A World-Encompassing Take on Jazz

Ben Rosenblum is a young man who embraces the present, yet looks to the future while honoring the past in creating and performing the music that stirs his soul: jazz. 

The multi-instrumentalist’s singular take on the genre can be heard live, on Feb. 27, when he and his sextet, the Nebula Project, bring their talents to the Marco Island Center for the Arts.

A New York City-based, internationally touring, jazz pianist-accordionist and composer, Rosenblum, 30, has released two CDs with his bandmates: 2020’s “Kites and Strings” and 2023’s “A Thousand Pebbles.” The band’s repertoire is diverse, with roots in the jazz and popular music traditions, yet heavily influenced by the global music of such disparate locales as South America, Eastern Europe, Ireland and the Caribbean. 

Rosenblum’s original compositions are being featured during what is a one-month-long tour of Florida during February. 

“We're getting ready to get into the studio to record our third album as soon as we get back, so we're going to be playing a lot of music that's brand new that nobody's really heard until this tour,” he said. “So, I'm very excited to be debuting that work. In general, on my last two albums, I usually include a couple arrangements of other people's compositions, as well. We've recorded Leonard Bernstein's “Somewhere,” (from “West Side Story”). We perform that sometimes. We recorded Antonio Carlos Jobim's song called “Song of the Sabiá” and also a Bulgarian folk melody. I like to cast a wide net.”

His “wide net” incorporates frequent use of an instrument not often associated with jazz: the accordion. However, Rosenblum said the instrument has a long, if not commonly known, history with the genre.

“There have been some great jazz accordionists over the years,” he explained. “I think as a jazz instrument, it had a small bump in popularity towards the 40s and 50s. And then more recently, as jazz continues to find intersections with different styles of music, whether it's world music or R&B, hip-hop, folk music, singer-songwriter or even pop music, I think people are introducing it back into jazz in ways that combine with the styles of music that accordions are native to.”

Rosenblum began studying piano at around age five, starting with classical studies, while also developing a love of improvisation. It was his mother, Monique, a jazz aficionado, who introduced him to the genre. 

“I started learning more about that music a little before high school. That really motivated me to start getting very serious about music. And then in college, I picked up the accordion as a second instrument,” said the graduate of the Columbia University-Juilliard School of Music joint program. “So, my musical career and background has been evolving and I guess continues to evolve.”

Rosenblum enjoys exploring the accordion’s sonic palette, which he said offers possibilities beyond those of the piano. 

“I think between the two instruments, the piano is like an orchestra,” he said. “It's a gorgeous instrument. And it has such a wide range of different colors and expressions that you can get out of it. But there are a lot of things that the piano can't do, such as things you can do with a horn, like getting louder or softer within a single note or putting vibrato on a note or bending notes. They’re things that the piano is not designed to do, but the accordion can do all of those things.”

As a composer, Rosenblum is drawn to creating music that is centered on solid, recognizable melodies. However, he also acknowledges that jazz is known as music that often involves complicated rhythms, harmonies and solos. That seeming paradox is something he enjoys dispelling.

“I think if you can have a melody that sticks with people, even within all the complexities of what jazz has to offer,” he said, “that's when I find composition to be the most powerful. I really love exploring the rhythmic worlds of different world music genres, as well. I feel that everyone can appreciate a consistent rhythmic pattern, no matter where it is from. There’s that feeling where you want to move or dance or tap your foot. That's universal to so many different styles of music. Instrumental music can seem very abstract to some people. When people listen to my music, I want them to be able to immediately identify with the composition’s narrative quality.”

Marco Island Center for the Arts is located at 1010 Winterberry Drive. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit marcoislandart.org. For more information about Ben Rosenblum and the Nebula Project, please visit benrosenblummusic.com/.