Taiwan – Zac Zinger

This piece is a fusion of contemporary jazz and traditional chinese influences. Written by New York based performer Zac Zinger, who is fluent in both American Jazz traditions and a multitude of Traditional world instruments. This piece features him playing the dizi with a traditional jazz rhythm section, and includes guest appearances from three Taiwanese musicians – all of whom he met while in Taiwan – singing, playing the guzheng, and playing the erhu. I chose the piece because of its fascinating fusion of Western and Eastern influences, the juxtaposition of traditional instruments against modern jazz, which conceptually fascinates me.

Zac Zinger is an amazing musician, fluent on the shakuhachi and a host of other world flutes, such as the bansuri, the dizi, the quena, and more. His music strikes a balance between progressive jazz and traditional Japanese music, and draws on influences much larger than that.