Glenn Zaleski

Citing Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck as style inspirations, post-bop jazz pianist, composer, and arranger Glenn Zaleski arrived on the American jazz scene with 2010's Duet Suite with his brother, saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader Mark Zaleski. His piano playing received highly positive critical notice and garnered him a spot playing in the bands of Ravi Coltrane, Lage Lund, and Ari Hoenig, and led his own trio on recordings for Capri and Sunnyside, including 2014's My Ideal with bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Craig Weinrib. Coltrane appeared as a guest on one track. The trio issued Fellowship in 2017. Zaleski has been become a fixture on the city's live jazz scene. He recorded Live at Jazz Standard with drummer Colin Stranahan and bassist Rick Rosato for Capri in 2019, their third such outing. A native of Boylston, Massachusetts, Zaleski took part in the Brubeck Institute Fellowship at the University of the Pacific from 2005-2007, and followed an undergraduate degree from The New School in 2009 with graduate studies at N.Y.U. During his time there, he and his brother, saxophonist Mark Zaleski, released the album Duet Suite in 2010. A year later, Glenn joined bassist Rick Rosato and drummer Colin Stranahan for 2011's Anticipation, issued on Capri Records. That same year, Zaleski was also a finalist for the APA Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz and a semifinalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. He reunited with Rosato and Stranahan for 2013's Limitless, also on Capri. Saying he had 1959's Everybody Digs Bill Evans and 1960's Portrait in Jazz in mind when he recorded it, Zaleski made his solo debut in 2015 with My Ideal, released by Sunnyside Communications. It included interpretations of tunes by the likes of Jerome Kern, Freddie Hubbard, and Charlie Parker. An album of mostly originals recorded with bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Craig Weinrib, Fellowship followed on the same label in 2017. The following year, he released the album Solo, Vol. 1 as a free digital download through his website and label, Stark Terrace Music. 2019 saw another reunion with Stranahan and Rosato for Live at Jazz Standard on Capri. Summer walks with his wife in Brooklyn's Prospect Park led to the discovery of the Vale of Cashmere sanctuary, a small, secluded pond densely populated with trees. It became a favorite spot for meditation, composition, and cataloging music. Preparing for a recording and gigs, Zaleski entered a New York studio with saxophonist Lucas Pino, trumpeter Adam O'Farrill, bassist Desmond White, and drummer Allan Mednard. The end result, The Question, was released by Sunnyside in July of 2020. ~ Marcy Donelson & Thom Jurek