Acclaimed Jazz Musician Zach Brock Releases Debut CD

Jazz violinist Zach Brock releases his solo CD, and begins a supporting tour.

Zach Brock and The Coffee Achievers will be touring the Midwest in support of their new self-titled recording from March 14 to March 24, 2003. The tour will begin at Knox College in Galesburg, IL as part of the school's annual Rutabaga Jazz Festival. Past performers at the Rutabaga Jazz Festival include Curtis Fuller, Benny Green, Joey DeFrancesco, Kurt Elling, Orbert Davis, and Paul Wertico. The Coffee Achievers tour will conclude in Chicago at the world-famous Jazz Showcase where, since 1947, owner Joe Segal has been presenting acts from Charlie Parker to the Dave Holland Quintet.

Zach Brock is joined by his new group, The Coffee Achievers, which includes Sam Bar-sheshet on keyboards, Matt Wigton on bass, and Nori Tanaka on drums. Sam, who currently resides in Brooklyn, has recently been performing with Lonnie Plaxico in New York City. Matt was a fea-tured co-leader of the group Trinity at the 2003 IAJE Conference in Toronto. Nori can be heard regularly with such Chicago legends as Jeff Parker, Ron Perillo, and Bobby Broom.

The group is releasing their first recording, Zach Brock and The Coffee Achievers, on January 23, 2003. The first recording on the new label Secret Fort Recordsfeatures original compositions by Zach, Sam and Matt. Within these compositions, the listener is treated to a unique combination of musical elements that evoke both folk-like simplicity and post-Coltrane complexity.

The CD opens with Now I Know, a rapidly swinging tune written by Zach in tribute to the fated hubris of personal discovery. This is followed by Common Ground, another composition by Brock that has the group playing through rapidly changing time signatures while retaining a distinc-tively West African feel. Turn, Matt Wigton's first contribution on the CD, is a sunny, flowing waltz that combines several diverse elements of Americana. Winter Transition, by Sam, is a through-composed, impressionistic piece touched by a slight ache of nostalgia. The free and quirky title track, The Coffee Achievers, was originally written by Zach for the band Spazztet. Here, the song is given a new treatment that includes the violin being played exclusively with a guitar pick and the piano soloing with one hand tied behind his back. Wigton's beautiful ballad Solitary Candleis the perfect foil for the pointillistic explorations of the preceding tune, and offers the lis-tener a chance to luxuriate in Tanaka's beautiful brushwork and orchestral concept. Low Sco, another odd-metered romp, is Sam's musical answer to his high school's kinetic wellness" class. And finally, Mr. Shahis both a portrait and a tribute; to one of Zach's close friends as well as the great modern jazz trumpet virtuoso Woody Shaw.

Be a part of what will be one of this spring's most exciting Indie tours: check out Zach Brock and The Coffee Achievers. For more information on the CD, including sounds clips and cover art, as well as all booking information, go to www.zachbrock.com.