After 25 years as an in-demand sideman contributing to projects and performances from a diverse group of artists across the spectrum of jazz and improvised music, bassist Zack Lober presents an adventurous and deeply personal musical statement with his sophomore release as a leader, So We Could Live releasing on the Netherlands-based Zennez Records. 

On So We Could Live, Lober’s core trio featuring rising Jazz stars Sun-Mi Hong (drums) and Suzan Veneman (trumpet) is enhanced with the addition of Dutch tenor saxophone legend Jasper Blom to present a set of deeply personal music that pays tribute to Lober’s father as well as to all of those who sacrifice and serve so that others can live a better life. The music follows the spirit of the group’s original concept with the perfect marriage of catchy, singable songs followed by fierce moments of spontaneous collective improvisation.

The album was recorded live in one large room at the world-renowned Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum, The Netherlands. It was produced by Lober’s longtime friend and musical peer Ben van Gelder.

The lead single and leadoff track for the album, “Joe Type Tune,” is a tribute to Joe Henderson and his famous chord-less trio album The State of the Tenor featuring Ron Carter and Al Foster. Based on a simple two-bar descending bass line, the band gets to stretch out to the max with plenty of musical pyrotechnics from both Blom and Hong.

Jasper Blom’s “Behind a Myth” is inspired by the early 20th century composer and musical theorist Paul Hindemith. Of the piece, Blom says: “This is the most atonal piece I have ever written, but the tonal qualities never seem to be too far away.

“The Loose End”, is another contribution from Jasper Blom. “I wanted to write an “empty” tune. One in which space was as important as the composed parts and where trumpet and tenor would alternate in playing the lead. To add to the suspense, I added a musical “cliffhanger” at the end, hence the title.”

Lober’s composition “Vignette” puts the group in more familiar territory albeit with a polytonal twist. The piece is inspired by the 1960’s Wayne Shorter composition ETC from the album of the same name. “Wayne’s writing on that album is especially minimalistic and geared for stretching out. That whole album was very important to me during my formative years.”

The album continues with the recording’s most intimate and personal moment, the solo bass medley of Lober’s composition “Dad,” a tribute to his late father coupled with the timeless classic “Besame Mucho”, his father and stepmother’s wedding song. That piece is followed by two more Blom compositions “Landscape”, a groovy tune exploring the two horns and bass within a rhythmic frame and “Feathered Head” inspired by a classic Dave Holland composition from the seventies, “Conference of the Birds“. 

The album’s closing number and namesake is Lober’s “So We Could Live” a meditative piece that leads to a powerful emotional climax featuring drummer Sun-Mi Hong in a beautifully framed solo.

So We Could Live will be released by Zennez Records in digital download, compact disc as well as on all major streaming platforms.

A native of Montreal, Canada, via NYC and Boston, ZACK LOBER, now based in The Netherlands, has performed as a band member in groups led by artists including David Binney, Henry Threadgill, Seamus Blake, Butch Morris, Frank London, John Escreet, Greg Ward, Jamie Baum, Jerry Bergonzi, Phil Grenadier, Jason Palmer and Chet Doxas and has also performed throughout Europe, India, Mexico, Canada, and the United States in bands led by Ingrid Jensen, Christine Jensen, Benoit Charest, Christophe Schweizer, as well as with “The Story”….