Beyond Jazz - A Drummer's Exploration of Global Rhythms in NYC: Ben Zweig【AT Sometime, Somewhere Ep. 37】

Drummer and percussionist, Ben Zweig, plays around the world, all across America, and locally at venues in his native New York City. He keeps an active performance schedule and tours frequently with Jazz artists and world music groups. Born in 1992 in NYC, Zweig frequented the local scene of seasoned jazz musicians who eventually became close mentors. He has had the opportunity to share the stage with some of these masters – Randy Weston, Johnny O’ Neal, Jerry Dodgion, Harold Mabern, Larry Ridley, David Williams, Roy Hargrove, Deborah Davis, Grant Stewart, Joe Cohn, and Steve Nelson. Downbeat magazine has described his playing as “especially crisp and articulate” and all about jazz, “Zweig steals it with his brush work.” Ben strives for his playing to reflect a passion for performing simple, heartfelt music. Beginning his musical journey on drum set at age 5, he later picked up trumpet and steel drums. These early voices ultimately shaped his expression on the drums, drawing from the musical traditions of American jazz, West and Central African, Brazilian, Caribbean, and European classical music. In 2018, Zweig traveled to southeast Cameroon to work with Global Music Exchange and learn from master musicians of the Baka Gbiné pygmies. Since 2021, pilgrimages to learn from Brazilian and Moroccan percussionists furthered his diasporic exploration. His fascination with rhythmic dance music from around the world has led to the formation of the drum featured band, big beet. Grammy winning producer Don Sickler commented, “Zweig is able to combine history with the current musical environment, making it sound fresh.”