Set 11:30PM - Jam Session 12:30 - 2:00AM

JOE BLOCK - Piano

“Block is very intellectually engaged with the music. He thinks about the effects of different soloists, different time signatures, it really speaks on the completeness of his musicianship.”

-Wynton Marsalis

Joe Block is a Steinway Artist and award-winning pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and musical director from Philadelphia, PA. Classically trained from the age of two, he later discovered a deep passion for jazz while studying at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts and the Kimmel Center’s Creative Music Program, immersed in the city’s rich musical community.

Now based in New York City, Block is a graduate of the Columbia–Juilliard dual-degree program (BA ’21, MM ’22), where he studied with Geoffrey Keezer, Marc Cary, Ted Rosenthal, and Frank Kimbrough. He performs with Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Gary Bartz, and has appeared at venues including Carnegie Hall, Village Vanguard, and Apollo Theater.

Recognized by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of “jazz’s most promising young composers,” Block received the 2024 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award, was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition, and was selected as a finalist for the 2027 American Piano Awards.

Block is an active composer and arranger, contributing works for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Septet, as well as ensembles including the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, and artists including Grace Kelly and Kenny Overton. He leads his own ensembles, the Open Heart Trio and the Joe Block Quintet, dedicated to performing his original music, and has taught over 30 students, continuing the tradition that shaped his upbringing in Philadelphia.

He has served as guest musical director for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and as a guest conductor for the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. In 2025, Block served as associate musical director and pianist for George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck on Broadway, and as musical director for Ornada, an award-winning Armada Skis feature film presented with a live original score.

He has released two albums as a leader: Love Shadows, a collaboration with vocalist Shabnam Abedi, and Solo Piano, Vol. 1.

This event is All Ages

Seating is first-come, first-served; the last 10 spots in the room are standing room. ALL SALES ARE FINAL. WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCOMMODATE SWITCHING SETS OR DAYS.

JOE BLOCK - Late Set and Session

JOE BLOCK - Late Set and Session