Eli Block

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Eli Block is a versatile trumpet player and educator based in Boston. He performs regularly throughout New England with groups including the BT/ALC Big Band, Dan Gabel and The Abletones, and the Henry Godfrey Jazz Orchestra. He has also performed with the legendary Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Johnny Mathis, Gunhild Carling, and the Grammy-winning 8-Bit Big Band. In November 2022, he was featured as a Visiting Artist at St. Olaf College, where he led two master classes and performed as a featured soloist with the jazz bands.

Block received his Master’s degree in Jazz Performance with academic honors from New England Conservatory in May 2020. During his time at NEC, he was a member of the NEC Jazz Orchestra and a recipient of the NEC Beneficent Society Scholarship. Block is a member of the Jazz Education Network (JEN) and has performed alongside renowned artists such as Dave Holland, Dave Douglas, Miguel Zenón, Ethan Iverson, Luciana Souza, Antonio Sánchez, George Schuller, and Ran Blake.

Henry Godfrey Jazz Orchestra: Attitude & Gratitude

Read "Attitude & Gratitude" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
April 24, 2023

There are five songs on Attitude & Gratitude, drummer Henry Godfrey's Boston-based Jazz Orchestra's second album, and each one is a tribute to people, places or circumstances that have helped Godfrey grow as a musician and as a person. In order, they are “For McCoy" (honoring pianist McCoy Tyner and other jazz legends who have passed on); “Mad Max" (for the city [Washington, DC] in which Godfrey grew up); “Forgetting What Will Never Be" (for lost love and ...