Saxophonist/clarinetist Dan Block has a dual reputation in the jazz world: he is well-regarded mainstream player, yet is best known as a specialist in traditional jazz. He’s a diverse talent, fitting like a chameleon into a host of musical genres on a variety of instruments. He has worked as a sideman with Toshiko Akiyoshi, Frank Wess, Richard Wyands, Wynton Marsalis  and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Harry Allen, Jerry Dodgion and Howard Alden. In the more traditional jazz vein he has worked frequently with Vince Giordano, Marty Grosz and Judy Carmichael.

 

Quite a bit of his work has been with singers, performing and recording with the likes of Michael Feinstein, Natalie Cole, Anne Hampton Calloway, Bobby Short, Linda Ronstadt and Rosemary Clooney. Block’s clarinet and saxophone have been heard in a number of motion pictures including The Aviator, The Good Shepherd, Revolutionary Road and most recently the critically acclaimed HBO series Boardwalk Empire. He has also played on countless radio and television commercials. He won the 2016 Charlie Parker Award as part of the BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop.  Block has recorded numerous CDs including his most recent, the Duke Ellington tribute From His World To Mine and the duo project Duality, both on Miles High.

 

Dan Block has the kind of musical focus that onlycomes with real experience. Classically trained at Juilliard, he has played nearly every style and genre of music from Salsa to Caribbean to, Klezmer, which have all come together to form a unique sound: his own.