Rachel Z

Rachel Z
Background information
Birth name Rachel Carmel Nicolazzo
Born (1962-12-28)December 28, 1962
New York City
Genres Jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, rock
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Keyboards
Years active 1988–present
Labels Columbia, NYC, GRP, Tone Center, Chesky
Associated acts Steps Ahead, Vertú, Peacebox, Trio of OZ, Dept. of Good and Evil
Website www.rachelz.com

Rachel Carmel Nicolazzo, better known as Rachel Z, is a jazz and rock keyboardist.

Music career

The daughter of an opera singer, Rachel Nicolazzo began voice lessons at age two and piano at seven. She attended summer school at Berklee College of Music in Boston and formed her own jazz group, Nardis. At the New England Conservatory of Music she studied with pianist Joanne Brackeen. After graduating she joined the jazz fusion group Steps Ahead. The group's founder, vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, advised Nicolazzo to change her name to Rachel Z because it was easy to spell. She worked with Najee, a former classmate, on his album Tokyo Blue (1990) and it was a smooth jazz hit.[1]

Her first solo album, Trust the Universe (Columbia, 1993) yielded the smooth jazz hit "Nardis". The next year, she provided keyboards and orchestration on Wayne Shorter's album High Life, which won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Her next album, A Room of One's Own, was on NYC Records, owned by Mike Mainieri, and was dedicated to female musicians she admired. She joined jazz fusion veterans Stanley Clarke and Lenny White in the band Vertú.[1] The album received a positive review from All About Jazz.[2]

In 2002, she recorded Moon at the Window, a tribute to Joni Mitchell. She formed the rock group Peacebox, worked with Italian pop singer Pino Daniele, and toured with Peter Gabriel from 2002–2006. In 2010 she and drummer Omar Hakim formed the group Trio of OZ and the label OZmosis Records.

Discography

Solo

As member

As guest

With Pino Daniele

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.