Spencer Zahn
New York-based musician and composer Spencer Zahn makes lush, exploratory music that melds numerous genres, including chamber jazz, folk, ambient, and modern composition. His largely instrumental catalog includes reflective solo piano works as well as ensemble works emphasizing collaboration and group interplay. A longtime session and touring musician, he made his solo debut with the synth-heavy experimental album People of the Dawn in 2018. Sunday Painter, his first effort leading a full band, appeared in 2020, and he has collaborated with Dave Harrington on several releases. Pigments and Quiet in a World Full of Noise, his acclaimed full-lengths with vocalist Dawn Richard, were issued respectively in 2022 and 2024. Zahn's two-part Statues, split between piano compositions and electronic pieces, arrived between those albums.
Born in Massachusetts, Spencer Zahn took up the bass guitar when he was 12 and many years later became an accomplished jazz bassist. He moved to New York during the mid-2000s and found work as a touring musician. He started a solo career in 2015, working with Dave Harrington and focusing on instrumental music. Within a few years, he had released two solo albums, 2018's People of the Dawn and 2019's When We Were Brand New; issued by Double Denim Records, both records were synth-heavy with jazz inflections. Zahn built up a strong musical community around himself, which he showcased with the release of 2020's Tura Lura (with Harrington and Jeremy Gustin) and Sunday Painter, a full group effort inspired by Keith Jarrett and the ECM catalog. Both were released by Cascine. Zahn also appeared on First Flight (on the Algorithm Free imprint), a live improvisation with Chris Forsyth, Harrington, and Ryan Jewell, which was followed by a 2021 dub rework titled First Flight Redux.
Two further albums arrived in 2022: the solo Pale Horizon and a collaboration with Dawn Richard called Pigments, released by Merge to critical acclaim. In 2023, Zahn, Harrington, and Gustin covered Harry Styles' full-length Harry's House (winner of the 2023 Album of the Year Grammy) as an instrumental jazz recording, titled A Visit to Harry's House. Zahn released the solo piano effort Statues I (featuring an interpretation of the Carla Bley piece "Lawns") and the experimental electronic work Statues II as separate digital albums, then as the gatefold double-LP Statues. He worked again with Richard for 2024's Quiet in a World Full of Noise, a grieving if comforting set of material that grew from his piano compositions.
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Discography
49 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Quiet in a World Full of Noise
Soul - Released by Merge Records on Oct 4, 2024
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
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When We Were Brand New
Ambient - Released by Double Denim Records on Nov 1, 2019
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
A Visit To Harry's House
Spencer Zahn, Dave Harrington, Jeremy Gustin
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cascine on May 18, 2023
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Mondblume
Michael A. Muller, Spencer Zahn
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Oct 6, 2023
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
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A Life Apart
Electronic - Released by Double Denim Records on Oct 26, 2018
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Wayward (Kimbra Remix)
Electronic - Released by Double Denim Records on Feb 15, 2019
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Statues Live
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Leaving Records on Dec 13, 2024
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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When We Were Brand New
Electronic - Released by Double Denim Records on Nov 1, 2019
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Live at Unheard
Jazz - Released by Pique-nique Recordings on Jun 14, 2024
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
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First Flight REDUX
Dave Harrington, Chris Forsyth, Spencer Zahn
Alternative & Indie - Released by Algorithm Free on Aug 28, 2020
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
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Mondblume
Michael A. Muller, Spencer Zahn
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Oct 6, 2023
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
People of the Dawn
Electronic - Released by Double Denim Records on Sep 14, 2018
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo