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Jerry Z
Jerry Z is a Hammond B3 organist and composer known for soulful grooves, fiery improvisation, and an approach that draws freely from jazz, blues, and funk. Based between New York and Austin, he has long been a presence on the New York jazz scene, bringing the distinctive sound and expressive possibilities of the Hammond B3 to a wide range of musical settings.
Best known for his work with The Headhunters and guitarist Oz Noy, Jerry has built a career as both a bandleader and sought-after collaborator. He has toured internationally with his own trio and recorded and performed with an impressive cross-section of jazz, funk, soul, and blues artists, including Mike Clark, Melvin Sparks, The Headhunters, Delbert McClinton, Hiram Bullock, Mark Whitfield, Bernard Purdie, and NEA Jazz Master Donald Harrison.
Throughout his work as a leader and sideman, Jerry has developed a musical identity grounded in the Hammond organ tradition while remaining open to the rhythmic and harmonic possibilities of contemporary jazz. That combination of tradition, groove, and exploration comes to the forefront on his latest recording, Break Allegro.
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Jerry Z: Break Allegro
by Jack Bowers
Jerry Z, a worthy successor to such organ maestros as Joey DeFrancesco, Mel Rhyne, Jimmy Smith, Charles Earland, Jimmy McGriff and others too numerous to single out, shows on Break Allegro, only the second recording as leader of his own group, that he clearly deserves to be mentioned in such esteemed company. In musical parlance, allegro means “fast" or “lively," which is exactly how Jerry Z's quartet opens the album, sprinting from the starting line on the title ...
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