Accordionist Ben Rosenblum shares, “Happy New Year, and I hope the beginning of 2026 has treated you all well. I’m so grateful for all the amazing experiences I had in 2025, and I’m really looking forward to a number of exciting opportunities already on the schedule for the first half of 2026. There’s going to be a lot of traveling, both with my band and with a wide variety of inspiring artists. January will mostly be my own projects, and I’m super excited for a few local concerts in the New York area, as well as my annual Southeast US Tour which will take us through Florida, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia and Maryland!
Just a quick update that the first single, “Merengue x Fantasy”, from our upcoming album, “The Longest Way Round”, is now live on all streaming platforms, and a video of us recording the track in the studio is also available on my YouTube channel! If you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, it would mean so much to me if you checked it out.
Merengue x Fantasy is the first track from our upcoming album, “The Longest Way Round (2026)”. Inspired primarily by the Dominican merengue tradition, the composition also includes certain musical tropes from the J-Pop and anime music world. The title pays tribute to these disparate influences. One of the main objectives of the Nebula Project has always been for me to explore interesting combinations of different musical traditions through the lens of jazz improvisation, and this track exemplifies that mission.
Released as a single on December 19, 2025 on all streaming platforms. Hope you enjoy!
Recorded on March 5th and 6th, 2024 at NRS Recording Studio by Dev Avidon and Scott Petito. Mixed and mastered by Dev Avidon at Ex Machina Soundworks. Featuring Ben Rosenblum on accordion, Wayne Tucker on trumpet, Jasper Dutz on soprano sax and flute, Rafael Rosa on guitar, Marty Jaffe on bass, Ben Zweig on drums and percussion, and Gustavo Di Dalva on percussion.
A huge thanks to David Payette for setting up the cameras and lending his video talents to the session. Video edited by Ben Rosenblum.
The official February release date is February, 2026, but mark your calendars for the second and third singles, which are officially out on January 16 and February 6. Another huge thanks to everyone involved – I’m so grateful to all of the amazing people that put this album together.”
In January 2026, Ben went on his annual Southeast US Tour with his trio. This year he’ll be covering more ground than usual, making stops in seven states across two weeks! Scroll down for ticket links and more info.
Pianist, accordionist and composer Ben Rosenblum has traversed a truly unique musical path, one that has seen him perform alongside world-class musicians across more than twenty music genres and twenty-five countries, lead bands at prestigious venues across the world, all while maintaining a signature, melodic musical voice. Rosenblum’s journey has taken him on tours with Grammy-winning pop artist Rickie Lee Jones, Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Catherine Russell and Juno-winning contemporary Indian singer Kiran Ahluwalia.
He’s played Brazilian chorro with Ephrat Asherie Dance and Brazilian forró with The Late Night Show’s Nêgah Santos and famed forró band Forró in the Dark. His roots in jazz have led to an over ten-year relationship with Grammy-winning bassist Curtis Lundy, performing at festivals alongside jazz luminaries Bobby Watson, Sean Jones and Warren Wolf.
He appeared with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on accordion, and as a guest soloist on piano at Carnegie Hall’s Stern-Perelman Auditorium with Maestro Reona Ito’s New York Harmonic Band. Throughout it all, Rosenblum has always maintained the same priority – to tell a compelling story with his music, reaching the hearts of his audience and connecting on an emotional, intellectual and spiritual level.
Rosenblum brings this wealth and diversity of experiences to his projects as a leader, overseeing a full tour schedule as a solo artist, with his trio and most recently, with his six-piece ensemble, the Nebula Project. Since his first album as a leader, Instead (4 stars, Downbeat Magazine), he has since released three follow-up records to critical acclaim, including favorable reviews in almost every major jazz publication (Downbeat, All About Jazz, Jazziz, JazzTimes, JazzEd, NYC Jazz Record, JazzLife Japan and many more).
Across multiple tours in Japan, Europe, Canada and the United States, Rosenblum has brought his bands to perform at some of the world’s most respected music venues, including Ravinia, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, the Library of Congress, AngraJazz (Terceira Island), Bird’s Eye (Basel) and Yokohama’s Himawari-No-Sato Concert Hall. At any given show, Rosenblum might draw on influences from ten or more countries, with interests going beyond jazz to include various music traditions from South America, Eastern Europe, Ireland, India, the Caribbean and the Middle East.
February 2026 Performances Include:
Sunday, February 1st: Le Mondo (Baltimore, MD)
February 3-6: Rickie Lee Jones West Coast Tour
Tuesday, February 3rd and Wednesday, February 4th: Bimbos 365 Club (San Francisco, CA).
Friday, February 6th and Saturday, February 7th at 7:30pm: The Wallis (Los Angeles, CA).
February 11-23: Trip to Japan!
For further information: benrosenblummusic@gmail.com
