A Prodigy in the Making
"I'm finding the more I spent on those three the less sleep I get! I still haven't figured that one out," remarked Mayer on his upbeat life.Mayer has been composing and playing music since his first piano lesson at the age of three. "My mom told me how I would compose little melodies all the time by picking them out of a 'song bag' in my head," Mayer commented. Zach was born to be a musician with a mother and step father who are professional Klezmer musicians."Klezmer and other world music have been a big influence on my style," Mayer recalls. "I have been attending Klezmer festivals every summer for 14 years." Now at the age of 20, he is a dedicated jazz and pop/rock musician playing regular shows and composing wonderful pieces of music."I am big fan of Jamie Cullum's. I remember when I first heard one of his songs on the radio, I felt like his style was very close to the sound I wanted for my music," commented Mayer. "For music in general, there's so much to listen to, that all I can do is tell you who is influencing me right now, which it's Bobby McFerrin." Mayer not only composes music, but he has sung and played saxophone in various festivals such as the KlezKanada Music Festival. In addition he plays in a variety of clubs in Manhattan like the Knitting Factory and Tonic as well as managing the Ayn Sof Arkestra."It was a big honor to be asked to join this amazing band, let alone be their manager," stated Mayer on his experience with the ensemble, "because their level of musicianship is so high and the grooves are so bouncy, I feel very stimulated when I play with these musicians."Zach's unique influences are apparent within his music, especially with his song "You're Amazing," an upbeat jazz single. The lyrics of the song is of a person praising the one they love, but the sound of Mayer's sax in combination to the rest of the instruments brings the lyrics and melody together as a whole."The lyrics to that song were written by Susanna Brock, a fellow CCNY Jazz student!" Mayer continued, "The way I write songs is by humming or whistling a short melody into my cell phone's little recorder." For Mayer the lyrics always come last, once the melody is finished."I'll usually mumble different syllables over it until some random combination of them sounds like sentence. I'll begin writing one lyric at a time." Zach Mayer is one of many talented young musicians who are not only passionate for their music but simply love playing for the sake of it."My goals are to be the best musician I can be, and to also make a name for myself," concluded Mayer. "I'm starting to see how important it is to be confident. Many musicians got to where they were because of their confidence in their originality. If they discovered themselves by being original, then why shouldn't an aspiring musician start the same way?"Come see the young and brilliant Zach Mayer with his band TONIGHT at The Bitter End on Bleecker Street at 9:00 PM. You can also catch him at Sullivan Hall on May 25th at 10:00pm or with Ayn Sof Arkestra every last Monday of the month at the Sixth Street Synagogue between First and Second Avenues. You can learn more about Zach and his music at www.reverbnation.com/zachmayermusic or www.myspace/zachmayermusic.
