By Virginia DeBerry
The New Brunswick Jazz Project
Presents
The Zen Zadravec Quartet
Wednesday May 11
7.30PM n 10.30PM
Jazz at The Hyatt Regency
2 Albany, New Brunswick, NJ
Zen Zadravec n Piano
Todd Bashore n Sax
Alex Hernandez n Bass
Chris Brown – Drums
No Cover
Zen Zadravec, Jazz pianist and saxophonist, is a musical chameleon. Whether it is Jazz, R&B, Funk, Rock, or Pop, he plays each with a freshness and confidence rarely found in someone so young. Born in Winnipeg, Canada in 1974, Zadravec studied classical piano from the age of five. At eleven he began the saxophone and the flute. Hearing Miles Davis transformed his life and influenced his decision to become a Jazz musician.
Zadravec graduated with Bachelors in Fine Arts from York University’s Jazz Program (Toronto, Canada) where he also received two Oscar Peterson Awards for excellence as a Jazz pianist. In 2000, he earned a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance at Rutgers University. A natural innovator and leader, he runs three of his own bands: the Zen Zadravec Quartet (straight ahead Jazz), Human Revolution (Jazz Fusion), and Ritmo Y Corazon- Rhythm of the Heart (Latin/Cuban Jazz). Zadravec is also very much in demand as a side man and has performed or recorded with some of the biggest names in Jazz such as: Kenny Barron, Don Thompson, Vic Juris, Ted Dunbar, Ralph Bowen, Kenny Davis, Steve Turre, Sean Jones, Conrad Herwig, Freddie Hendrix, Don Thompson, Charles Fambrough, Valery Ponomarev, Dave Watson, Gloria Gaynor, among many others
COMING OF AGE, ZEN’S debut CD with his quartet has been turning heads, receiving rave reviews and
exciting jazz audiences. Along with creating scores for Television and Film, Zadravec continues to pursue the path of the performer, the composer, sideman, and the ARTIST. Zadravec’s Jazz groups also pursue a busy concert schedule with dates in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, and Japan.
Zen, has been playing in and around New Brunswick for several years, but this is his first performance for NBJP.
