Mike Zilber, described as “one of the best players and composers around anywhere. Period!” by NEA JAZZ MASTER and jazz legend David Liebman, is a saxophonist and composer. All About Jazz enthuses “Zilber is one of the true masters of the modern jazz saxophone, his prodigious talents evidenced by his recordings and live performances are truth.” After almost 15 years in Boston, then New York, and then over 30 years in SF-Bay Area, Recently, Mike and his wife relocated to LA to be near his son and daughter-in-law, as well as to explore the LA music scene.
On this website, you can find out about and get Mike’s many recordings, learn about upcoming performances, and much more.
Available now, Another Sunrise. Take a listen and buy a copy here:
More than three decades after first meeting as teacher and student at Los Medanos College in the Bay Area, Grammy-winning trombonist Doug Beavers and acclaimed saxophonist Michael Zilber finally come together as co-leaders on Another Sunrise.
Featuring a stellar New York group — guitarist Paul Bollenback, pianist Mike Holober, bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Marko Marcinko — Another Sunrise ranges from the odd-meter swing of the title track to the rhythmically elusive “Clave Sorrateiro” to Beavers’ Stevie Wonder-inspired “Blades,” to Zilber’s reworking of Bud Powell’s “Un Poco Loco” and the haunting “Lullaby for a Sleepless Night.”
“This record, for us, was more personal,” Beavers says. “It was something we wanted to bring kind of as brothers, and I think our brotherhood comes out in the music.” Zilber adds: “Everybody was just in service of the music. No egos. The whole spirit was right. We have a lot of common ground and shared history and love — not opposites, but complements.