Facing
East Productions
World Class World Music Artist
Steve Bloom
 ©
12/06/2000 The Washington Post -- John Pitcher
“…Steve Bloom has never met a rhythm he
couldn’t master. Throughout the evening he showcased
a mind-boggling array of beats from Argentina, Bulgaria,
Cuba, Morocco, Spain and Turkey.”
© 12/06/2002 The Washington Post -- Mike Joyce:
“Steve Bloom's percussion… begins to exert
a timeless Celtic spell.”
Since his first gig in 1969 Steve Bloom has played
percussion in thousands of performances and recordings
in Cuban, Latin, Brazilian, Jazz, Rock and Roll, New
Age, Celtic and Middle Eastern styles.
Offering a range of residency options which include
solo and/or group performances, he has designed workshops
and clinics, some suitable for accomplished players
and others recommended for beginners,
to accelerate mastery of musical skills by evoking and
enabling the body's own natural musicality. Some of
these are called: Clave in 3D (© 2003) Drumming,
The Sweeter Science (© 2003) and Touching Time
(© 2001).
With a "legit" academic foundation including
Music Theory and Composition, Piano and Percussion technique,
Bloom has since achieved a command of African and related
traditions of drumming and song by the Oral Tradition,
apprenticing with several fine Cuban masters; a Senegalese
Griot named Djimo Kouyate; the Nigerian patriarch Babatunde
Olatunji (each of whom he recorded an album with); and
two Sufi master drummers, Adnan Sarhan, dervish of Bagdad,
and Ali Analouie of Tehran. Bloom has performed gigs
and/or recorded with other noted artists like Tito Puente,
Gregg Karukas, John Faddis, Dennis Cahill, bassists
Andy Gonzales and Michael Manring, and flute masters
John Wubbenhorst, Paul Horn and Nestor Torres. Since
1995 Bloom has been featured with two Irish and Celtic
groups, Ensemble Galilei, and the Barnes
& Hampton Consort, including specialization
in Celtic percussion of Spanish Gallicia.
Since 1980 Bloom has studied in Cuba and elsewhere
with masters of the bata drumming and guiro traditions
and the ceremonial cantos of Afro-Cuban Santeria. He
now directs a renowned folkloric music and dance company
called Havana Select, which features
collaborations among artists from Cuba, and other parts
of the Americas, whose repertoire emphasizes those Afro-Cuban
religious traditions and the secular Cuban music and
dance form Rumba.
Bloom also directs, sings and plays a range of percussion
with the scion of Havana Select, called
the Bahkini Strike Force. He formed
this smaller unit, featuring the percussionists with
one singer, to meet the demand of clubs, colleges and
other residency sponsors for a music-specific ensemble.
This venture in turn has spawned bold new song arrangements;
“signature” creations in the “Batarumba”
style, deftly combining the flavorful rhythms of the
three bata with the secular congas. The term “Bahkini”
connotes the melodic ratcheting effect of the batas’
smaller, higher-pitched heads, pinwheeling above the
tidal tonalities of the larger heads.
A smaller duo project, designed for schools and community
venues, called the “Havana Select Drum Summit,”
has also proven to be a popular option for residency
presenters, notably the Washington Performing
Arts Society. In this participatory lecture/demonstration,
audiences are challenged with interspersed vocal calls-and-responses,
rhythm games, and gain insights into the Cuban-American
experience. The artists perform short works on a wide
variety of percussion instruments, whose origins and
sonic properties are discussed. Where appropriate, this
can be a bi-lingual presentation, and there is an optional
special segment exploring the modern drum set in its
application to jazz, Samba and hot Cuban dance rhythms.
Other projects include:
Fiesta Sepharad: (Dr. Ramon Tasat,
director/ voice/ guitar) a group performing music of
Spain, Morocco, Greece, Iraq and Israel. http://www.paznet.com/ramontasat/rtpro.html
Steve Bloom & CRUX: A Resident
Company of Dance Place, Steve Bloom & CRUX performs
concerts of original works composed collaboratively
with various selected artists. Above and beyond their
work in fine arts venues, international and community
festivals, embassies and art galleries, the prestigious
Washington Performing Arts Society has sponsored the
group in hundreds of educational settings. These include
performances, as well as rhythm workshops for musicians,
teachers, and adults.
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