On Thursday, Oct. 8, jazz pianist and composer Joe Block will perform at the Chestnut Hill Community Association’s “Fall Frolic: An Evening in the French Quarter.” The Local caught up with him to talk about his upcoming performance, his collaborators, and sending your art out into the world.
Joe Block, thank you so much for taking some time to talk to me today. This will be your third performance at the community association’s Fall Frolic, correct?
That is correct, yes.
Thank you so much for coming back and performing this again for us. Do you approach playing an event like this differently than you would performing at a more traditional jazz club or performance hall?
Yeah, definitely. Being a jazz musician, we constantly are sort of evaluating our approach to how we’re playing on a micro level and a macro level. I mean, within the music, there’s certain things that we do, but also just environment-wise. You know, I’m going to play differently if I’m playing my big concert hall versus if I’m playing for a Christmas party for a law firm. Not in a way that compromises the music, but it’s just more of a different approach. This is sort of like a hybrid of both. My experiences of the Fall Frolic have been really wonderful. And it’s great to just set the atmosphere for the room. It allows us to showcase what we do on a very, direct performance of it. It’s more of a mindset thing.
You recently announced that this year you’re going to be joined by vocalist Imani Rousselle, who you worked with on [the George Clooney Broadway play] “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Can you tell me a little about what collaborating with her is like?
We’ve both lived in New York for some time now, but we didn’t get to connect. And so we both were asked to be involved in that show — I mean, I could talk your ear off about that, but I won’t (laughs), but that was a really, really unique, wonderful experience. Being involved in that production, I got to see her basically every day for six months. On stage, we would interact as characters in the show, but we also, outside of the show, became friends. There was a part of the show where every night we’d get to play chess together on stage. I’m an extremely competitive person when it comes to games like that and it’d just be a fun five-minute part of the evening because, you know, the show was the same every night. That was one of the only parts of the night that had some improvised moments. Since then, I’ve gotten to work with her, a good amount around New York. She’s also going to be joining me for my annual Christmas show that I do every year, in Philadelphia at Chris’s Jazz Cafe, at the end of December.
She’s great. She’s a really wonderful singer. She is very versatile because she sings a bunch of different styles of music and above all, is just a great storyteller. I never feel like she’s forcing the narrative of the song; she just tells it very honestly and very from the heart. So I’m looking forward to bringing her to the Frolic this year.
Is this a band that you perform with regularly, or is this sort of a group that you work with primarily for this show?
Well, the jazz scene is like a big web of musicians that all play in different iterations all the time, and it’s less common that you’ll see one particular group only play all the time. It definitely exists, in the higher levels of the industry, and I have my own groups that I play with in certain contexts, but these guys are just people that I’ve known my whole life. Byron [Landham] and Madison [Rast], the drummer and bass players, they’re of a different generation than me and they were sort of my mentors when I was growing up in Philadelphia. I got to play with them and other older musicians that, through osmosis, taught me and this saxophone player Dylan [Band], who’s my age, as well different tools and tricks of the trade. So whenever I get the chance to play with Byron and Madison and others in that generation, it’s definitely special and it’s a treat. I don’t get to play too often in Philly nowadays, so the Fall Frolic is actually one of the more consistent things that I do in the Philadelphia area, and that’s when I always try to get the same group for consistency purposes and also just because it’s really fun for me to play with them.
Can you give us a preview of some of the music we can expect to hear on Oct. 8 at the Fall Frolic?
I know the theme is more New Orleans and the French Quarter. So we’re definitely going to be tapping into some of that. Also, we’re going to be paying homage to Philadelphia jazz composers of which there are many: Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner. There’s a lot of amazing jazz legends from Philly, so we’re going to be paying tribute to some of them, and then also giving Imani a chance to really showcase her voice and play the music she wants to do.
That’s going to be great. Thank you for your time. I look forward to seeing you on the 8th at the Fall Frolic
Thanks, Will.
Will Standish is membership and administration coordinator for the Chestnut Hill Community Association.
“The Fall Frolic, An Evening in the French Quarter” supports the Chestnut Hill Community Association and will be held on Thursday, Oct. 8 from 6:30 p.m. at Chestnut Hill College’s Saint Joseph Hall. Tickets are available now at chestnuthill.org or by phone at 215-248-8810. The Chestnut Hill Community Association would like to thank its sponsors to date, Temple Health-Chestnut Hill Hospital and Chestnut Hill College.
