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Sample Track 1:
"The Spirit Within" from Hamidbar Medaber
Sample Track 2:
"Higher Power" from Hamidbar Medaber
Layer 2
Bio

More About Zebrina

Since their debut album Trail of the Hunter Gatherers launched in 2010 at the prestigious Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto, the bold compositions and brilliant playing of Zebrina have caught the attention of legendary New York-based music producer, composer and performer, John Zorn, and his experimental music label Tzadik Records. In May 2013, Zebrina went into the studio to record their sophomore album Hamidbar Medaber (The Desert Speaks), with special guest and klezmer pioneer, San Francisco-based Ben Goldberg (New Klezmer Trio, Unfold Ordinary Mind, Tin Hat) on clarinet.

The Toronto-based band Zebrina gets its exotic name from the Latin word for the plant popularly known as ‘wandering jew’. Composed of Canada’s leading roots, folk, world, klezmer and jazz musicians, Zebrina brings together singular talents and a daring experimental, improvisational style with Jonathan Feldman (Zebrina composer and bandleader), Bret Higgins (Beyond the Pale, Great Lake Swimmers), Joel Schwartz (Royal Wood, Aviva Chernick), Max Senitt (Alex Cuba band), and Columbian percussionist Juan Carlos Medrano.

Eastern melodies meet Western grooves in a harmonious experience akin to what writer Andrew Gilbert (Jazz Times) has described as “Ashkenazi roots music.” Mix that sound with an electric Miles Davis feel and you get Zebrina: moody and lyrical, lively and fresh. The band’s innovative compositions are deeply informed by boundary-breaking greats such as John Zorn’s Masada Project, Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, Radiohead’s electronic experimentalism, and Medeski, Martin, and Wood’s spirit of jam-based improvisation, all of which inspire their dynamic live shows.

Stay tuned for the release of their new album in August 2014.

“[Zebrina] pushes klezmer’s piquant major-minor modulations as far afield as possible while never losing the music’s careening jazz band interactions. The possibilities tantalize." --THE TORONTO STAR