Featured Artist: Zahii Gonzalez Cuban Pianist, Composer, Arranger, and Bandleader.
Her musical career path and thirst for constant professional growth brought her on a long professional journey from Cuba, to Canada, to Southeast Asia, to the U.S.A.In 2017, she graduated from Berklee College of Music, summa cum laude, with a dual-degree in Jazz Composition and Jazz Piano Performance. In September of 2019 she joined the Piano Dept. at Berklee.Zahili has written and arranged pieces mostly within the jazz genre, With her trio MIXCLA, Zahili’s newly released album has thus far advanced in the world of Jazz, adding to her accolades two nominations to the Boston Music Awards, 2018 & 2019, under the Jazz Group category, and a finalist place at the DC Jazz Prix Competition, in Washington DC.Other accomplishments as a composer include, the Duke Ellington and the Wayne Shorter Awards for her outstanding creativity and musicianship, and the 40th annual Downbeat music award, 2017, under the Outstanding Performance category.
Expanding now from her trio, Zahili’s Quintet Common Ground features new Afro-Latin sounds arranged and composed by Zahili, combining the latest musical traditions focusing on Cuban styles. Zahili is joined in this group by legendary singer Barbara Zamora Vargas, from Cuba, the playful flute lines of Melvin Lam Zanetti from Panama, and a harmonious interplay between Iris Luis-Gomez from Cuba on bass and Ricky Matute from Colombia on percussion. This new quintet is sure to take you on a musical trip of cultural connections and stories intertwined.
