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Jon Block

Composer, improvising pianist, occassional reviewer "Ancient Victories Folk and Jazz Review." Live in Sausalito, CA.

About Me

My Jazz Story

The first time I consciously listened to what promoters call "jazz" (and I call Great African-American Music) was at age 12. I played classical piano and one night my father brought home a Verve record called "More of the Greatest Piano of Them All"—which, of course, was Art Tatum. He put the record on. Out came music such as I had never heard before. How did he do it? It sounded like two people playing. I could not visualize the hand span that would make such playing possible—right hand descending runs where it sounded as if he dragged his thumb beneath his fingers. My first thought was: quit now. You will never achieve this level of perfection. Not merely the "technics" of Tatum's playing, but the fluidity of his harmonies, his instant embroideries on the melodies, his lyrical inventiveness. But I did not quit. Instead I began to listen to all the stations — usually late at night—playing this music they all called "jazz." I also studied clarinet, oboe and bassoon while continuing piano studies, but I was hooked on this amazing music. Living as I did in the NYC area, I was lucky enough to get to hear live performances by great musicians. Of the classical, among many others, Bernstein and the NY Phil., pianists Richter, Gilels, Rubenstein, Landowska, Ashkenazy, Laredo, Turek, Darré. Of the improvisers: Byard, Flanagan, Mingus, Monk, Jarrett, Hancock, Tyner--even Coltrane standing for a while on the steps going down to the Vanguard. In the 70s I heard a mind- blowing performace of solo piano by Andrew Hill where I was one of four people that afternoon in a basement club in Greenwich Village. Toward the end of that decade I got to hear Earl Hines, Tete Montolieu, Amina Claudine Myers, Cedar Walton, and Art Lande. Two musicians who were also significant to my development were Leroy Jenkins and Anthony Braxton. I heard Braxton solo and Jenkins twice, once with an increbible ensemble that included Ms. Myers, Pheroan Aklaf and Abdul Wadud. In the 80s and 90s, going to Hartford and Boston--big drives from VT where I lived then--I got to hear Don Pullen, Ran Blake and Cecil Taylor. Although I never heard live performances, Anthony Davis and Muhal Richard Abrams were also players whose recordings I listened to with great attention. Finally, there are four folks who must be mentioned: Charles Lloyd, who I have listened to with very great care since meeting him when he was briefly in residence at Reed College in 1967, John Abercrombie, who I got to chat with over some Irish whiskey and I was General Counsel for the Vermont Jazz Center and played with him in Bobby Sanabria's ensemble at VJC "jazz camp", and Raphe Malik (aka Larry Mazel) who with whom I had some "composition" lessons (zealous discussions about Miles' and Coltrane's timing and choices, how little it takes to get a tune up & more), and Marilyn Crispell, whose playing with Braxton and her solo and trio performances, the later with Henry Grimes and Andrew Cyrille, remain wellsprings of inspiration for me. My life from 1991 on was devoted to environmental justice ligitation. Shutting down nukes, with pal attorney Stephen Saltonstall getting charges dropped against 125 anti-nuke protestors, some of whom, like David and Elizabeth Dellinger, had chained themselves to the front gate of the Vermont Yakee Nuclear Power Station, moving to Takoma Pk and lobbying Congress for UCS under Bush II, then moving to Santa Fe and working for New Mexico Environmental Law Center going after LANL to clean up its mess, get out and hand back the land it stole from the Pueblos of San Ildenfoso, Santa Clara and Jemez, getting dairies to stop dumping animal waste into ground water, and stopping "golf-course communities" type development and mining from sucking up all the water in New Mexico-- among many other clients and causes. I never stopped playing and composing and listening. I've had works performed in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain and in Chicago with one tiny piece for toy piano (which I play straight and electrified) on a CD called "Toy Piano Takes The Stage." I'm "retired" --but not from music. Finally, music is my world.