The Modernistics

The Modernistics are Ted Powers, guitar, ukulele, percussion, tap and vocals; Pamela Powers, tap and vocals; Peter H. Bloom, flute; Mark Leighton, guitar; and Dave Zox, double-bass. The five artists have performed and taught extensively in the United States and abroad. The group performs upbeat shows of Music and Dance from the Great American Songbook, with crowd-pleasing favorites by Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Dorothy Fields, and other master tunesmiths.

Starting in 2020, the Modernistics are celebrating the decade with a new show, The Roaring Twenties, featuring hit tunes like Blue Skies, Stardust,
Bye Bye Blackbird, Charleston, Crazy Rhythm, Let's Misbehave, Someone
to Watch over Me, and the Fats Waller tune Squeeze Me.

Beyond the Roaring Twenties, the Modernistics celebrate the Great American Songbook with music across the decades, including tunes like these:

Sunny Side of the Street
Let’s Fall in Love
It's Only a Paper Moon
Skylark
Lulu's Back in Town
Georgia on My Mind
Night and Day
It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing

Acclaimed for their tap dancing prowess and their mastery of great American songs spanning many sounds and styles, Ted and Pamela Powers have performed extensively in the United States and abroad. Ted Powers’ career in jazz, blues, and pop includes several years as a solo performer in the south of France and tap-dancing in the U.S. with the legendary Jimmy “Sir Slyde” Mitchell. He appears widely as a solo artist and with the band Swing Café.

Pamela Powers has performed and taught in the United States, Germany and England. She studied with Harold Nicholas of the iconic Nicholas Brothers and with renowned Broadway choreographer Charles Hughes. She is known for her inventive choreography, virtuosity and charisma.

Peter H. Bloom has concertized with jazz and classical ensembles in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand and is featured on 45 CDs. Praised for his “hip, jazzy flute work” (allaboutjazz.com), he is a veteran flutist/saxophonist with the illustrious Aardvark Jazz Orchestra (“lush sonorities worthy of Ellington’s finest reed sections” - JazzTimes) and has appeared with jazz luminaries Charles Neville, Geri Allen, Jaki Byard, Sheila Jordan, Ricky Ford, Mark Harvey, Raj Mehta, Matt Savage and others.

Mark Leighton is acclaimed as a jazz and classical guitarist. He performs across the Northeast, at venues including Islesboro Maine Summer Concerts, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, King's Chapel, Corning Community College, Boston Public Library, and the Hudson River Museum of Art. He was Director of First Night Quincy for 20 years and serves on the faculties of Colby College and St. George’s School. He has appeared with jazz notables Billy Novick, Larry Carsman and others. His teachers include Robert Sullivan, David Leisner and Sharon Isbin.

Bassist Dave Zox has performed with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Artie Shaw Band, Herb Reed and the Platters, John Abercrombie, Kenny Werner, Phil Woods and other internationally renowned artists. He shared the stage for many years with the Al Vega Trio and pianists Ray Santisi and Harvey Diamond. He serves on the faculties of Northeastern University, Phillips Academy in Andover, MA and Ipswich Public Schools. He earned a master’s degree in Jazz Studies from New England Conservatory.

The Modernistics have performed for the Ocean Park Music Festival, Middletown Concert Association, Medallion Opera House, Tillotson Center, Concord City Auditorium, the Robert H. Wood Great Artists Series (NY), the Misericordia University Performing Arts Series (PA), West Claremont Center for the Arts, Colby College, Nichols College, Chelmsford Center for the Arts, and other venues.

Photos: Benjamin Bloom, Matt Samolis, Chris Cheon, Heloise Tanglewood, Ralph McMechen