VERSED: The ASCAP Podcast / Ep. 39 - Ingrid Michaelson's Musical Embrace
October 14, 2024
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VERSED is a monthly podcast illuminating the heart and soul of music. Featuring in-depth interviews with songwriters and composers, plus tips and insights to help you navigate your music career. Brought to you by ASCAP, home of the world's greatest music creators.
Following her debut as a composer for Broadway’s The Notebook, singer, songwriter and producer Ingrid Michaelson released For the Dreamers, a masterful collection of orchestral pop songs and treasured classics that feels like a golden-hued, heartwarming musical hug for our anxious times. She talked to VERSED about the joy of making the album, following your artistic muse, facing your creative fears and building a trusted team. Then, pianist, composer and bandleader Joe Block, hailed by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of “jazz’s most promising young composers” and a recent winner of an ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award, joins to talk about working with Wynton Marsalis and other jazz giants and what it takes to reach your full musical potential.
EP. 39 FEATURED INTERVIEWEE: Ingrid Michaelson
Ingrid Michaelson is a force in the music industry, known for her distinctively soulful folk-pop style. Her music is released on the label she founded, Cabin 24 Records, including her latest studio album For the Dreamers, as well as her gold and platinum hits, "The Way I Am," "Girls Chase Boys" and "You and I." She's scored songs for television, including Little Fires Everywhere (Emmy nomination) and Tiny Beautiful Things (both for Hulu), and was executive music producer for Apple TV+’s Slumberkins, creating original songs for the series. Michaelson was recently seen as a guest star in Season 3 of Netflix’s Girls 5 Eva, and starred in the indie film Humor Me alongside co-stars Jemaine Clement and Elliott Gould. She made her Broadway on stage debut in Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 and recently made her Broadway debut as a composer in 2024 writing the music and lyrics for the musical, The Notebook. She produced The Notebook Original Broadway Cast Album featuring the viral hit “My Days” performed by Joy Woods.
Joe Block has ascended to be one of the premier pianists, composers, and bandleaders working in music today. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Block began his musical journey playing classical piano at 2. In middle school, he began regularly studying at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts and the Kimmel Center’s Creative Music Program while soaking in the city’s rich jazz scene. Block now resides in New York City and is a graduate of the Columbia-Juilliard dual-degree program (BA '21 and MM ‘22) where he studied with Geoffrey Keezer, Marc Cary, Ted Rosenthal, and Frank Kimbrough.
Block captures the most special moments and feelings of humanity through his music and compositions. He has played with musicians including Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Leslie Odom Jr. and at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Apollo Theater and the Village Vanguard. He has been nationally recognized as a YoungArts Foundation Finalist, a Jazz at Lincoln Center J. Douglas White Award winner, and has played on Orrin Evans’ Grammy-nominated album, The Intangible Between.
Hailed by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of "jazz's most promising young composers," Block is a regular arranger for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. He also writes for the Wynton Marsalis Septet, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, Grace Kelly, Kenny Overton and the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia. In April 2023, he served as the musical director and pianist for Internationally Ellington, a Jazz at Lincoln Center concert celebrating Duke’s international repertoire featuring drummer Herlin Riley.
In the summer of 2023, he performed at the Village Vanguard with the Kurt Rosenwinkel Quintet and at the Marciac Jazz Festival with the Wynton Marsalis Septet. Most recently, he was named a finalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition.
Block is the co-founder and leader of the Philadelphia Ambassador Big Band as well as the Joe Block Quintet, where he regularly performs his original compositions. He has taught over 30 students, carrying forward the rich culture of mentorship he was surrounded with.
