| Biography
The New York based group Reverend Zen has released
its independent, debut album, Angels, Blues &
the Crying Moon, that is quickly garnering music industry
acclaim around the world. Nominated for Best Song
by the 2008 Los Angeles Music Awards for “Her
Love”, winning Song of the Year from Spain's
2007/2008 Effigy Awards for "The Boston Shakedown",
recipients of a 2007/2008 ASCAP Plus Award in New
York, named 2007 Artist of the Year by the Los Angeles
Music Awards, along with two Finalist Awards from
the 2007 Unisong International Song Contest in L.A.
for "Magdalena" and "Bad Attitude"
and a Finalist in the 2006 VH1 Song of the Year Contest
in Houston for "Dangerous Times", the band
seamlessly blends rock, jazz and r&b into their
own singular vision. VH1 comments, "Listening
to these songs you're drawn in by their unique, vivid
mirrors of human nature and emotion. Their lyrics
and arrangements have the power to make you remember
both the songs and their performances. This music
is straight from the heart, with stand out guitar
that's perfectly executed and first rate production."
Such substance and precision has been honed over time
with the band writing and recording the album over
a ten year period. You'll hear this dedication and
attention to detail in each exacting lyric and every
well executed chord change. "Bandleader Jack
Evans blends strong song writing with obviously accomplished
musicianship." remarks Rich Lepescu of Nebula
Music Magazine. These are always timeless qualities
in music and Reverend Zen not only reminds us of Steely
Dan's cleverness and the grit of the blues but they
also touch upon the lyrical introspection of the singer/songwriters.
These traits and more are evident on the band's slamming
shuffle "The Boston Shakedown", with its
tales of lust, debauchery and a college education
and in the dark beauty of love lost on "Don't
Try To Tell Me" and "The One In Love".
Reverend Zen's musical credentials are beyond question.
The group's musicians have a history of playing with
the music greats, ranging from Eric Clapton and Bruce
Springsteen to Sheryl Crow, Donald Fagen, John Scofield,
Annie Lennox, Elvis Costello, Sting, Shawn Colvin,
B.B. King and Stevie Wonder. The band's sound pays
tribute to these influences, but also pushes musical
boundaries mixing the funk laden wit of "Bad
Attitude" and the incredulous tales of a prodigy
on the burning "Boy Genius", with the classic
rock sound of "Magdalena" and its folk tale
of love found.
"Our influences span several genres," says
Mr. Evans, who names Miles Davis, James Brown, Joni
Mitchell, Steely Dan, Ray Charles, Wayne Shorter and
Claude Debussy among their favorites. "Still
all of them inspire us with their spirit, eloquence
and craft. They all seem to express themselves with
conviction and humanity." He concludes. Strands
of Debussy and Mitchell can be heard flowing through
Reverend Zen's impressionistic ballad of love in question,
"Only A Fool", with the band again bridging
musical idioms.
Such rich musical backgrounds coupled with their distinctive
writing has helped Reverend Zen quickly gain a reputation
for thought-provoking lyrics and no holds barred rhythms.
Those qualities are never more evident than on their
rocking, National Enquirer like adventures of an amusing
psychotic and his psychiatrist "My Sigmund Freud",
on "Her Love", their haunting portrait of
a woman's emotional damage and on "Dangerous
Times", their thought provoking analogy of the
Wild West to current events in America and the world.
It's music for the thinking man's head. Critics around
the globe seem to agree. To date the genre stretching
band has won thirty-four awards in the ac, aaa, rock,
jazz, r&b, blues, lyric, performance categories
of the VH1 and Unisong Contests, the Billboard World
Song Contest in New York, the Mid Atlantic Song Contest
in Washington, D.C. and the U.K.'s Singer/Songwriter
Awards in London. In 2006 Reverend Zen received RGW
Radio's Bronze Artist Award in Norfolk, England and
in late 2007 they were named Artist of the Year by
WCH Radio in St. Louis. After receiving four Best
Song nominations in the Adult Contemporary Artist
and Blues Categories of the Los Angeles Music Awards,
for "Bad Attitude", "Don't Try to Tell
Me", "The Boston Shakedown" and "Dangerous
Times", they were named 2007 Blues Artist of
the Year by LAMA. Earlier this year Mr. Evans was
the recipient of a prestigious 2007/2008 ASCAP Plus
Award, Jazz & Popular Music Division. After receiving
five Finalist awards as well as Blues/Rock Song of
the Year and Blues/Rock Artist of the Year nominations
from Mere Music International's Effigy Awards, Reverend
Zen was named the winner of Blues/Rock Song of the
Year, for "The Boston Shakedown", at the
2007/2008 Effigy Award's ceremony in Malaga, Spain.
In May 2008 the band’s “Her Love”
was nominated for Best Song in the AAA category of
the upcoming 2008 Los Angeles Music Awards which take
place November 20th at the Henry Fonda - Music Box
Theatre in L.A.
John Schoenberger of Billboard's Radio and Records
in L.A. may summarize it best by simply stating, "Reverend
Zen's debut cd Angels, Blues & the Crying Moon
is simply a very good record." All platitudes
aside Reverend Zen's true genius lies in its music,
and Angels, Blues & the Crying Moon is everything
a great album should be, melodies that hang in your
head like an old friend, lyrics of wit, introspection
and cultural commentary, dead on drum tracks, bad
ass guitar solos and subtleties that slowly reveal
themselves.
Ten years in the making, Angels, Blues, & the
Crying Moon was worth the wait and is taking Reverend
Zen's mix of rock, r&b, jazz to the world stage.
REVEREND ZEN - The Songs of Angels, Blues & the
Crying Moon
"Magdalena" (Unisong Finalist - Lyric Category,VH1
Runner Up - Lyric & AAA/AC Categories, Billboard
Award) and it's classic rock sound opens Angels, Blues
& the Crying Moon with sweeping keyboards and
a majestic chorus. It's the story of a loner's encounter
with an angel."The song was written as a folk
tale of sorts about truth, trust and dreams."
remarks singer/lyricist Jack Evans. James Gerard adds
organ and synths. Chris Carter and Gil Parris are
on guitar."I was sleeping on a cloud/ When an
angel awakened me/ With the warm gentle voice/ Of
a heavenly breeze/ She said, I'm Magdalena/ I've come
to speak with you/ And whatever words are spoken/
We shall always speak the truth"
"Bad
Attitude" (LA Music Awards Best Song Nominee - Blues Category,
Unisong Finalist - Blues Category, VH1, Billboard, UK's Singer-Songwriter
Awards) is funky r&b, rock. It's a he said, she said take
on a cynic's bad luck and his lover's claim that all he suffers
from is a bad attitude. Black cats, aerodynamics and a twelve
ton truck all get involved. "It's some classic "downer"
sentiment with a few twists." relates Evans. The hot wired
guitar solo is by Chris Carter who's been called one of the
premier r&b guitarists in NYC by renowned studio great Hugh
McCracken."Throw me a line my boat sprung a leak/ I clutch
my flask for a final drink/ A smiling shark is circling the
bow/ With a little luck I'll probably drown"
"Don't
Try To Tell Me" (LA Music Awards Best Song Nominee - AAA/AC
Category, VH1 Runner Up - AAA/AC Category, Billboard Award)
is a solemn ballad dramatizing the final encounter between two
lovers. Denial, regret and loss are all reflected."The
lyrical, blues inflected guitar solo is by Gil Parris (the Gil
Parris Band, Dr. John, Bob James, David Sanborn). The piano
and keyboard orchestration is by Evans' co writer on the ten
songs of Angels, Blues & the Crying Moon, James Gerard.
"Don't try to tell me it was all a mistake/ Don't try to
tell me that/ Don't try to tell me sometimes love can fade/
Like we've just become two passing strangers without names"
"The
Boston Shakedown" (Effigy Awards Song of the Year - Rock/Blues, LA Music Awards Best Song Nominee -
AC/AAA,VH1 Runner Up - AAA/AC Category, Unisong, Billboard,
Mid Atlantic - SAW Awards) is a slamming, roguish tale of higher
education with a party girl who loves underclassmen but always
leaves them. There's props to Marvin Gaye, the Red Sox and Stolichnaya."It's
just a bit of reminiscing about college days and Boston."
smiles Evans. The bad ass guitar solo is by Nick Moroch (David
Sanborn, Chaka Khan, Donald Fagen). Rob Aries (John Scofield,
Freddy Jackson, Donald Harrison) is on keyboards. The bass duties
are handled by Kip Sophos (Nile Rodgers, Chuck Loeb, David Mann)
with Evans on vocals and drums. "She's havin' another party
upstairs/ They're squealin' and laughin' in the August heat/
With her trunk full of toys and contraband/ That young fool
don't stand a chance"
"Only
A Fool" (VH1 Award) is a bittersweet ballad. "A friend
was caught up in a relationship that was very yin, yang. They
were being held hostage by their own emotions." explains
Evans. The song highlights Rob Aries on piano and Gil Parris
on electric and acoustic guitar. Evans provides the impressionistic
keyboard orchestration. The background vocals are by Margaret
Dorn (Boz Scaggs, Michael McDonald, Bette Midler) and Vaneese
Thomas (Eric Clapton, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Luther
Vandross, Chaka Khan). "Didn't my love try to chase the
demons from your heart/ Still the wounds of your past are tearing
us apart"
"My
Sigmund Freud" rocks and rises up with no holds barred
rhythms that's full of cultural commentary. It's the over the
top adventures of an amusing psychotic and the doctor he considers
his savior. A UFO, the Bronx Zoo and Joseph Cornell materialize
along the way. If Dr. Phil, Woody Allen and Frank Zappa had
started a rock band it might sound like this."The first
three lines of the chorus are lifted from an ad in the New York
Post." reveals Evans. "The rest of the lyrics probably
read like the National Enquirer." Chris Carter returns
on guitar, James Gerard covers the keyboard tracks. "Palpitations,
shortness of breath/ A racing heart, a fear of death/ Delusions
of grandeur, loss of control/ Last week I dreamed I was Axl
Rose/ But my doctor cures my ills/ With understanding and his
happy pills/ He's fillin' up my emotional void / He's my savior,
he's my Sigmund Freud"
"Her
Love" (LA Music Awards Best Song Nominee - AAA,
VH1, Billboard Awards, UK's Singer-Songwriter Awards)
tells us of a woman unable to confront her demons,
who sadly uses her beauty and charm as power and control
in this revealing character study."This one came
together very quickly." says Evans."James
had sketched out a lot of the music, then I went home
and wrote the lyrics the next day." Gil Parris,
called the brightest star of jazz/blues guitar since
Larry Carlton by Guitar One Magazine, delivers a soaring,
emotional solo against the back drop of James Gerard's
keyboards. "She listens to his words and lets
him feel she understands/ Her replies are chosen so
she can gain the upper hand/ She cooly plays the temptress
as he gives himself away/ She chooses her men cautiously,
only the ones she finds easy to leave"
"Dangerous
Times" (LA Music Awards Best Song Nominee - AAA/AC Category,
VH1 Finalist - AAA/AC Category, Billboard, Unisong, UK's Singer-Songwriter
Awards) with it's upbeat sound is actually RZ's thought provoking,
dark analogy of the old Wild West to current events in America
and the world. Is this 1870's Deadwood or New York in the year
2000? "It seems incomprehensible to me how much misguided
machismo and violence still exist in what's called modern civilization."
states Evans. James Gerard is again on keyboards while Chris
Carter returns on guitar. The background vocals here are by
Sheryl Marshall (John Medeski, Buster Poindexter, Ru Paul, NYC's
Uptown Horns) and Soozie Tyrell (Bruce Springsteen, Sheryll
Crow, Shawn Colvin, Elvis Costello)."There's a line of
mourners and a mother's tears/ Nothin's changed 'round here
for a hundred years"
"Boy
Genius" gives us the incredulous tales of a child prodigy.
Balzac, Shakespeare and Camus are all on his required reading
list. Evans explains,"The words and drum part came first.
The lyrics were partly inspired by an old Jodie Foster movie
called 'Little Man Tate'. Ideas for the groove came from a Miles
Davis song called "Splatch" on his 'Tutu' album."
The song slams and rocks with a hip hop bounce and a scorching
guitar solo by Chris Carter (the Chris Carter Band, Art Neville,
Taj Mahal, Solomon Burke, NYC's Uptown Horns). The keyboards
are by Rob Aries and Evans."By the age of five he'd quote
Socrates / And play in his room with a laser Beam / Baptized
the kid with a metaphysical mind / He's next in line for the
Nobel Prize"
"The
One In Love" (VH1, Billboard Awards) is a beautifully dark,
mid tempo ballad that closes Angels, Blues & the Crying
Moon. It's an account of abandonment, unresolved longing and
efforts to transcend it all at a jazz club called the Crying
Moon. James Gerard delivers the richly textured keyboard orchestration.
Philly session bassist Kjell Benner (Patti La Belle, Arlen Roth)
and drummer Rudy Feinauer (the Syndicate of Soul, George Russell,
Jimmy Guiffre) round out the rhythm section."From the stage
I face a crowded room / In a club they call the Crying Moon/
As love struck couples dance the floor / The lonely
Contact Details:
Reverend Zen Music: 111 Katonah Ave, Katonah, NY 10536
(914)232-8946
email: revjackzen@optonline.net
website: www.reverendzenmusic.com
Blakjak Music Records & Anamosa Songs Publishing
ASCAP: use above address
Reverend Zen epk at: sonicbids.com
MySpace - myspace.com/reverendzenmusic
Available at: cdbaby.com;
iTunes; amazon.com
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