Tune in on Wednesday, September 6th @ 2PM to hear Excuse My French speak with NYC based jazz // rock musician, Rachel Z, ahead of her shows at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley on September 8th & 9th.
Rachel Z is a keyboardist with a long history of award-winning performances in the worlds of jazz and rock. She won a Grammy for Highlife with Wayne Shorter, on which she orchestrated the synthesizers, played piano, and was music director for the Highlife tour.
In addition to her 12 albums as bandleader and her work in bands such as Pino Daniele, Steps Ahead, Vertú, Al Di Meola, the Omar Hakim Experience, and OZmosys(her band with Omar Hakim), she has played and toured with artists like George Coleman, Bobby Watson, George Garzone, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Al Di Meola, and Regina Carter. She came to worldwide prominence in the Peter Gabriel concert films Growing Up Live and Still Growing Up Live.
Since 2000, Rachel has been a Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Music Studies at The New School University in New York. Since 2022 also a Professor of Jazz Studies and Electronic Music at Montclaire State University Cali School of the Arts
Her newest recording, Sensual will be released in September 2023 and will feature a companion video by Miho Morimoto.
