Home » Jazz Musicians » Rachel Z
Rachel Z
Rachel Z is a keyboardist with a long history of award-winning performances in the worlds of jazz and rock. She co-wrote the Grammy-winning song ‘Tokyo Blue’ with saxophonist Najee. In addition to her 13 albums as bandleader and her work in internationally acclaimed bands such as Steps Ahead, Vertú, the Omar Hakim Experience, and OZmosys, she has played and toured with artists like Wayne Shorter (on the Grammy-winning album High Life), Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Al Di Meola, and Regina Carter. She also co-wrote the Grammy-winning song, 'Tokvo Blue' with saxophonist Najee Rachel came to worldwide prominence in the rock world in the Peter Gabriel concert films Growing Up Live and Still Growing Up Live.
Since 2000, she has been a Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Music Studies at The New School University in New York.
Since 2022 also a Professor of Jazz Studies and Electronic Music at Montclair State University and Cali School of the Arts.
Tags
Dann Zinn: Two Roads
by Chris May
Bliss. Here is a tenor saxophonist to file next to the great New York-based Israeli tenor saxophonist Oded Tzur. The two players are far from interchangeable: each has their distinct sound and each has their distinct style. But both bring intimacy and solace to the soul, and both beam out a vibe of positivity. Tzur and Dann Zinn have come from various places to arrive at adjacent spots. Tzur's style is steeped in years of study of Indian classical raga. ...
Continue ReadingEric Person, Charlie Hunter, Wayne Shorter & Rachel Z
by Joe Dimino
Full of soul and gusto, we begin the 872nd Episode of Neon Jazz with keyboardist Rachel Z and music from her 2003 album First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. From there, we hear from her hero in the legendary Wayne Shorter. As we move on, there's a host of new music from past Neon Jazz interviewees recently in Felipe Brito and Scott Amendola. We also dig into new music from Jeff Rupert, Eric Person and Neil Swainson. Finally, we ...
Continue ReadingRachel Z: Sensual
by Mike Jurkovic
Whatever her impetus--be it the loss of her parents or peans to a shared sense of hearth, home and heaven--pianist/composer Rachel Z's thirteenth full length album, Sensual, bares a sincere, hopeful humanity. Buoyed by a sense of survival, Sensual opens as if it were a letter, closing with the Foo Fighters' crotch-kick raise-the-roof-'n-rile-'em-up “These Days." Sensual pulls one in fast and fully with the keenly seductive opener, “Save My Soul." It dances. It stirs. Z, whose ...
Continue ReadingDept of Good and Evil feat. Rachel Z: Dept of Good and Evil
by John Kelman
Pianist Rachel Z revisits her successful deconstruction of (largely) contemporary tunes on Everlasting (Tone Center, 2004) with Dept of Good and Evil. This time, however, the trio's more collaborative nature has compelled Z to release the music under a collective group name, Dept of Good and Evil.
There's a stronger balance struck between contemporary material, original material written by Z (alone or in collaboration with drummer/producer Bobbie Rae) and material from the repertoires of saxophonists Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson. ...
Continue ReadingRachel Z: Grace
by Stephen Latessa
This should have been easy to avoid. During the recording or planning sessions for Grace, Rachel Z's first vocal album, someone should have had the courage to tell her that she just doesn't sing very well. She has tried many different things over the years, to varying degrees of success, so perhaps she figured that singing would be a nice change of pace. Unfortunately her vocals are a fatal flaw from which the album cannot recover.
It is ...
Continue ReadingRachel Z: Everlasting
by Javier AQ Ortiz
If one has little sympathy for the jazzification of popular music, low tolerance for jazzified swinging musicality for its own sake, outright disgust for anything other than scorching tempos or abstraction for its own sake, derision for space and breaths of cooled musical air between the polarities of accessible depth and potent fragility, then one should stay clear from Rachel Z. One has to wonder, however, if Z's craft would get more attention than it does among some of the ...
Continue ReadingRachel Z: Everlasting
by John Kelman
Deconstructing popular contemporary songs seems to be the current flavour of the month. From the Bad Plus' rock-heavy interpretations of the Pixies to Brad Mehldau's inventive look at Radiohead, artists are realizing that not only is there a wealth of modern material out there to replace the Great American Songbook, but the approach has resulted in drawing a younger audience. Listeners who are less-than-likely to warm to yet another version of “If I Were a Bell" are happier to hear ...
Continue ReadingUYS Interview: Sarah Jane Morris & Rachel Z
Source:
underyourskin
Sarah Jane Morris Rachel Z Thess interviews are part of the book/dvd project “Under your skin" which includes Interviews with Ahmad Jamal, Chuck D—Public Enemy, Randy Weston, Greg Phillinganes, Stanley Clarke, Eric Bobo/Cypress Hill, Liu Fang, Malika Zarra, Zap Mama, Les Nubians, Esperanza Spalding, Lydia Lunch, Lee “Scratch" Perry, Rhonda Smith, DJ KutMasta Kurt, Sepultura, Joe Bowie, Korn, Henry ...
read more
The Trio of Oz: New CD by Omar Hakim and Rachel Z Debuts September 7
Source:
Michael Bloom Media Relations
Legendary drummer Omar Hakim (Weather Report, Sting, Miles Davis, David Bowie, et al.) has teamed up with pianist extraordinaire Rachel Z, whose work with Wayne Shorter, Steps Ahead, and Peter Gabriel has earned her international recognition and acclaim from her peers and fans alike. This musical partnership features the tasteful virtuosity and sensitivity of these Grammy Awarded musicians as they take you on an exciting journey performing some of the most creative and unique arrangements of chart-topping rock hits from ...
read more
Steve Kuhn, Vijay Iyer, Rachel Z Celebrate the Music of Bud Powell (Sun. Jazz Brunch) Mary Foster Conklin This Weekend at at the Iridium Jazz Club
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
IRIDIUM JAZZ CLUB 1650 BROADWAY (Corner of 51st) NEW YORK, NY 10023 RESERVATIONS: 212-582-2121 Sets At 8:00 & 10:00PM Effective immediately, minimums are $10/person/set for all Sept. 27-30 THE MUSIC OF BUD POWELL BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION BUD POWELL TRIBUTE 'THE AMAZING BUD POWELL' Sep 28 Steve Kuhn Billy Drummond Eddie Gomez Sep 29 Vijay Iyer Piano Stephen Crump Bass ...
read more
Rachel Z and the Department of Good and Evil Live Internet Jazz Concert June 29, 2007 8:30PM Edt
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
Doc B Productions Announces Live Internet Jazz Concert Featuring Rachel Z and The Department of Good and Evil When: June 29, 2007 8:30pm EDT Where: Hyatt Regency Hotel, 151 West 5th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 http://www.jazzincincy.com/ Full streaming video and audio; two full sets; Approximately 3 hours of music. $5 presale, $10 day of show.
Rachel Z and the Department of Good and Evil, (http:// www.rachelz.com/) featured in the June edition of Downbeat magazine, will perform ...
read more
Rachel Z to Appear on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Source:
All About Jazz
Keyboardist Rachel Z -- with a new CD about to be released, and now touring with Peter Gabriel -- will perform (with Gabriel's band) on national television twice today (Friday, September 27).
* The Today Show (NBC) * Late Night with Conan O'Brien (NBC) Peter Gabriel's U.S.- Canada "Growing Up" Tour: November Atlanta - 5 Cleveland - 7 Columbus - 8 Wash ...
read more
Photos
Music
Similar
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto
Larry Washington
drums
Diane Marino
piano and vocals
Rachel Eckroth
piano and vocals
Steffen Kuehn
trumpet
Savio Rego
guitar
Chieli Minucci
guitar
Pete Gitlin
guitar
Dwight Sills
guitar
