Charles Blenzig

Charles Blenzig                                                                                                                     Jazz Pianist
Charles Blenzig is a pianist, composer, arranger, and producer who slips effortlessly among musical styles while retaining his own distinct sound. Born in the Bronx, he was fortunate to hear most of his heroes on any given night in small, dingy NYC Jazz Clubs and learned to play Jazz the old fashion way, by ear. Charles became a part of the NYC Jazz scene for over 35 years and has performed at such legendary clubs as The Blue Note, Birdland, The 55 Bar, Sweet Basil, Fat Tuesdays, Smalls, and Mezzrow.

His first real visible gig was with the Gil Evans Orchestra which performed every Monday night at Sweet Basil Jazz Club in Manhattan. Playing with the Orchestra gave him the opportunity to play some of the most influential arrangements in the history of Jazz and to perform with some the finest musicians in the world, including Lou Soloff, Hiram Bullock, Mark Egan, Alex Foster, Delmar Brown, Kenwood Dennard, George Adams, John Clarke, Dave Taylor, and Gil Goldstein.

Charles has also collaborated with;
Michael Brecker, Gato Barbieri, Bill Evans (Sax w. Miles Davis), Marcus Miller, Mike Stern, Will Lee, Larry Coryell, Joe Locke, Eddie Gomez, Jerry Bregonzi, Grady Tate, Buster Williams, Roy Ayers, John Patitucci, Billy Heart, Harvey Mason, Alex Foster, Lee Ritenour, Tom Kennedy, Dennis Chambers, Dave Weckl, and many others.
In the late 1990s Blenzig hosted The Late Night Session at the iconic Blue Note Jazz Club in the heart of Greenwich Village, N.Y.C. The Jam Session was a steady gig for close to eight years. It made him a recognizable face in the Jazz community as well as introducing him to scores of both seasoned and up and coming musicians from around the globe.
Blenzig has been musical director for singer/songwriter Michael Franks for over 30 years He has co-composed, produced, recorded, as well as arranged an evening of Frank’s songs for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Michael has taken him on tour all over the world including Africa, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Russia, and Thailand.
He has also performed on over 100 recordings, including four CDs as a leader:            Charles Blenzig (Chase Music Group 1988), Say What You Mean (Big World Music1998),          Certain Standards (True Space Records), and It’s About Time (Double Time Records).
In recent years, Charles relocated from Astoria, Queens to Longmont, Colorado where he has formed a new trio, Simple Math, featuring prodigy Drummer J.J. Mazza and on Upright and Electric Bass, Hunter Roberts. The Trio has a unique sound that defies category and has just recorded an album called “Pop Time” that reimagines the songs of the day in a fresh new way.