Michael Zentner
About Michael Zentner
Michael Zentner has performed and or recorded with members of The Who, The Doors, Guns 'N Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sting, Frank Zappa, Yes, Peter Gabriel, Brand X, etc...
Founding member of Washington DC Art Rock band, The Muffins, hailed as “one of the best progressive rock bands in the USA" by the Trouser Press Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock . Toured England and France with British saxophonist Lol Coxhill and others. Worked with manager/producer Georgio Gemelski (Rolling Stones/Yardbirds) on various projects including Georgio's ZU band (which later became the band Material) as one of it's founding members along with Bill Lazwell, Cliff Cultreri, Michael Beinhorn, and Fred Maher. First solo album Present Time is released in the US, Europe, and Japan, featuring musicians Daevid Allen, Carla Bley, Kenwood Dennard, Fred Frith, Percy Jones, and Hansford Rowe. While the album received consistently high marks from critics, it's harp and violin duet Tears and Spheres became one of the first of the “New Age” offerings being aired on US radio. The piece was later used along with music from Dave Grusin's album Night Lines to comprise the score of the art film Gallery, which aired on Public Television and shown in installation at The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Founding member of Peter Blegvad's Big Guns - a precursor to The Golden Palominos, with Carla Bley and the Palominos' Anton Fier, Bill Laswell, and Blegvad. Chronometers - a CD of previously unreleased material from The Muffins is released. Group and solo electric violin concert performances in the US, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America along with some session work in Los Angeles and New York City. Various television and radio appearances and interviews including a live performance and interview on En Vivo, viewed by tens of millions on three continents. Originally released on vinyl, Present Time is re-mastered and reissued on Compact Disk. Recorded self produced second solo album Playtime, with drummers Omar Hakim, Jerry Marotta, and Simon Phillips; bassists Jeff Berlin, Anthony Jackson, Percy Jones, and Tony Levin; Guitarists Steve Caton, Ray Gomez, Robby Krieger, Vernon Reid, and pianist Dizzy Reed. Produced Carpet Crawlers for Genesis tribute album on Magna Carta Records: Michael Zentner - Vocals, John Goodsall - Guitar, Tommy Mars - Keys, Jeff Berlin - Bass, Tos Panos - Drums. Embarked on a series of Duo concerts and group performances with John Goodsall. Various appearances in Los Angeles, performing with a variety of musicians including Patrick Moraz (Yes), Tom Fowler, Don Preston (Zappa), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers). Some US performances and intermittent but extensive touring in Europe and Latin America - including print, radio and television interviews, in support of Playtime. Clean Machine video - from Playtime - is aired in rotation in over one hundred television markets in the US. Clean Machine video is aired in Various countries in Europe and Latin America. Thirty second PSA edit of Clean Machine is adopted by Dutch health department (GGD) as an anti-drug education tool.
