Spring is here, and with it the reawakening of the greenery. The music scene is coming back to life as well. This past winter has been a bit slow but productive. I’ve taken advantage of the calm pace to finally complete my latest CD, Status Cymbals. This CD was a long time coming, as I thought about it for years, and like the spring, it’s in bloom.

I’ve just returned from my first tour of the year, with Fred Wesley and the New JBs in Germany, France, Austria, and Tbilisi, Georgia. We’ll return to Europe and North Africa this summer, hitting some major festivals like Vienne in France. I’ll also be in Russia in the middle of July with Vladimiras Cekasinas and Andrei Kondakov, among others. I’ve also performed recently with Carla Cook at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., during a three-day Women In Jazz Festival hosted by Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Status Cymbals features Abraham Burton on sax, Aruan Ortiz on piano, and Gianluca Renzi on bass. It consists of six of my compositions, two group compositions, and Benny Golson, Jimmy Van Heusen, Thelonious Monk, and Wayne Shorter compositions. The music ranges from traditional jazz to Afro-Cuban jazz to modern jazz to funk. Status Cymbals is available at CD Baby, iTunes, and Amazon.com. Advertisement

James Zollar is currently composing, rehearsing, and preparing for his next CD. I’ll have one or more of my compositions on this project, so keep a lookout for this exciting new experiment with a funky South American tinge.

I’m playing Pearl Reference drums, Zildjian K cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, and Evans heads.

Feel free to contact me with any comments, remarks, or questions, or just to let me know what’s new in the music world. I’ll keep y’all posted as the music develops.

 

Peace and love.