“Sensual” is a sonic love letter from Rachel Z to her husband and to the musicians in her life who have become closer than blood, using the medium of jazz and rock that have been so integral to her life.

Rachel Z - Keys to Jazz by Eugene Holley, Jr.

Pianist and composer Rachel Z grew up in Manhattan in a musical family. Her mother taught her classical voice and opera from a young age, but she found her own sound in the jazz and rock worlds.

They met on the club scene years ago. They recorded together sporadically over the years and occasionally shared the same bandstand. But they likely never imagined they’d end up together – and yet ten years into their relationship, Rachel Z and Omar Hakim are one of the music world’s most dynamic duos.

Keynote at NAMM

Since the American piano firebrand Rachel Carmel Nicolazzo (better known as Rachel Z) has devoted an album to the women artists who have made a difference in her life, she was a sharp choice to headline last week's high-class Women of Jazz series at Ronnie Scott's.

True Confessions of a Girl Gone Smooth