A native of St Louis, Dan Block (BM ’79, MM ’80, clarinet) took up the saxophone just short of his 14th birthday, trumpet soon after, and clarinet the following year. An indelible memory was hearing Eubie Blake at the St Louis Ragtime Festival and being exposed to John Coltrane in the same week. Classical music and the great American Songbook standards were constantly being played in his home, and he was influenced by both. While at Juilliard, pursuing a degree in clarinet, Block divided his time between jam sessions in the New York loft scene and orchestral and chamber music duties at school. He was at this time fortunate enough to participate in Charles Mingus’ final recording project,which resulted inSomething Like a Bird and Me, Myself an Eye. Playing alongside Charles McPherson, Pepper Adams, and theB reckers was transformative; playing in the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, and George Solti provided a contrasting perspective.
Saxophone Clarinet