Check Out Zeb Jewell-Alibhai’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zeb Jewell-Alibhai

Hi Zeb, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m a jazz musician and grew up in Southwest Portugal until age 8. I first started playing music when I was 6, and although I originally wanted to play the trumpet, my parents convinced me to take up saxophone. 3 years later, I took up trumpet too because I was determined to learn it. I first started learning jazz when I moved to North Carolina. I was taking lessons from a jazz musician and he introduced me to the music: showing me some of the classic records and giving me recommendations of tunes to check out. Through this means I really got into the idea of improvisation and ever since then jazz has been a huge part of my life. I really started taking music seriously early on in high school when I was participating in the Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble, Raleigh’s most prominent jazz band for high schoolers. We went to the Essentially Ellington festival in New York most years and seeing the level of ability and talent at that competition really inspired me to keep growing as a musician. Since then I’ve toured with several different professional level bands and am very fortunate to have played at many incredible venues around the globe, such as Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. I’m currently a sophomore at Harvard University where I study Government and Music as a double major, and maintain a high level of music through a joint program offered between Harvard and Berklee College of Music.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I wouldn’t say it was a particularly rocky road, but I did hit some challenges along the way. Obviously as a musician the pandemic was tough in the sense that I couldn’t perform live as much as I used to, but I took this into my own hands by organizing local socially-distanced concerts in my neighborhood which raised money for Durham artists in need of financial support during COVID. Because I was in high school over the pandemic, I feel like in some ways it gave me the opportunity to really spend time with my instruments and experiment with music, harnessing more of the technological side of it. I started a YouTube channel over the pandemic which I still use, having amassed around 2 million views from my overall youtube presence. I think the takeaway for this is really that yes, there were struggles, but as a musician the best thing you can do is take those struggles and use them to fuel creativity.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve been a jazz musician for about 10 years now. I play saxophone and trumpet, which is very rare for any musician really. Because they’re such different instruments, it’s difficult to play both since they require unique embouchures (mouth positions) to make a sound. As a result that’s kind of what I’m known for. In 2022 Wynton Marsalis announced I was the inaugural winner of the Benny Carter and Ira Sullivan Multi-instrument award, an award given and named after musicians who “play unbelievably well on both woodwinds and brass”. I enjoy playing both in the sense that they’re such different instruments with different challenges, so they provide unique learning experiences as well as performance textures. Aside from playing both, probably the experience that I’m most proud of was touring Europe with NYO Jazz, Carnegie Hall’s youth big band that gets together over the summer and conducts a 2 week residency + 2 week tour. During my year we toured the UK, Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, and I got to experience touring on a professional level for the first time. It’s one of those experiences that I’ll never forget because it was so meaningful and powerful. We got to play in front of thousands, meet ambassadors, and most importantly bring America’s own art form to the rest of the world.

What matters most to you? Why?
I think creativity and communication are two of the things that matter most to me, especially when it comes to music. Creativity is the essence and foundation of all music—for a new song to be created someone has to think up a new melody and new harmonies. As humans we should always be challenging ourselves to create, and to think creatively. Music is also a form of communication: to me it’s a universal language that binds every human on earth. It’s a way to exhibit our emotions and connect with each other on a deep and meaningful level, something that’s absolutely necessary in jazz within a band and between the band and the audience. Thus not only are creativity and communication important parts of all of our lives, they’re essential to the music we create.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zebjazz/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@zebjazz