For his tenth CD in as many years, all for the
Danish SteepleChase label, pianist Peter Zak continues his brilliant series of
jazz trio explorations, this time in the company of bassist Peter Washington
and drummer Willie Jones III. The new disc, The Disciple, will be released
October 21.
"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.
Peter ZakPeter Zak, 49, was born in Los Angeles
and grew up in Columbus and Kent, Ohio, then moved with his family at age 16 to
Oakland. At the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in
history, he studied with Susan Muscarella (founder/director of Berkeley's
Jazzschool, now the California Jazz Conservatory).
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.
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