Jazz School News, Thoughts and Events.

Steve Rodby Joins Bloom School Faculty.

Posted by David Bloom on Oct 21, 2013 2:44:00 AM

We are very happy to announce that Steve Rodby, 13-time Grammy winner and Bloom alumnus, has joined our faculty. Steve is teaching bass (electric and upright) as well as music production and video editing.

Acoustic and electric bassist, editor and producer Steve Rodby was born in Joliet, Illinois. Steve began studying classical orchestral bass at age 10, and quickly developed an intense interest in jazz and pop music. A graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in classical bass performance, Steve studied with Warren Benfield (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), renowned jazz bassist Rufus Reid and jazz guru David Bloom. Steve has performed with numerous jazz greats, including Joe Henderson, Roy Haynes, Tony Bennett, Teddy Wilson, Milt Jackson, Art Farmer, Sonny Stitt, George Coleman, Ira Sullivan, Zoot Sims, Lee Konitz, Jackie McLean, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Kenny Burrell, James Moody, Johnny Griffin and Monty Alexander.

In addition to being the bassist in the Pat Metheny Group for 3 decades, Steve has conducted orchestras, recorded with many other artists in both jazz and pop, and lately has spent much of his time producing and editing, both audio and video.

His work as a producer includes Oregon In Moscow (Oregon's recording with the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra) which was nominated for four Grammy awards, six records by Eliane Elias - including Dreamer, Something For You, Bossa Nova Stories - and numerous non-PMG projects with Metheny, including the Jim Hall & Pat Metheny duo record, two Pat Metheny Trio records, the soundtrack for A Map Of The World and the Grammy winner One Quiet Night. He also did extensive production on two Michael Brecker recordings, Nearness Of You and the Grammy winner Pilgrimage. In all, Steve has won 13 Grammys.

Steve edited the video and audio for the Pat Metheny Group's DVDs Imaginary Day Live and The Way Up - Live, as well as other music videos, and several full length concert specials for broadcast on PBS and DVD release, including Anúna's Celtic Origins. Steve produced and edited both the audio and video for world famous classical marimba star Nancy Zeltman's latest productions, music by Messaien arranged for marimba and clarinet. 

More recently, Steve worked as a producer on legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden's Rambling Boy, performed on tour with singer/songwriter Boz Scaggs, and did production work on Maria Schneider's Grammy winning Sky Blue, as well as Pat Metheny's  most recent recordings Orchestrion and Unity Band, and Grammy Award "Best New Artist" Esperanza Spalding's 2 back-to-back Grammy Award winning albums Concert Music Society and Radio Music Society.  

This last year Steve produced 3 albums: Bloom mentee Ryan Cohan's The River, Eliane Elias' I Thought About You, and Internationally Recognised Aliens by The Impossible Gentlemen, a band that Steve has been touring with.

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Topics: jazz courses, chicago jazz, jazz classes, bloom school of jazz

We are very happy to announce that Isabelle Oliver; harpist, composer and teacher has joined our faculty

Posted by David Bloom on Sep 19, 2013 1:13:00 PM

Isabelle has been a professional musician for more than 20 years, performing and recording with many great international musicians such as Peter Erskine, Norma Winstone, David Linx, Didier Lockwood, Louis Moutin, Eivind Opsvic in more than 20 countries.

She recorded 6 albums of her own compositions in France, in Germany and in the United States and a DVD. She composed music for theater, film scores, exhibitions, poetry, dance and puppet shows. She has been nominated for the French Victory of Jazz for "Year Revelation" and received an "Outstanding Musicianship"award from the Berklee School of Jazz in Boston.

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Topics: chicago jazz, david bloom, bloom school of jazz

Bloom School Mega-Concert Scheduled For November 24, 2013

Posted by David Bloom on Sep 12, 2013 1:21:00 PM

Over 30 instumentalists, vocalists and composers will perform on Mayne Stage Sunday November 24. The concert will feature original compostions written by Bloom School of Jazz current students, alumni and teachers. More information soon

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Video for "When You See Me", Original Jazz/R&B Tune for Trayvon Martin

Posted by David Bloom on Aug 23, 2013 6:48:00 PM

Chicago, Illinois- August 23, 2013- Yesterday's musical epiphany has become today's great music as students, faculty, and musicians associated with Chicago's Bloom School of Jazz came together to record both video and audio for the original tune, "When You See Me."

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Topics: Trayvon Martin, When You See Me, Spider Saloff, Max Homung, Jewell Tancy

Spider Saloff Pens Song Inspired by the Trayvon Martin Tragedy

Posted by David Bloom on Aug 1, 2013 9:31:00 PM

Chicago, Illinois, Aug. 1, 2013- The recent trial and acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of 17 year old Trayvon Martin has sparked a firestorm of media coverage and public reaction. For Spider Saloff, acclaimed jazz singer and vocal coach of more than a decade at Chicago's Bloom School of Jazz, the underlying issues of the tragedy are much more important.

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Jazz Vocal class starting Monday July 22 7PM. Enrollment due by this Friday July 19th. Spider is also taking private students. Call for details.

Posted by David Bloom on Jul 18, 2013 3:07:00 PM


Spider Saloff is the winner of five MAC Awards (Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) including Best Female Jazz Vocalist, as well as the recipient of the Chicago Gold Coast Award for Excellence in Live Performance and also of a special citation from NARAS (The Grammy's). This World Class artist has taught vocalists at the Bloom School of Jazz for over a decade. As a concert jazz vocal artist, actress, songwriter and playwright with 8 national recordings, Ms. Saloff has been acclaimed world wide. She was featured with Chicago Jazz Orchestra's tribute to Ella Fitzgerald at Millennium Park to an audience of over 26,000. Saloff's Gershwin tribute The Memory of All That headlined in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her concert venues include: Auditorium Theater, Smithsonian Institution, Wilmington Grand Opera, Wallingford Symphony, Illinois State Symphony, Castro Theater, and New York's Town Hall and Lincoln Center.
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Topics: jazz, chicago jazz, jazz programs, jazz classes, Perfect Set Recording Course, vocal, perfect set

Perfect Set Recording Course Students Remember Main Stage concert.

Posted by David Bloom on Jun 23, 2013 4:23:00 PM

Tyler Callahan. Perfect Set Recording Course Student.
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Topics: chicago jazz, Perfect Set Recording Course, Jazz Vocal, voice

Six Do's and Don'ts for a Successful Professional Recording Session

Posted by David Bloom on Nov 30, 2012 1:05:00 AM

It's important to first determine what kind of session it will be. A live jazz session is different than a pop session and is recorded differently. But to start with I will be talking about rock or pop sessions.

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Jazz For Rock Musicians

Posted by David Bloom on Feb 21, 2012 11:55:00 PM

Rock musicians sometimes carry this ethos around that they don't need to know their craft, just bang it out. "All you need are three chords and some balls" as the saying goes.  Or when you're tuning up "close enough for rock n roll". But realistically that gets pretty boring, pretty damn fast.   And so you're left with the same old slog of rock that is as worn out as 12 bar blues in a south side Chicago bar on a Tuesday "jam" night. In my opinion musicians should always strive to understand and integrate other forms of music genres and bring what you learn back to your plate. In Jazz music, I feel that you find the widest range of palate, color and nuance.  You can hear how jazz was brought back to blues and rock and funk and so much more. From Gershwin’s to Kenny Burrell, BB king to Les Paul, Duke Ellington to Stevie Wonder and so much more. Jazz in its purest form is like surfing to me. And it’s almost as dangerous because if you crash and burn riding the B locrian mode it can be as ugly as a wave spanking your ass on ocean beach. But I digress. The thing I've learned when working primarily in rock n roll as a genre, is that even if you are only using three chords, you can make them more interesting.   Play inside of them, depending on which mode your in, and when you start to take that risk, you're stepping squarely into a space that is greatly informed by some flavor of jazz.   

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Jazz Performance Guidance with Bloom's Laws

Posted by David Bloom on Nov 23, 2011 2:32:00 PM

One problem you may be noticing during live performances is a lack of respect for the show. Each tune should be considered a chapter in a suspense novel, not a series of short stories with no cohesiveness. With my 40+ years of intensely studying the greatest jazz performers of the last century, I've discovered core values and practices that make the live experience of jazz infinitely more interesting and exciting for the audience.

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Topics: jazz courses, jazz classes, jazz education, jazz instruction