Jazz Articles about Rory Block

The Blues According To Rory Block

by C. Michael Bailey
October 20, 2024

Being a household name depends as much on the household as it does the name. Not all reading this will know who Rory Block is, but in the households with fans of the rural blues, slide guitar and innovative women in music, to not know would be criminal. Born in Princeton, New Jersey, Block grew up in Manhattan where her father had Allan Block's Sandal Shop on Positively 4th Street in Greenwich Village. Block grew up hanging out ...

Rory Block: Positively 4th Street - A Tribute To Bob Dylan

by Doug Collette
June 30, 2024

Artists sufficiently motivated to offer homage to Bob Dylan can still end up sounding more foolish than brave. With Positively 4th Street--A Tribute To Bob Dylan, veteran contemporary folksinger Rory Block places herself in the latter category and with no little panache too. Apart from guitarist Cindy Cashdollar's baritone guitar solo etching “Not Dark Yet," Block handles all the vocals, guitars and percussion on these nine recordings. And in keeping with that aforementioned courageous choice of song featuring ...

Rory Block: A Woman’s Soul: A Tribute to Bessie Smith

by C. Michael Bailey
August 11, 2018

Blues guitarist and vocalist Rory Block serves up an inspired portrait of and homage to Bessie Smith on A Woman's Soul: A Tribute to Bessie Smith. Block has recorded several “tribute" albums, including Blues Walkin' Like a Man: A Tribute to Son House (Stoney Plain, 2008); Shake 'Em On Down: A Tribute to Mississippi Fred McDowall (Stoney Plain, 2011); I Belong to the Band: A Tribute to Rev. Gary Davis (Stoney Plain, 2012); Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt ...

Rory Block: From the Dust

by Jim Santella
February 16, 2005

Rory Block's acoustic blues interpretations carry a message that reaches out and takes control of your senses. A light, flexible singing voice and a comfortable guitar accompaniment ensure that her message will linger.

Block's fresh originals dig into our daily lives and reflect upon the way we feel about ourselves. Spiritual themes and country ballads tell stories about the land and the way we operate with what we've got.

Robert Johnson's “Stones in my Passageway" brings ...

Rory Block: From the Dust

by C. Michael Bailey
January 30, 2005

Rory Block From the Dust Telarc International 2005

Aurora Block spent her first two releases for Telarc (2003's Last Fair Deal and 2004's Sisters and Brothers ) going from zero to eighty miles-per-hour where she is currently cruising comfortably on From The Dust. Miss Block's recordings have always been mixed affairs with sprite originals blended with well-selected and -performed war horses. From the Dust possesses an internal organization more fully formed here than on ...