – Emmanuel Ohemeng III and Perpetual Motion
12/23 – Hatboro Baptist Church – Philadelphia Ambassador Big Band with pianist Mark Livshits
12/26 – Vintage Bar and Grill – Michelle Lordi, Dylan Taylor, Sonny Troy
12/31 – Eddie V’s Prime Seafood – Michelle Lordi, Matthew Parish, Doug Hirlinger
2019
1/2 – Heritage – Jake Kelberman Quartet
1/9 – Vintage Bar and Grill – Larry McKenna and Nathan Pence
1/11 – Eddie V’s Prime Seafood – Michelle Lordi, Matthew Parish, Byron Landham
1/14 – HUC-JIR Soup Kitchen – Solo piano
1/17 – Shanghai Jazz – Shaan Pandiri Quintet
1/21 – Boudoir – James Haddad Quartet
1/25 – Lambs Club – Emily Braden
2/5 – Chris’ Jazz Café – Andrew Carson Trumpet Sextet
2/8 – Chris’ Jazz Café – Joseph Block Quintet
2/18 – Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola – Juilliard Jazz Max Roach Ensemble
2/20 – Bang and Olufsen – Dan Chimilenski Quartet
2/22 – Lamb’s Club – Emily Braden Trio
2/23 – Lamb’s Club – Emily Braden Quartet
Press
Review of my arrangement of "Venus" (from Holst's "The Planets") for the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia (June, 2018)
Hill piano prodigy returns to entertain MALT
Media
Pianist Joseph Block Live In the WRTI Performance StudioToday in the WRTI Performance Studio we are joined by 19 year old pianist and Philadelphia native Joseph Block. Joseph co-founded and leads the Philadelphia Ambassador Big Band and was the 2016 winner of the Essentially Ellington composition contest at Lincoln Center.
Posted by WRTI on Friday, 25 May 2018
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