Events

Rachel Carmel Hakim, better known as Rachel Z, is a jazz and rock pianist and keyboardist. I am a trained musician who graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music and attended SUNY Purchase and earned a master's degree in studio composition and electronic music with the "Outstanding Student Award". Today, she is passing on her rich experience to new generations of musicians. Namely, since 2000 she has been a professor of jazz and contemporary music studies at the College of Performing Arts at the New School, and since 2022 she has been a professor of jazz and electronic music studies at Montclair State University and Cali School of the Arts. In addition, since 2018 she has been a guest artist at the Department of Electronic Production and Design at the prestigious Berklee School of Music. She developed her style and approach to improvisation following the work of Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner.

Collaborations with Mike Mainieri and the fusion band Steps Ahead and especially with Wayne Shorter were important for the beginning of her career, including participation in the recording of his album "High Life", which won the Grammy Award for the best contemporary jazz album in 1997. Her concert in Zagreb will be dedicated to Shorter. This opened the door to the world of elite jazz, fusion and rock and the way to collaborations with famous musicians. Among others, some of her musical partners included her husband Omar Hakim, with whom she formed the band The Trio Of OZ and OZmosis Records, as well as Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Gabriel, Wayne Escoffery, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Pino Daniele , Al Di Meola, Victor Bailey and Regina Carter. Many of them participated in the recording of some of her thirteen albums. For example, her husband Omar Hakim on drums, Bendik Hofseth on sax and Jonathan Toscano on double bass will play in her quartet at this concert. In addition to being a respected instrumentalist, Rachel Z is also a successful author who, among other things, wrote the Grammy-winning composition "Tokyo Blue" together with saxophonist Najee.