CARNEGIE HILL CONCERTS PRESENTS:

Shabnam Abedi and Joe Block

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SunSets is a donation-based, intimate, acoustic Saturday concert experience.

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Shabnam Abedi and Joe Block met as classmates at Juilliard and have since built a powerful musical partnership. Heard often at New York venues like Mezzrow and Dizzy’s, their diverse repertoire spans the Great American Songbook, Disney, and classical, brought to life through lyrical, textural, and harmonic storytelling.

Vulnerable, dramatic, and spontaneous, they embrace true improvisation, making every performance fresh and captivating. Earlier this year, they released their debut album Love Shadows.

A highly sought after multi-genre vocalist and emerging composer and arranger, Shabnam Abedi has made her stamp in the choral world with her recent arrangement “Jhoro Jhoro”. She is one of the six founding members of Voces8 Foundation’s treble ensemble Lyyra and her debut jazz album Love Shadows released last month. Known for her beautiful tone and “lovely warmth” (NY Times), she is a top-tier jazz and classical soloist as well as an ensemble singer singing with premier ensembles such as Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Downtown Voices, and many more. She received her Master’s Degree from Juilliard in Jazz Studies making her Juilliard’s first South-Asian American jazz voice graduate. A versatile artist with a reputation for high-level music making in a wide variety of genres, Shabnam also studied opera and music education at Mason Gross School of the Arts. Having played and sung Indian Classical Music since young, Shabnam’s first album “Amar Bijon Ghore” was released to wide acclaim in South Asia. Shabnam was recognized by the New York Times for her solo in Trinity’s Handel’s Messiah and Considering Matthew Shepard in 2022, and has performed at various jazz establishments including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Mezzrow, South Jazz Cafe, and Jazz House Kids. 

Joe Block is a Steinway Artist and Grammy-nominated pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and musical director from Philadelphia, PA. Classically trained from the age of two, he later discovered a passion for jazz and pursued studies at Columbia University and The Juilliard School. Now based in New York City, he has become one of the most in-demand musicians of his generation, performing and touring with his peers as well as established artists including Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Gary Bartz, and Leslie Odom, Jr. His performances have graced stages such as Carnegie Hall, the Village Vanguard, and the Apollo Theater.

Recognized by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of “jazz’s most promising young composers,” Block is a recipient of the 2024 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award and was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition. He leads his own ensembles—the Open Heart Trio and the Joe Block Quintet—showcasing his original works, while also serving frequently as a musical director at Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2025, he was associate musical director and pianist for George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck on Broadway.