Saturday, June 22, 2019 at 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM PDT
The Episcopal Church of the Incarnation,
1750 29th Ave
San Francisco, CA
Award-winning jazz pianist, composer and accordionist Ben
Rosenblum has been described as “mature beyond his years,” (Jon Neudorf, Sea of
Tranquility), and as an “impressive talent” (C. Michael Bailey, All About
Jazz), who “caresses [the music] with the reverence it merits” (Bob Doerschuk,
Downbeat Magazine). Ben is based primarily in New York City, and is a graduate
of the Columbia-Juilliard program (in 2016). His original music combines his
extensive knowledge of the history of jazz with a free-wheeling, modern melodic
sensibility and powerful narrative approach to the piano. His profound passion
for jazz, swing and world music genres finds expression in his unique fusion of
harmonic and rhythmic elements from a wide array of sources, and gives rise to
a signature compositional sound and style at once iconoclastic and deeply
rooted in such figures as Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly. Ben’s first priority in
his composition and in his playing is always narrative – to tell a compelling
story with his music, while reaching the hearts of his audience, connecting on
an emotional, an intellectual and a spiritual level.
Reviewers of his debut album Instead – released in 2017 with
bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Billy Hart – have been impressed by his
musicality and his tasteful playing in light of his immense technical skill.
Bob Doerschuk of Downbeat Magazine gave the album four stars, and wrote, “He
has the chops to shoot off a few fireworks, … but that doesn’t seem to be a
priority when covering sacred material.” C. Michael Bailey notes approvingly:
“there do emerge conservatoire aces with grit in their imagination and a
facility to express such in their playing. Ben Rosenblum is one such
performer/composer. The Julliard-Columbia trained pianist brings a freighter of
technique to the keyboard, while still maintaining enough earthiness in his
playing to satisfy even the fussiest listener.” Fred Stal of RG Magazine most
recently described his experience of listening to Ben’s live CD release
performance: “The music keeps you on your feet and not wanting to miss a single
moment of magic. … Raindrops from heaven poured down with style and grace from
Rosenblum’s piano.”
Since the release of Ben’s debut album, Ben has been
touring regularly – both nationally and internationally – celebrating the album
and collaborating with artists around the world. Ben’s trio made debuts in
Japan and in Canada in 2018. During his two-week tour of Japan, Ben performed
in eight different cities, including in Tokyo at Akasaka B-flat, and in
Yokohama at Himawari-no-sato Concert Hall with famed koto player Yuko Watanabe.
Highlights of his Canada tour included appearances at Upstairs Jazz in
Montreal, Maelstrom and Bar Ste-Angele in Quebec City and the Southminster
“Doors Open For Music” Concert Series in Ottawa. In the United States, Ben has
traveled extensively throughout the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast, with
trips planned for the South and Southwest. These domestic tours have featured
performances at some of the most well-respected venues in the country,
including Kuumbwa Jazz Center (Santa Cruz), Ravinia (Chicago), Cliff Bells
(Detroit), An Die Musik (Baltimore), The Bop Stop (Cleveland), Mezzrow (New
York City) and many others. As a sideman, Ben has had further opportunities to
tour the world. In 2018, he traveled for three weeks through Croatia, Slovenia,
Italy and Serbia with Astrid Kuljanic, during which the group performed at
multiple festivals, including the Ljeto na Bundeka Festival in Zagreb and the
Soboško Poletje Festival in Murska Sobota. He also performed for two nights at
the Blue Note in Beijing alongside famed jazz singer Deborah Davis.
Born and raised in New York City, Ben had the opportunity
to study with some of the most influential figures in jazz piano, including
Frank Kimbrough, Bruce Barth, Ben Waltzer and Roy Assaf. At the early age of
sixteen, the originality of his work was already being recognized with numerous
awards, including the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award (2010), the Downbeat
Student Music Award for Best Original Song (2010) and the Downbeat Student
Music Award for Best Arrangement (2011). As a result, even before entering
Columbia, Ben was commissioned by the XIBUS World Orchestra to write a piece
for performance at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall in 2012. Ben has
continued to earn numerous distinctions and honors in recent years. In 2015, he
was a finalist at the American Jazz Pianist Competition in Melbourne, Florida,
and in 2016, at the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition in Jacksonville,
Florida. In 2018, he earned further recognition from the ASCAP Young Jazz
Composers Award competition in the form of an honorable mention, and he was
featured at the ASCAP Foundation’s 2018 “We Write The Songs” event at the
Library of Congress in Washington D.C.
In addition to his own work, Ben often collaborates with
other musicians. He has worked extensively with Grammy-nominated singer Ryland
Angel on several compositional projects, including the project Unspoken, which
premiered at the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, in November of 2016. His
debut album Instead has received very favorable reviews from a wide range of
sources throughout the world, including Downbeat Magazine, All About Jazz,
Drumset Magazine (Italy) and The Jazz Writer (Germany).
Ben Rosenblum Jazz Trio:
·
Ben
Rosenblum – piano/accordion
·
Greg
Feingold – bass
·
Ben Zweig
– drum
Cost: $20
