ZIJI

Green Bay Band Reviews
ZIJI live at Chefusion in Green Bay, WI

By TJ
January 29, 2010
Tonight I was looking for a more laid back atmosphere and maybe a little bit of an adventure in checking out a music venue deep in downtown Green Bay's nightlife. The place is called Chefusion and the band playing tonight was ZIJI, a contemporary jazz band from De Pere. Now as many of you readers know, I am somewhat of an indie rock aficionado, but I do have an open mind for all sorts of music, especially jazz. In fact, my collection of vinyl records started off with a few of Ahmad Jamal's albums. Needless to say, I found a gateway to truly appreciate ZIJI. Walking into Chefusion kind of reminded me of the old classic movies from the 1940s. You go upstairs to the bar and it's very classy; bartenders in tuxedo attire were shaking up martinis and the patrons were enjoying the spirits. Tucked away in a corner on stage was ZIJI. Tonight they were playing as a duo, with Christine Salerno on keyboards and John Gibson on upright bass. The mood in the place was very warm. I got a drink and grabbed a single table just a little further back from the band. Christine and John were already into the groove when I arrived. The music was real mellow and smooth. A majority of the patrons there seemed as it was perfect background music to carry on their friendly conversations, but I also noticed a few people in the audience listening very intently, including myself. The scene was perfect, a little candle light, some smooth tunes to relax to, and a stiff cocktail to warm me up.

As I listened a little deeper into Christine's piano work, I started to pay attention to the time signature. ZIJI has a Brazilian style contemporary jazz feel and that includes a lot of bossa nova time feel. Now if you're not sure what bossa nova sounds like, walk to your nearest old school organ and flick on that bossa nova switch. At least that's what I remember it being like the first time I heard it. Unlike modern Jazz that is based on a triplet structure in 4/4 time, bossa nova is set more to a 16th time and that ads up to a lot of syncopation and percussive rhythm structures. By no means am I a fan of contemporary jazz, maybe it is a little too mature for my tastes but I found ZIJI very entertaining and relaxing. I loved how since they were playing with a bossa nova feel they were able to incorporate some blues into the melodic structure. The whole sound kinda reminded me of the cool jazz movement of the 1950's. Christine is a very accomplished pianist and Jazz vocalist. Her solos were melodically smooth and her rhythms had a bit of a percussive feel. Christine's vocals were rich and warm; her talent goes to show that she has spent a lot of time on her craft. John Gibson's upright bass was awesome. If you have ever had a chance to hear a talented upright bassist acoustically, then you know how beautiful and expressive sounding the instrument it is. John's bass lines had such a melodic flow, and his vibrato and slide techniques added a unique artistic element. He more or less follows the piano rather than using a walking bass line and the two instruments kind of melt into one, with neither bass or piano carrying the rhythm. They play quite syncopated, so they both share the rhythm, if you will, harmoniously. ZIJI plays many originals and the only cover I was able to recognize was a very smooth version of "The Girl from Ipanema". You gotta love that song! ZIJI also performs as a quartet and the additional instruments and talent are John Croarkin - flute/saxophone/harmonica and Danny Lueck - drums/percussion. Even as a piano and bass duo, these two were a delight to hear live. It was very relaxing and smooth. ZIJI are very much a local Jazz favorite and are a great addition to the lineup at Chefusion, one of the most classy and intimate fine dining restaurants and live music venues in Green Bay. For More Information on ZIJI check out their myspace page.