Rachel Z

Rachel Z
Born Rachel Carmel Nicolazzo
New York City
Education New England Conservatory of Music BA
Known for Jazz pianist and keyboardistpop, funk, rock
Notable work see below
Awards Grammy for Tokyo Blue written with Najee, Grammy for Highlife with Wayne Shorter, The Trio of OZ top 10 records of 2010 Jazziz Magazine

Rachel Carmel Nicolazzo, better known as Rachel Z, is a jazz and rock pianist who has been praised for her improvisational playing. She trailblazed a top-level sideman career on keyboards while also recording 10 solo albums as a jazz musician.

Early life

She attended the Berklee College of Music Summer School and Manhattan School of Music pre-college, where she launched the quintet, Nardis, whilst studying with Joanne Brackeen, Fred Hersch and Richie Beirach in New York City. Later Rachel Z graduated from the New England Conservatory with a 'Distinction in Performance' award. Meanwhile she was playing professionally in and around Boston in small groups and her own bands which that featured George Garzone , Bob Moses, Billy Hart, Randy Brecker, David Mann, George Coleman, Igor Butman, and many other interesting players.

Later life and career

In 1988, Rachel returned to New York and co-wrote grammy winning and certified Gold Record "Tokyo Blue" with schoolmate turned pro-saxophonist Najee and then played mostly keyboards with fusion band Steps Ahead where leader Mike Mainieri suggested she altered her name as to be easier to pronounce.

Rachel Z toured and recorded with Steps Ahead until 1996; however, she collaborated with a number of different artists during this time, establishing her name within the jazz scene.

In 1995 she worked with Wayne Shorter, on his album High Life, which won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. She was responsible for the CD's 40 tracks of synthesized orchestral sounds, acoustic piano solos and several concurrent world tours. She worked closely on preproduction with Marcus Miller in the studio to mesh the synth orchestra with the live ensemble to create the unique and innovative soundscape.[1]

While signed to Columbia by Dr George Butler, she released an influential CD, Trust the Universe, which was unique in featuring a jazz A side with Charnette Moffett and Al Foster and an electric jazz B side with Lenny White and Victor Bailey.

In 1997 she recorded her next solo CD, Room of One's Own – A Tribute to Women Artists featured arrangements by Maria Schneider and Alvaro Cordero. Many prominent female instrumentalists were featured such as Regina Carter Terri Lyne Carrington and Tracy Wormworth. Room won 4 stars in Down Beat and extensive critical acclaim for the original compositions and wind ensemble arrangements. The unique 9 piece wind ensemble was featured at the Kennedy Center and received high acclaim for the dedication to women by women such as the young Anat Cohen, Mimi Jones and other young female talents. She dedicated A Room of One's Own to the many women artists who have played a significant role in her life including the opera singer and teacher Mary Nicolazzo( her late mother). Rachel Z's characteristic musical intelligence and development of her genre has made her one of the most exciting female jazz musicians of the twenty-first century.

In 1999 Rachel Z was a part of a jazz fusion project by Stanley Clarke and Lenny White. The effort, simply called Vertú, featured such artists as Karen Briggs on violin, Richie Kotzen on guitar. The album received positive reviews from All About Jazz.[2] (Clarke and White played together with Chick Corea in Return to forever) and many other major publications.

In 2002, having formed a new trio, she created a tribute to Joni Mitchell called Moon at the Window. This trio group continued to record New Standards and formulate complex arrangements of pop and jazz tunes and recorded 4 additional CDs. This group toured extensively in the US and Europe through 2006.

Intermittently, Rachel Z experimented with her own rock group Peacebox as a vocalist. During this time she was also working with the Neapolitan Italian pop legend Pino Daniele, with whom she first began working in 1996. She later toured with Peter Gabriel during his Growing Up tours from 2002 to 2006, which gave Rachel the opportunity to widen her fan base and work with bassist Tony Levin. Her project, titled Dept. of Good and Evil on Savoy received a very successful reception.

In a 2005 column in The Guardian, John Fordham described her as "an improviser whose spontaneous playing is by no means eclipsed by the work of presiding geniuses such as Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner."

In 2010 Rachel formed a new band with husband Omar Hakim, called "The Trio Of OZ" which released its first CD and began touring; Z and Hakim also launched OZmosis Records in 2010. This group performed internationally adding Solomon Dorsey on bass and joined Pino Daniele for La Grande Madre Tour in 2012 while also performing OZ tour dates.

In 2013-14 Rachel Z recorded and toured as additional synth for The Omar Hakim Experience. She played synth with Wayne Escofferey for his US and Euro tour of 2014 release of Live at Firehouse 12. She toured with Terri Lyne Carrington in 2014 for the Mosaic tour and recorded on the 2015 release of Mosaic 2 "Love and Soul" on Concords Records.

In 2015, Rachel Z joined Neal Schon Vortex to open for the rock band Journey for 17 gigs in Canada. She added an electronica,/jazz edge to his music that has been critically acclaimed and has intrigued and captured new fans.

The Trio of OZ is currently working on their second release in their studio and plan to release the project in 2016. The group currently features Jon Toscano on bass.

Rachel Z is a Professor at the New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music Studies.

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Michelle Mercer "Footprints"
  2. ↑ Vertu review at All About Jazz

External links

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