For those not in the know, full of heart, intimacy, and searing depth, Marina — the new album by acclaimed Russian-born saxophonist and composer Lena Bloch — reimagines the poetry of Marina Tsvetaeva, one of the 20th century’s most original literary voices.

Out November 14, 2025, on Fresh Sound Records, the album features Bloch’s ensemble with Kyoko Kitamura(voice), Jacob Sacks (piano), Ken Filiano (bass), and Michael Sarin (drums).

Commissioned in 2022 through a Chamber Music America grant, Marina sets Bloch’s own English translations of Tsvetaeva’s poems in a suite for voice and ensemble. The project transforms Tsvetaeva’s emotional and intellectual intensity into a sound world that blurs the lines between word and tone, composition and improvisation.

1. I Refuse [8:26]
2. Insomnia [7:33]
3. Marina [7:44]
4. Such Tenderness [8:27]
5. Tired [8:13]
6. Immeasurable [9:30]
7. The Time Will Come [5:37]

As one of the first jazz artists to interpret Tsvetaeva’s poetry through music, Bloch opens the set on the hauntingly ethereal I Refuse and the smoothly resilient Insomnia and then we get brought forth the emotive title track Marina, some dulcet wind orchestrations that guide us through Such Tenderness and the low slung, late night club ambiance of Tired, the recording rounding out on the impassioned Immeasurable, coming to a close on the resoundingly stirring The Time Will Come.

Line-up/Musicians:
Lena Bloch (tenor & soprano saxophones)
Kyoko Kitamura (vocals)
Jacob Sacks (piano)
Ken Filiano (bass)
Michael Sarin (drums)

Official Website