JAZZ BLOG 08, DAY 1: Unexpected standards

By Brendan Giusti on June 14, 2008

I don't think the early-bird jazz fans were quite ready for Rachel Z play. And play is what she did, with those flurries of sustained, single notes that stretch the harmonies, jabbing out little clusters of notes to back up bassist Maeve Royce and hitting every rhythmic punch layed down by drummer Bobbie Rae. The trio worked its way through standards like "Autumn Leaves," even adding some funky swank to the famous outro from the Miles Davis version. Then there were new "standards," like "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. But I shouldn't expect anything but cutting edge from the woman who once played an Arabian-flavored rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine" when she was last in town.