Zu is an Italian

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

band from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. While their line-up of baritone sax, bass guitar and drums is typical of a

jazz band A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ...

, their hard-driving sound is indebted to punk rock and according to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

"defies easy categorization". Zu have collaborated with a wide variety of musicians and been described as "masters at adapting to their guests' musical backgrounds".

History

Hailing from Ostia (a town near Rome), Zu are an atypical trio consisting of drums, bass,

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

and electronics. Formed in Rome in 1997, they began as composers and performers for theater productions. The band is composed of three members: Luca Mai on baritone saxophone, Massimo Pupillo on bass and Jacopo Battaglia on drums. Zu have released fourteen albums, including two live albums and two splits. They have played at festivals in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. In 2006, the band toured with the super group

Fantômas Fantômas () is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914). One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appear ...

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

Big Band. The members are also active in the Italian

folk-jazz Folk jazz is a musical style that combines traditional folk music with elements of jazz, usually featuring richly texturized songs. Its origins can be traced back to the 1950s, when artists like Jimmy Giuffre and Tony Scott pursued distinct appro ...

group Ardecore.

Style

Zu's music is instrumental and features virtuosic drumming, powerful bass and distorted saxophone. Many of the band's albums are billed as collaborations with a guest musician (such as

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

Buzz Osborne Roger "Buzz" Osborne (born March 25, 1964), also known as King Buzzo, is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He is a founding member of the rock band Melvins, as well as Fantômas and Venomous Concept. Biography Born in Morton, Was ...

Mats Gustafsson Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player. Career Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...

and

Nobukazu Takemura Nobukazu Takemura (竹村延和 ''Takemura Nobukazu'') is a Japanese musician and artist. Born in Hirakata, Osaka in August 1968, he became interested in music at a young age by listening to the radio, and began to make music at home with a ta ...

). Often, a collaborator will join them at live performances as well. Members of the band also collaborate with other musical projects, many of which exist only as live performances.

Reception

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

described the band as creating "a powerful and expressive music that totally blows away what most bands do these days". In 2009, ''

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

'' was voted Album of the Year in ''

Rock-A-Rolla ''Rock-A-Rolla'' was a music magazine covering experimental, avant-garde, noise and metal artists pushing the boundaries of music. Launched in late 2005, it was published bi-monthly in the UK by V-Squared Publishing Limited and distributed worl ...

'' magazine's Best of 2009 poll.

Personnel

*Luca T. Mai –

*Jacopo Battaglia – drums *Massimo Pupillo – bass *Stefano Pilia – guitar

Ex-members

Gabe Serbian Gabriel Serbian (May 1, 1977 – April 30, 2022) was an American drummer, guitarist and vocalist, most famous for his work in The Locust, Cattle Decapitation, Holy Molar and Zu. He was also a member of Head Wound City, a hardcore/punk rock s ...

– drums *Tomas Järmyr – drums

Major collaborators

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar when he was eleven or twel ...

– guitar on ''

The Zu Side of the Chadbourne ''The Zu Side Of The Chadbourne'' is the second album by the Italian band Zu, featuring Roy Paci on trumpet and Eugene Chadbourne on guitar. The titles of the songs are obvious parodies of famous rock songs like Lucy in the sky with diamonds o ...

'' and ''

Motorhellington Motorhellington is the third album by the Italian band Zu, which appear in Roy Paci on trumpet and backing vocals and Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and ...

'' *

Jeb Bishop Jeb Bishop (born 1962) is an American jazz trombone player. He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended Jesse O. Sanderson High School. He has studied music (classical trombone performance) at Northwestern University, engineering and ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

on ''

Igneo Igneo is the fourth album by Italian band Zu, involving Ken Vandermark on sax, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and Jacopo Battaglia on drums . The record was produced by Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July ...

'' *

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

s on '' How to Raise an Ox'' * Xabier Iriondo – on '' Zu / Iceburn'' *

Fred Lonberg-Holm Fred Lonberg-Holm (born 1 October 1962) is an American cellist based in Chicago. He moved from New York City to Chicago in 1995. Lonberg-Holm is most identified with playing free improvisation and free jazz. He is also a composer of concert wor ...

–

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

on ''

The Way of the Animal Powers The Way of the Animal Powers is the sixth studio album by Italian band Zu, released in 2005, within the collaboration of Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello. Originally released 2004 as a three band split CD Eccentrics, Issue #1 (Hinterlandt/Zu/Can Can H ...

'' *

–

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification a ...

on ''Identification with the Enemy – A Key to the Underworld'' * Spaceways inc. – on ''

Radiale ''Radiale'' is the fifth studio album by Italian band Zu, in collaboration with Spaceways Inc., released in 2004.http://www.sentireascoltare.com/recensione/4741/zu-radiale.html The album received an A grade from The Village Voice and was pl ...

'' *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

on some live dates and ''

'' *

Ken Vandermark Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered composi ...

– saxophones on ''

'' and ''

'' *

– on ''Carboniferous'' *

Balázs Pándi Balázs Pándi (born 6 August 1983) is a Hungarian drummer and journalist. He has worked and toured with various acts from all around the world including Venetian Snares, Otto von Schirach, To Live and Shave in L.A., The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz E ...

– drums on 2011 tour *

Eugene Robinson Eugene Keefe Robinson (born May 28, 1963) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Seattle Seahawks, who signed him as an undrafted free age ...

– vocals on ''The Left Hand Path'' *

David Tibet David Tibet (born David Michael Bunting; 5 March 1960) is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He was given the name "Tibet" by Genesis P-Orridge, and in January 2005 he a ...

– vocals on ''Mirror Emperor'' *

Damo Suzuki , better known as Damo Suzuki (ダモ鈴木), is a Japanese musician who has been living in Germany since the early 1970s and is best known as the former lead singer of the krautrock group Can. Biography As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 196 ...

– vocals on some live dates *

Okapi The okapi (; ''Okapia johnstoni''), also known as the forest giraffe, Congolese giraffe, or zebra giraffe, is an artiodactyl mammal that is endemic to the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. It is the only species i ...

– electronics on ''Zu / Dalek / Okapi ''and on some live dates

Discography

* 1999: ''

Bromio ''Bromio'' is the first album by the Italy, Italian experimental rock band Zu (band), Zu, released in 1999. Track list # Detonatore - 3:36 # Xenitis - 3:12 # Testa di Cane - 3:06 # Paonazzi - 1:20 # Zu Circus - 3:42 # Asmodeo - 4:06 # Cane Maggi ...

'' * 2000: ''

'' * 2001: ''

'' * 2002: ''

'' * 2003: '' Live in Helsinki'' * 2004: ''

'' * 2004: ''Eccentrics, Issue #1'' Hinterlandt / Zu / Can Can Heads * 2005: ''

'' * 2005: '' How to Raise an Ox'' * 2005: '' Zu/Dälek'' feat Økapi * 2006: ''Rai Sanawachi Koe Wo Hassu'' * 2006: '' Zu / Iceburn – PhonoMetak 10" Series No. 1'' * 2007: '' Identification with the Enemy: A Key to the Underworld'' * 2008: '' Il Teatro degli Orrori/Zu'' * 2008: '' Zu/Xabier Iriondo/Damo Suzuki – PhonoMetak 10" Series No. 4'' * 2009: ''

'' * 2014: ''Goodnight Civilization'' EP * 2014: Zu &

– ''The Left Hand Path'' * 2015: ''Cortar Todo'' * 2017: ''Jhator'' * 2018: ''ZU93 Mirror Emperor'' * 2019: ''Terminalia Amazonia''

Singles and music videos

* "Carbon" (2009) * "Soulympics" (2009) * "Goodnight, Civilization" (2014) * "Cortar Todo" (2015)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zu Italian progressive rock groups Free improvisation ensembles Avant-garde metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups from Rome Ipecac Recordings artists 1999 establishments in Italy