The title track of Bay Area saxophonist-composer Dann Zinn's 6th album was inspired by the Robert Frost poem "A Road Not Taken," but took on graver significance following a jogging accident that resulted in Zinn damaging his right hand. While the music on "Two Roads" was recorded before the accident, it provides a view of what was at stake for Zinn--whether he could continue on his lifelong musical path (with some adjustments, he can and is.)
RICHMOND, Calif. , Aug. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Tenor saxophonist Dann Zinn named "Two Roads"—his sixth album, set for an October 4 release on Ridgeway Records—for the words of poet Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken." Like the poem's narrator, Zinn stares down a fork in the road, faced with a choice that will make all the difference. Backing him on this expedition through eight distinctive original compositions is an incendiary, innovative quartet that features Rachel Z on piano, Jeff Denson on bass, and Omar Hakim on drums, with percussionist Brian Rice guesting as well.
The dilemma Zinn encountered was the result of an accident that damaged his right hand, endangering his ability to play the saxophone (and permanently derailed his flute playing). While the music on "Two Roads" was recorded before the accident, it provides an enthralling portrait of what was at stake—fork in the road—to continue on this path or another. After seriously considering whether to end his musical career, Zinn decided to persevere. It wasn't easy—he had to completely rebuild his saxophone to accommodate the loss of motion in his fingers—but ultimately, here he is, with an offering that underscores that fateful choice.
The music is also a bold stylistic move. It explores the wide swath of musical styles that have informed Zinn's unmistakably original voice as both a composer and a player. The range of ideas is remarkable, encompassing the Nordic folk-jazz of Jan Garbarek (who shares Zinn's Norwegian heritage), American jazz, East Bay funk, gospel, and electronically processed atmospheres.
Many of these elements show themselves individually—from the unabashed post-bop opener "Yarak," to the rollicking, churchy "Pros and Cons," to the eerie soundscapes that bookend "A Revolution of One." Yet "Two Roads"'s deeper revelation is of the leader's brilliance as a synthesist. Seamless blends like "The Sound of Ice Melting," with its hard-driving, funky aggression balanced by the longing folklike melody; the pounding Latin rhythms and evocative wordless vocal (courtesy of Jeff Denson) on "Two Words"; or the quirky, grooving, not-at-all punk "East Bay Punk" could have come from nobody but Dann Zinn.
Dann Zinn was born January 4, 1958 in Castro Valley, California. He picked up the violin at the age of eight, switched to saxophone at nine, and took off down the jazz rabbit hole. On the way, however, he also encountered rock and roll; the hard-edged funk of Earth, Wind & Fire and Tower of Power (studying with the latter's Lenny Pickett); and Irish flutist James Galway, among many others, creating a unique and diverse wellspring of ideas from which Zinn would draw throughout his life.
After high school—and a supplementary education at San Francisco's legendary Keystone Korner jazz club—Zinn went to Los Angeles, becoming involved in that city's intensive music scene, then onward to the East Coast, where he spent some time in New York and played in a Boston-based rock band throughout the early and mid-1980s.
He returned to the Bay Area to study at what is now Cal State East Bay, where he transitioned from student to teacher, and eventually became the school's director of jazz studies. He has also been on faculty at University of California at Berkeley and the California Jazz Conservatory, directed the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars, given private lessons, and authored the six-volume textbook "Zinn and the Art of Saxophone": a remarkable and accomplished career for an educator.
In the meantime, however, his career as a saxophonist, composer, and improviser hasn't slowed down a bit. Zinn has worked with the likes of Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Terri Lyne Carrington, Mike and Leni Stern, Cuong Vu, Peter Erskine, Taylor Eigsti, Allison Miller, and Derrick Hodge, to name just a few. As a leader in his own right, Zinn has recorded six albums, beginning with his 2003 debut "Ten Songs" and continuing through to his latest effort, "Two Roads."
"In the tradition of the great Duke Ellington," says Zinn, "I have written this music for these exact musicians—music to be reflective and contemplative of the times we have lived, and are living through. Rachel, Omar, and Jeff exceeded all expectations and are brilliant. 'Two Roads' is about choices—taking a road less traveled and finding that, at the end of one journey, another begins. 'Two Roads' is both a culmination and a beginning, coming from a life well lived, and looking forward to what comes next."
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SOURCE Dann Zinn
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