Peter Zak | |
---|---|
Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | May 13, 1965
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
Instrument(s) | Piano |
Years active | Late 1980s–present |
Website | peterzakmusic.com |
Peter Zak (born May 13, 1965) is an American jazz pianist and composer.
Zak grew up in Ohio. [1] He studied classical piano between the ages of six and 20. [2] He moved to Oakland, California with his parents at the age of 16. [2] He studied history at the University of California, Berkeley, by the end of which he had local jazz gigs. [2] He moved to New York City in 1989. [1] There, he played with mainstream musicians including Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein, Joe Farnsworth, and Ryan Kisor. [2] Zak began recording for SteepleChase Records in 2004. [2]
Zak's playing was influenced by McCoy Tyner and Cedar Walton. [2]
An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.
Year recorded | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989* | More Than Love | Giana | |
1991* | Purple Refrain | Giana | |
2004 | Peter Zak Trio | SteepleChase | Trio, with Paul Gill (bass), Al Foster (drums) |
2005 | For Tomorrow | SteepleChase | Trio, with Paul Gill (bass), Willie Jones, III (drums) |
2007 | My Conception | SteepleChase | Solo piano |
2007 | Seed of Sin | SteepleChase | Trio, with Paul Gill (bass), Quincy Davis (drums) |
2007 | Blues on the Corner: The Music of McCoy Tyner | SteepleChase | Trio, with Paul Gill (bass), Quincy Davis (drums) |
2009 | The Decider | SteepleChase | Quartet, with Walt Weiskopf (tenor sax, soprano sax), Ugonna Okegwo (bass), Billy Drummond (drums) |
2010 | Down East | SteepleChase | Trio, with Peter Washington (bass), Rodney Green (drums) |
2011 | Nordic Noon | SteepleChase | Trio, with Peter Washington (bass), Billy Drummond (drums) |
2012 | The Eternal Triangle | SteepleChase | Trio, with Peter Washington (bass), Billy Drummond (drums) |
2013 | The Disciple | SteepleChase | Trio, with Peter Washington (bass), Willie Jones, III (drums) |
2014 | Standards | SteepleChase | Trio, with Jay Anderson (bass), Billy Drummond (drums) |
2017 | One Mind | Fresh Sounds | Quartet, with Seamus Blake (tenor sax), Marcos Varela (bass), Billy Drummond (drums) [3] |
Year recorded | Leader | Title | Label |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Ryan Kisor | The Usual Suspects | Fable |
1998 | Ryan Kisor | Point of Arrival | Criss Cross |
2001 | Ryan Kisor | The Dream | Criss Cross |
Cecil Percival Taylor was an American pianist and poet.
Coleman Randolph Hawkins, nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. One of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument, as Joachim E. Berendt explained: "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn". Hawkins biographer John Chilton described the prevalent styles of tenor saxophone solos prior to Hawkins as "mooing" and "rubbery belches." Hawkins cited as influences Happy Caldwell, Stump Evans, and Prince Robinson, although he was the first to tailor his method of improvisation to the saxophone rather than imitate the techniques of the clarinet. Hawkins' virtuosic, arpeggiated approach to improvisation, with his characteristic rich, emotional, and vibrato-laden tonal style, was the main influence on a generation of tenor players that included Chu Berry, Charlie Barnet, Tex Beneke, Ben Webster, Vido Musso, Herschel Evans, Buddy Tate, and Don Byas, and through them the later tenormen, Arnett Cobb, Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips, Ike Quebec, Al Sears, Paul Gonsalves, and Lucky Thompson. While Hawkins became known with swing music during the big band era, he had a role in the development of bebop in the 1940s.
Zak Richard Starkey is an English rock drummer who has performed and recorded with English rock band the Who since 1996. He is also the third drummer to have appeared with English rock band Oasis. In 2020, Starkey toured Brazil with U-Roy as guitarist. Other musicians and bands he has worked with include Johnny Marr, Paul Weller, the Icicle Works, the Waterboys, Bobby Womack, ASAP, the Lightning Seeds, John Entwistle, Sly & Robbie, Toots & The Maytals, Mykal Rose, Freddie McGregor, Big Youth, Jesse Royal, Tanya Stevens, Cecile and Sshh Liguz. Starkey is a son of the Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr.
Albert Clifton Ammons was an American pianist and player of boogie-woogie, a blues style popular from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s.
Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Waldron led his own bands and played for those led by Charles Mingus, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, and Eric Dolphy, among others. During Waldron's period as house pianist for Prestige Records in the late 1950s, he appeared on dozens of albums and composed for many of them, including writing his most famous song, "Soul Eyes", for Coltrane. Waldron was often an accompanist for vocalists, and was Billie Holiday's regular accompanist from April 1957 until her death in July 1959.
John Arthur "Jaki" Byard was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Mainly a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, among several other instruments. He was known for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz.
Leonard Joseph Tristano was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher of jazz improvisation.
Bengt Hallberg was a Swedish jazz pianist, composer and arranger.
Pete Jolly was a two-time Grammy-nominated American West Coast jazz pianist and accordionist. He is known for his performance of television themes and movie soundtracks.
Art Lande is an American musician who was born in New York City, United States, on 5 February 1947.
Roland Pembroke Hanna was an American jazz pianist, composer, and teacher.
John Josephus Hicks Jr. was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He was leader of more than 30 recordings and played as a sideman on more than 300.
Gil Goldstein is an American jazz pianist and accordionist. He has won 5 Grammy Awards and he was nominated 8 times.
Benny Green is an American hard bop jazz pianist who was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He has been compared to Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson in style and counts them as influences.
Joe Albany was an American modern jazz pianist who played bebop with Charlie Parker as well as being a leader on his own recordings.
Frank Morgan was a jazz saxophonist with a career spanning more than 50 years. He mainly played alto saxophone but also played soprano saxophone. He was known as a Charlie Parker successor who primarily played bebop and ballads.
Erwin Helfer is an American boogie-woogie, blues and jazz pianist.
Walt Weiskopf is an American jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, author and educator. He has released sixteen albums as a leader, and performed on countless other albums as a sideman. He has collaborated with artists such as Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra and Steely Dan.
Darek Oleszkiewicz, also known as Darek Oles, is a jazz bassist, composer, arranger, and educator.
Marcus McLaurine is an American jazz bassist, composer, and educator.