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Peter H. Bloom

Peter H. Bloom, flutes/saxophones, concertizes widely in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand and is featured on 48 CDs from labels including Leo Records, 9Winds, SONY Classical, Dorian, and Newport Classic. His latest CD is Exuberant Ellingtonia: Flute & Piano Sessions with the Bloom/Funkhouser Duo (January 2022 from Americas Musicworks), called "a treasure trove" (Textura Magazine, Ontario) and "one of those albums we know are unique jewels" (Jazz, ese ruido, Spain). Bloom is featured on the 2-CD set, A Rite for All Souls by The Mark Harvey Group (July 2020, Americas Musicworks), reviewed by Troy Dostert in AllAboutJazz, who wrote that Bloom's "expansive creativity on a range of saxophones is one of the delights of this recording." Bloom is also featured on all 16 of The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra's CDs, including the band’s latest release, Faces of Souls (2020, Leo Records).

Bloom's career encompasses exploratory jazz, new and improvised music, jazz standards, blues, bebop, and diverse chamber music from the Renaissance to the 21st century. He has worked with acclaimed composer-trumpeter Mark Harvey since 1969, has performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra for 46 years, has been a member of FiLmprov since its creation in 1996, is a founding member of The Modernistics, and has led his own jazz groups for decades. Bloom appears on 16 Aardvark CDs, including 10 discs on Leo Records. He has shared the stage with such jazz luminaries as Charles Neville, Jaki Byard, Sheila Jordan, Geri Allen, Ricky Ford, Jay Clayton, Walter Thompson, and Raj Mehta. With Aardvark members, he recorded improvised music for the DVD series Treasures from the American Film Archives, which The New York Times called “one of the best sets of the year.”

Peter H. Bloom performs regularly in duos and trios with pianist John Funkhouser, pianist Tim Ray, guitarist Mark Leighton, and bassist Dave Zox. For more than 20 years, Bloom has been a member of Kate Matson's FiLmprov (melding improvised music with animated films). He has appeared with the Jazz Expansions Orchestra, Composers in Red Sneakers, Underground Composers, the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, the International Flute Army, Back Cove Contemporary Music Festival, and Todd Brunel’s Vortex Series for New and Improvised Music, among others.

A champion of new music, Bloom has given premieres of works by Mark Harvey, Richard Nelson, Richard Cornell, Elizabeth Vercoe, Pamela Marshall, Narong Prangcharoen, Edward Jacobs, Elliott Schwartz, Karl Henning, Len Detlor, Marianela Maduro, Matt Samolis and others. He is a winner of the American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg award.

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Album Review

Bloom Funkhouser Duo: Exuberant Ellingtonia: Flute & Piano Sessions

Read "Exuberant Ellingtonia: Flute & Piano Sessions" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Although the enormous quantity of Duke Ellington tributes recorded over the years is probably far too large to count, those involving flute and piano duos are a much rarer find. So it is a welcome occurrence that flautist Peter H. Bloom and pianist John Funkhouser, two prominent veterans of the Boston jazz scene, have recorded just that: a thoughtfully curated, well-played collection of time-tested gems from the Ellington songbook which is perfect in highlighting the musicality and emotional potency of ...

Album Review

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: Faces Of Souls

Read "Faces Of Souls" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Si avvicina al cinquantesimo anno di attività l'Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, fondata nel 1973 da Mark Harvey e ancora diretta dall'inossidabile trombettista, compositore e bandleader di Boston. In questo nuovo disco--il decimo pubblicato con la Leo Records e registrato live in varie occasioni--ritroviamo il consueto eclettismo della formazione, capace di passare da quadri in libera improvvisazione a concitazioni rock anche in uno stesso brano. Per la verità stavolta i contrasti sono più smussati e tendono a prevalere compostezza ...

Album Review

The Mark Harvey Group: A Rite for All Souls

Read "A Rite for All Souls" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Due anni pima di dar vita alla sua creatura per eccellenza, l'Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, il trombettista bostoniano Mark Harvey si era reso protagonista alla testa del suo quartetto dell'epoca della memorabile performance oggi quanto mai meritoriamente dissotterrata dall'oblio grazie all'Americas Musicwords. Era il 31 ottobre 1971 allorché all'Old West Church di Boston andava in scena questo rito improvvisativo totale e liberatorio, nel nome di una pratica in quegli anni tutt'altro che usuale. Lungo i novantasette minuti di ...

3
Album Review

Mark Harvey Group: A Rite for All Souls

Read "A Rite for All Souls" reviewed by Troy Dostert


There are certain crises in which “mere" protest just doesn't seem sufficient. Whether talking about climate change, the seemingly unceasing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq or (to take 2020's signature example) the ongoing challenges of racism in the criminal justice system, the perceived need to resort to something more dramatic than voting or taking part in a march or demonstration naturally arises. If the forces arrayed against us aren't simply unjust or harmful, but might in fact be classified as ...

3
Album Review

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: Evocations

Read "Evocations" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, led by pianist, trumpeter, composer and music director Mark Harvey, celebrates its sixth album for Leo Records. Recorded at various venues in the Boston, MA, area, the orchestra's empirical gait surges forward, as no two compositions are distinctly alike. Variety is always an underlying factor within the band's manifesto; from military orchestral progressions to avant-garde expressionism and a few nods to convention, the musicians tie quite a few genres and stylizations into a broad soundstage.

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Performance / Tour

Noted Jazz Flutist Peter H. Bloom To Perform With Guitarist Mark Leighton In Maine, August 2014

Noted Jazz Flutist Peter H. Bloom To Perform With Guitarist Mark Leighton In Maine, August 2014

Source: Rebecca DeLamotte

Flutist Peter H. Bloom and guitarist Mark Leighton, acclaimed for their virtuosity and versatility, will perform up-tempo jazz standards by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael and other legendary tunesmiths in Islesboro (August 14 at 7:30 pm), West Kennebunk (August 17 at 3:00 pm) and Old York Harbor Maine (August 17 at 7:30 pm). The duo will also perform chamber music by Franz Schubert, Mauro Giuliani, Jacques Ibert and Heitor Villa-Lobos. The festive and eclectic show will take ...

“Bloom’s flute sings Duke’s often sophisticated melodies with infectious brio.” - George Kanzler, The New York City Jazz Record, April 2022

"Although the enormous quantity of Duke Ellington tributes recorded over the years is probably far too large to count, those involving flute and piano duos are a much rarer find. So it is a welcome occurrence that flautist Peter H Bloom and pianist John Funkhouser, two prominent veterans of the Boston jazz scene, have recorded just that: a thoughtfully curated, well-played collection of time-tested gems from the Ellington songbook which is perfect in highlighting the musicality and emotional potency of the master's corpus." – Troy Dostert, AllAboutJazz.com, January 2022

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Exuberant...

Americas Musicworks
2022

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A Rite for All Souls

Americas Musicworks
2020

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Faces Of Souls

Leo Records
2020

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A Rite for All Souls,...

Americas Musicworks
2020

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Democratic Vistas

Leo Records
2018

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