"The Disciple," 10th CD by Pianist Peter Zak
For the SteepleChase Label,
To Be Released Oct. 21
Trio Recording Features
Bassist Peter Washington & Drummer Willie Jones III
CD Release Show at Smoke, New York City,
With Trio Plus Special Guest Peter Bernstein,
Wednesday, Oct. 22
October 2, 2014
"The fact that the
piano is the lead instrument in terms of playing the melody appeals to
me," Zak says of the trio format. "There's that, and the hookup between
the ride cymbal and the bass doesn't get any better than that. The
reason I play jazz is basically for that feel."
Washington, who's on
board for his fourth consecutive Zak session, "is one of the best
musicians I've ever played with," says the pianist. "He really knows how
to break up the time and to really find the groove when it needs to be
found. He hears everything that's happening immediately."
Zak's association with Jones dates to 1998 when both were sidemen on trumpeter Ryan Kisor's The Usual Suspects
CD. "He's got a lot of energy but he's not bombastic," Zak says of the
much-in-demand drummer. "I just like his sensibility about swinging."
Zak is a stylistic
disciple of some of the greatest jazz pianists of the bop and post-bop
eras. He salutes six of them on The Disciple with personalized
interpretations of compositions by Chick Corea ("The Loop"), Elmo Hope ("Barfly"), Horace Silver ("Nutville"), Herbie Hancock ("Requiem"), Hampton Hawes ("Jackie"), and Thelonious Monk ("Criss Cross"), along with three originals and one by the Russian classical composer and pianist Alexander Scriabin.
He hadn't initially
planned a CD of tunes made up entirely of tunes by piano players. It
just turned out that way, as did the fact the set opens and closes with
waltzes: Corea's "The Loop" and his own "The Disciple."
His decisions must have been subconscious, as he has long shown himself
to be master of programming music who often selects great yet
little-known songs for his recordings and live performances. "I want to
do things that are off the beaten track, something that hasn't been done
a lot," he explains.
Zak played on an extracurricular basis in combo and big band settings, with the UC Jazz Ensembles. He also freelanced in bands with noted bassist Herbie Lewis,
who had recorded with one of Zak's major influences, McCoy Tyner, as
well as Jackie McLean and local hero Bobby Hutcherson. Following his
graduation from UC Berkeley, Zak played clubs, concerts, and festivals
with such notables as saxophonists Frank Morgan and John Handy.
Since moving to New York in 1989, Zak has enjoyed ongoing recording and performing associations with saxophonists Walt Weiskopf, Jim Snidero, and Stephen Riley; trumpeter Ryan Kisor; and guitarist Tom Guarna. Zak has accompanied such name artists as George Coleman, Billy Hart, Jon Hendricks, Etta Jones, Jimmy Cobb, Scott Hamilton, and Junior Cook. He's been on
the faculty in the Jazz and Contemporary Music College of the New
School since 1995 and currently teaches an ensemble class there.
Zak has recorded steadily as a leader since making his debut, in 2005, with The Peter Zak Trio,
a trio date with Paul Gill and Al Foster. That same year, he was the
recipient of a $10,000 commission from the Doris Duke Foundation to
compose and perform a new work for his trio.
In his notes to The Disciple,
Zak describes the composition process as something "by turns
challenging, intriguing, frustrating, and finally rewarding" and
discusses the value of standard jazz repertoire "as springboards to
improvisation and collective interaction. . . . You still need that
foundational element that's built on a basis of collective knowledge
among the performers, and oftentimes the audience. Only then do we stand
a chance for that deep groove, and for imagination to truly take
flight."
Peter Zak
and his trio (Paul Gill, bass, and Joe Farnsworth, drums) plus guest
soloist Peter Bernstein will be performing a CD release show for The Disciple at Smoke, 2751 Broadway, New York City, on Wednesday 10/22. Sets are at 7:00, 9:00, and 10:30 pm.
Photography: Javier Oddo
Terri Hinte
hudba@sbcglobal.net
510/234-8781
