Biography
Chicago-based five-piece Zing! originated as a single engagement slated for a birthday celebration on May 22, 2006, yet the group continued onward with live appearances, regional travel, and studio work. The jazz unit balances scored material with spontaneous invention, drawing from the forward-leaning post-John Coltrane currents within early creative and hard bop while folding in Latin rhythms, funk grooves, drum’n’bass alongside electronica and ambient textures, free improvisation, classical forms, and punk energy. Trumpeter James Davis writes the bulk of the repertoire, directs a separate quintet beyond Zing!, and placed as a finalist in both the 2004 International Trumpet Guild Jazz Improvisation Competition and the 2007 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition. Alto saxophonist and working journalist Caroline Davis relocated to Chicago in 2004 to begin doctoral studies in music cognition; that same year she earned a Down Beat outstanding soloist award, received an outstanding graduate student presentation honor in Portugal in 2005, and joined Sisters in Jazz in 2005. Her credits include composer Stephen Syverud’s backGammon, Pedway, the Tomorrow Music Orchestra, and Ear to the Ground. Guitarist Dave Miller secured three straight victories in the Union & Civic Arts League of Chicago Competition and appears with the experimental indie jazz outfit Algernon. New Orleans-born electric bassist Matthew Golombisky co-established the Tomorrow Music Orchestra and the Ears & Eyes record label, collective, and festival; his ongoing projects encompass the Other Planets, QMRplus, Grilly Biggs, Pedway, Ear to the Ground, and Lucky 7s. Chicago-raised drummer and composer Quin Kirschner spent time in New Orleans performing alongside Golombisky and Miller, then continued similar work upon returning to Chicago, later adding appearances with Salamander and Blink. Zing! have covered the Midwest and were featured at the 2007 International Association for Improvised Music conference held at Northwestern University, where Caroline Davis pursues graduate work and has led occasional classes. The ensemble issued the album Magnetic Flux on the Ears & Eyes imprint.
Albums