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Take Five With Lena Bloch

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By AAJ Staff
April 1, 2014
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Meet Lena Bloch:
Lena Bloch was born in Moscow and has studied music in Israel, Germany, and the United States where she earned a Master's of Music in Composition at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Since moving to the United States in 2003, Bloch has been a solist with the Vermont Jazz Big Band, the Ambassadors of Light, Vishnu Wood Quartet, and the Northampton Jazz Workshop. In 2008, Bloch moved to Brooklyn and has performed with notable artists like

Dan Tepfer

piano
b.1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Dan Tepfer,

Roberta Piket

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Roberta Piket,

George Schuller

drums
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">George Schuller,

Frank Carlberg

composer / conductor

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Carlberg,

Putter Smith

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Putter Smith,

Mark Ferber

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Ferber,

Sumi Tonooka

piano
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Sumi Tonooka,

Kim Clarke

" data-original-title="" title="">Kim Clarke,

Vladimir Shafranov

" data-original-title="" title="">Vladimir Shafranov as well as several musicians associated with the

Lennie Tristano

piano
1919 - 1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Lennie Tristano school like Ted Brown,

Connie Crothers

piano
1941 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Connie Crothers, Joe Solomon, and Bob Arthurs. Bloch has also gained significant recognition in Europe and has perfomed with musicians like the Embryo band,

Keith Copeland

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Copeland,

Alvin Queen

drums
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">Alvin Queen, and

Steve Reid

drums
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Steve Reid

Instrument(s):
Saxophone, flute, and clarinet.

Teachers and/or influences?

Lester Young

saxophone
1909 - 1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Lester Young,

Yusef Lateef

woodwinds
1920 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Yusef Lateef,

Lee Konitz

saxophone, alto
1927 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Lee Konitz,

Warne Marsh

saxophone, tenor
1927 - 1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Warne Marsh, and

Clifford Jordan

saxophone, tenor
1931 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Clifford Jordan.

I knew I wanted to be a musician when...
I started writing my own songs and singing them for people.

Your sound and approach to music:
In these immortal Italo Calvino's words: "Lightness, quickness, exactitude, visibility, multiplicity, consistency" from Six Memos for the Next Millennium.

Your teaching approach:
Flexibility, playfulness, encouragement, optimism, positive thinking, relaxation.

Your dream band:
The ideal band is where musicians are completely unpredictable, yet with total trust, self-abandonment and listening intensely. This depends on the situation as much as on individual personalities.

Road story: Your best or worst experience:
"If you are imitating someone, it is not anyone I know..."—from the audience.

Favorite venue:
The Drawing Room Brooklyn.

Your favorite recording in your discography and why?
The next one; I care so much about it.

The first Jazz album I bought was:
My parents had them all.

What do you think is the most important thing you are contributing musically?
Blending with other band members.

Did you know...
I apply geometry to music teaching and have created a mobile cycle of fifths with a pattern drawing device.

CDs you are listening to now:

Joe Diorio

guitar
1936 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Diorio, Stateside (Dioro Jazz, 2001);
Lee Konitz , Inside Hi- Fi (Koch, 1989);

Warne Marsh

saxophone, tenor
1927 - 1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Warne Marsh, Two Days In The Life Of... (Storyville, 1994);
Anything I can find from Hans Werner Henze.

Desert Island picks:
No CD player.

How would you describe the state of jazz today?
Evolving.

What are some of the essential requirements to keep jazz alive and growing?
Change public opinion that music is entertainment and only popular is valuable. Promote jazz artists' lives, names, appearances, projects, and inter- stylistic connections.

What is in the near future?
Performing in March and April with my favorite musicians:

Billy Mintz

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Mintz,

Dave Miller

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Miller,

Cameron Brown

bass
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Cameron Brown,

Putter Smith

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Putter Smith,

Russ Lossing

piano
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Russ Lossing, Frank Carlberg. I'm thinking of doing a project on Brodsky's poetry and a

Clifford Jordan

saxophone, tenor
1931 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Clifford Jordan tribute.

What's your greatest fear when you perform?
That people won't show up and we will play for an empty space.

What song would you like played at your funeral?
Oh, maybe none.

What is your favorite song to whistle or sing in the shower?
A song of the day; it's always different. It has recently been "Why Try To Change Me Now."

By Day:
I teach 5 days a week.

If I weren't a jazz musician, I would be a:
I wouldn't be here at all. Jazz saved my life.

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Lena Bloch Concerts

Oct 4 Sat

Lena Bloch & Feathery

Puffin Cultural Forum
Teaneck, NJ

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