CD/DVD Releases: March 13: Rachel Z's New CD, Dept Of Good And Evil On Savoy Jazz
Declaring to the world, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that "jazz is not dead, it is alive and right here!," Rachel Z's latest fascinating creative stop Dept Of Good And Evil finds her in a slightly Goth state of mind, which complements the mix of popular and more obscure pop/rock covers and lyrical and soulful originals penned by her ("Moon And Sun," "Walking On Water," both of which feature her sensuous, romantic vocals) and longtime drummer and collaborator Bobbie Rae (the haunting elegy to the "Saint of New Orleans").
Rachel charts new territory for herself as the leader of the full-fledged ensemble (known collectively as the Dept of Good And Evil), creating powerful jazzy mood swings on the piano over a shifting array of grooves driven by Rae (who also arranged and produced the project), 22 year old female bassist Maeve Royce (making her recording debut here) and the legendary Tony Levin (a longtime Z collaborator who plays electric bass and Chapman Stick guitar parts). Dept of Good And Evil also includes the emotionally resonant trumpet magic of Erik Naslund. Rachel discovered the talented, highly adaptable Royce, a native of Annapolis, Maryland, as a student in a theory and performance class the pianist teaches at New School University in New York. "She immediately reminded me of Bill Evan's great bassist Scott LaFaro and I love the way she can groove heavily the way Jimmy Garrison did with Coltrane," Rachel says. "She also has an Irish Gaelic influence which makes her bowing more emotional."
The recording grew out of Dept Of Good And Evil's extensive, 100-date world tour throughout 2006, a jaunt which took them everywhere from venues in Switzerland to stops in the Midwest, Pearl's in San Francisco, The Jazz Standard in NYC, the Blue Note in Milan and the Rochester Jazz Festival in New York. Rachel decided to formalize her band with a new name when she realized the level of collaboration that was happening when the ensemble was together.
Dept Of Good And Evil draws from a unique mix of pop, alternative and Goth songs from well and lesser-known bands in creating tracks that carry on Rachel's tradition of redefining the songs she loves for a hip, adventurous audience of all ages and generations. Many of the tracks are, like the best jazz and classical movement, multi-movement in nature, with shifting moods and parts that come unexpectedly; Rachel and Rae like to think of the tracks as "suites" that transport the listener to different places over the course of a few minutes.
"I just love the process of finding new songs that excite me and working with new musicians that give me that fresh light and inspiration from time to time," says Rachel. "Dept of Good and Evil is the best of everything for me, exciting material to work with, and an incredible ensemble of players which I just love vibing with. We'll probably expand more into groove-oriented music in the future, but the fun is never knowing what the next great thing is going to be. What I love most about the band is that we can play a whole night of jazz standards and then turn around the next and do a strictly rock and groove thing. It's going to be exciting to see how it progresses from here."
Dept Of Good And Evil featuring Rachel Z kick off their U.S. coast-to-coast tour on March 8.
[Source: Michael Bloom Media Relations]
