Jazz pianist and music professor releases new album – Times-Standard

Zachary Bartholomew, jazz pianist and music professor at Florida Memorial University, has released his debut album “Balancing Act”.

The album features ten original compositions by Bartholomew, each attempting to strike an elusive balance between group cohesion and the individual inventiveness of his fellow players: Marty Quinn of the University of Miami's contemporary bass department; Rodolfo Zuniga, a professor of jazz percussion at California State University, Fullerton; saxophonist David Fernandez of the Florida International University's music department; and trumpeter Benny Benack III, a New York-based jazz artist who recently appeared in Downbeat Magazine's “Rising Stars” critics' poll in both the “Best Trumpeter” and “Best Vocalist” categories.

Together, Quinn, Zuniga, Fernandez and Benack have performed with a veritable who's who of jazz greats, including Joe Henderson, Paquito D'Rivera, Randy Brecker, Benny Golson, Ira Sullivan, Christian McBride and Emmet Cohen.

Jazz is usually associated with urban settings, but Bartholomew first encountered and fell in love with the music in a very different environment. He was born and raised on the edge of the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida in the town of Sopchoppy, where the Worm Grunting Festival is held every year. Although small and rural, Sopchoppy attracted its share of artist types and became an island of creativity in an otherwise very conservative county. It even had its own recording studio.

Bartholomew began piano lessons at age 11 and went on to earn a master's degree and then a doctorate in studio music and jazz instrumental performance from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He taught at several colleges in South Florida before landing his current position at Florida Memorial.

He has headlined some of the country's finest jazz venues and performing arts centers, performed at national and international jazz festivals including Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, Monterey, Jalisco and Festival Miami, and performed with jazz greats such as Sean Jones, Victor Goines, Dave Holland, David Liebman, Ira Sullivan and Carmen Bradford. He regularly appears as a pianist with professional organizations including the Sarasota Pops Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Lake Wales Jazz Connection and Gulf Coast Jazz Collective, and is a resident artist at Arts Bonita in Bonita Springs, Florida, where he presents a monthly jazz concert series featuring musicians from around the country.

The music on Balancing Act is innovative and diverse. From the quirky post-bop jokes of the opening track, “Crazy Socks,” to the somber “Time Apart,” a moving tribute to loved ones no longer with us, Bartholomew and co. cover the full range of contemporary jazz styles and expressions.

On the title song, “Balancing Act,” the entire band lifts off the earth in a vortex of energy, only to return to earth in a state of calm. A duality of balanced opposites—opposing forces of nature—is literally at stake here.

“Balancing Act” is available digitally on select platforms. Print copies are available at www.zacharybartholomew.com.