308: Theo Bleckmann

Theo Bleckmann has spent decades living in the space between categories. Born in rural Germany, trained as both a boy soprano and a competitive figure skater, he came to New York at 22 to study with the legendary Sheila Jordan and quickly found a home among musical misfits. Since then, he has built a singular life in music -one that balances jazz, avant-garde experimentation, composition, performance art, and teaching.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Bleckmann speaks about the long road from “thick ice to thin ice”: his boyhood fascination with Kate Bush; discovering jazz through a friend who played “Take Five” on a school bus; the importance of mentors like Sheila Jordan and Meredith Monk; and the community of younger artists and students who keep him inspired today.

With Theo Bleckmann in Brooklyn, Oct 2025

Bleckmann’s new album, Love & Anger, produced by drummer Ulysses Owens Jr., revisits touchstones from his past (Kate Bush, the Beatles) while reaffirming his belief in collaboration, curiosity, and emotional honesty. As he says, the record came together only when friends reminded him, “This is good; stop doubting yourself.”

Along the way he talks about what it means to live a “life in music” rather than a “career in jazz,” the balance between improvisation and composition, the changing landscape of education and social media, and the deeply human need to listen - to music, to one another, and to oneself.