Recap: Rachel Z Introduces Audience To Her Brand of Piano Trio Jazz at Caffe Lena 6/15/2024

June 17, 2024

2–3 minutes

Photos: Rudy Lu

Rachel Z is a contemporary musician spanning multiple genres. Leading her trio consisting of Jonathan Toscano (Bass) and husband Omar Hakim (drums), she introduced the Caffe audience to her brand of piano trio jazz.

Rachel’s background includes co-writing a Grammy award winning song with Najee, touring with artists as diverse as Peter Gabriel and the late Wayne Shorter as well as leading many of her own bands. Omar’s diverse background goes even further back in time, playing drums/percussion with David Bowie, Weather Report, Dire Straits, touring with Madonna and more recently participating in a Taylor Hawkins tribute as well as leading his own projects. Jonathan Toscano is a rising star bass player out of the NY scene who has recently been touring with many on the world concert scene.

Opening with the stately heartfelt “Save My Soul”, set the tone for 2 heartfelt sets of music. The follow up was Artemisia, dedicated to the most celebrated Baroque painter of the 17th century. Followed by the late Wayne Shorter’s “ESP ” from his early 60s period, the “Three Marias” from 1985.

The first set closed with the title cut of her new album Sensuality. It was sensual indeed with Toscano’s sexy bass pounding out the beat.

“Bodhisattva” was not a Steely Dan cover, it is an original by Rachel referring to the Buddhist equivalent of a saint. She mentioned there are many she has seen as ordinary people during the past few years.

“What I Fear”is inspired by the visualization Rachel teaches her New School students to confront their fears and smash them. Those fears are overcome by the quiet power of the piano and the smashing represented by Omar’s thundering drums.

“What About the Kids” transitioned seamlessly into “Forgive Me”, a composition inspired by the challenges our youth face.

The connection between Omar Hakim and Taylor Hawkins is very deep. They hung out at each other’s gigs. His untimely loss was devastating to the music world and heartfelt. The concert closed out with a cover of the Foo Fighters “These Days”, Dave Grohl’s composition about loss and grief. Starting out like a funeral march, the trio then varied the dynamics and tempo of the music to emphasize the complexity of grief and moving on.

Depending on how you view your weekend, this was a beautiful end to the weekend or the start of a new week. I hope to see this band or its variations again in an intimate setting in the 518, where you can truly appreciate the subtleties of their music.