Zak Najor

Zak Najor is the son of an Iraqi business man who left Detroit, MI in the 60’s to start over in San Diego, CA. He grew up in a tight-knit Chaldean community and has always been interested in music. The summer after finishing high school he was in a band that opened for Kool and the Gang. This was a transformative experience and ultimately led Zak to render a unique style of drumming from a manifold of influences. The Greyboy Allstars would be the first substantial musical contribution Zak would make as a founding member. This group was essentially determined to curate the sound of ‘Soul Jazz’ and introduce it to a larger audience. The All-stars’ bandwidth reached many who otherwise may have not known this sound and, hence, began a renaissance.

During the success of the The Greyboy Allstars Zak began to collaborate with Justin Prizant and Gregory Porter. They recorded an album called Time to do Your Thing under the project title ZBONiCS. This album was well received and was helpful in the development of Porter’s musical ethos (Gregory has since gone on to win several Grammy Awards). Zak was also a part of a distinguished house band at The Viper Room which included members of Fishbone and Weapon of Choice.

Zak Najor has recorded albums with Karl Denson (The Rolling Stones), Everlast and Stevie Salas (Rod Stewart) as well as composed and performed music for Castle Rock Pictures. Other noteworthy performances by Zak include gigs with Fred Wesley (James Brown), Roy Hargrove, Jeff Hamilton, Z-Trip, Chali 2na (Jurassic 5), Les Claypool (Primus), Michael Franti (Spearhead) and many others. Currently, Zak performs regularly with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. He has also completed his second ZBONiCS album on Session Resurrection alongside producer Justin Prizant. The album, ‘Keep on Walkin’ is by far his most ambitious effort (with a few surprises).

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