Recent Press Reviews:

"NO, NOT another slavishly imitative Piazzolla CD – this one justifies its "concept album" label by embodying both an arresting idea and its accomplished execution. Astor Piazzolla (1921-92) had a tortuous journey to global fame as the most celebrated exponent of his native land's best-loved dance-form. As a child prodigy on the bandoneon, he was taken to New York where he met and worked with Carlos Gardel, returning to Buenos Aires – and the local club circuit – when he was 16. He then formed his own band as a vehicle for his own (increasingly Europeanised) compositions, one of which won him a scholarship to study with Nadia Boulanger, the best living classical composition-tutor in the world. But she had the wisdom to encourage him not to desert his roots, with the result that his work – enraging Argentine traditionalists – straddled both cultures; at one point he even wrote a sonata for the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

All of which makes the Zum ensemble ideal interpreters, since they hail from the classical side of the great divide, while cosily at home in the musical jungle on the other. And though they deliver some Piazzolla standards – one furnished them with their name – their tribute to the master takes a quintessentially 21st-century form, with the piano, violin, cello, bass and accordion conspiring to create effects which are quintessentially of today. There's plenty of jazz and salsa here and even some Chopinesque piano excursions; the cello provides a warmer and richer bass-line than did the electric guitar which Piazzolla used.

Zum hope he would have liked the way his music has taken on new life in their hands. Yes, he would have loved it. ****

The Scotsman - on "ZUM plays Piazzolla" album (February 2010)

ZUM
Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, Feb. 27, 2010

ZUM is even greater than its parts

The world has gotten so small that ZUM, a quirky quintet based in London, can reach around the sphere in the space of a single piece. The group’s program at the Lensic Performing Arts Center was was smartly constructed and thoroughly entertaining, never in the least didactic or pretentious. Gypsy fiddling and Argentine “new tango” inform much of their music—the name “ZUM” is borrowed from the title of a tune by Astor Piazzolla—and a few of the numbers performed by the ensemble were relatively pure renderings of existing compositions, including a splendid go at Piazzolla’s "Concierto para Quinteto." More often, though, these styles serve as points of departure for entirely original compositions. The group’s arrangement of “La Cumparsita,” the grand classic of tangos, opens with a symphony of creaks, groans, and barnyard grunts before finally yielding (for a while) to a lyrical accordion solo and then utter sonic hysteria. In another number, we imagine Johannes Brahms, with the score of a Hungarian Dance tucked in his pocket, dropping in at a bar mitzvah and who knows where else before running out of gas late at night at a West Texas roadhouse, where a country-western lament hangs listlessly in the air. The players are consummate musicians of impressive breadth, some of whom enjoy parallel careers as classical soloists and chamber musicians. All deserve individual shout-outs: violinist Adam Summerhayes (who composed several of the group’s numbers), pianist David Gordon (fluent master of many styles), cellist Chris Grist (who doubled as the amusing master of ceremonies), button accordionist Eddie Hessian (joined at the hip to tango), and big-personality double bassist Malcolm Creese (filling in for this tour only).

ZUM has been on a tear in the recording studio. Its brand-new CD, Zummism, furnished many of the eclectic numbers that figured in its Santa Fe concert: “Rooftop Highway,” the group’s program opener, which ranges from cool jazz to sizzling bluegrass; “La Cumparsita”; “Blue Dream,” a tender fantasy on a Finnish lullaby; “Balkan Trilogy,” bristling with irregular but captivating meters; “English Tango,” part Argentine, part Japanese, and part Vaughan Williams. An all-Piazzolla disc follows later this month, and advance samples suggest that aficionados of new tango will find it stimulating if unorthodox. If you get just one CD, I’d recommend Zummism for its unbridled diversity and madcap gaiety. “Music thieved from the four corners of the earth, and played in inappropriate styles,” proclaims the CD cover. Maybe, but “inappropriate” can be oh so fun. If you have trouble locating these releases through your usual sources, you can acquire them directly through ZUM’s Web site: zum.org.uk.

—James M. Keller, The Santa Fe New Mexican (February 2010)

Since bands such as Tango Siempre have appeared, we ae aware that the latest tango sounds come not just from Paris or berlin, but also from London. These 5 instrumentalists succeed, with flights of fancy and their virtuosity, in surpassing the boundaries of modern tango set by Piazzola. Nine pieces make use of the piano, violin, double bass, replacing guitar and bandoneon of the original with cello and accordian. Encompassing both melody and rhythm in turn providing totally seamless changes, yet very pleasing to the ear, as they move from tango to jazz. There are also four newly composed pieces from the pens of the pianist and violinist that do not deter from, and even pay respects to, the founder of the newstyle tango. The 60 minutes of this CD will appear far too short for those who delight in fun with tango as they will enjoy this virtuoso experimental music. This is apparent from the varied backgrounds of these 5 musicians.

Folker Magaizine, Germany, on "ZUM plays Piazzolla" CD (June 2009)

"Zum present a musical fusion, taking inspiration from the Eastern European fiddle tradition and the Argentinian tango. Their music is open to a host of influences such as bebop and bluegrass, and combined with their own work, among others, they play the music of the Argentinian master of modern tango, Astor Piazolla. The outcome is fiery, passionate and intriguingly beautiful. The five performers seemed to bring out not only their own personalities, such as Jonny Gee the bassist following an imaginary mosquito around the stage and a jovial commentary from the cellist, but the personalities of their instruments.As the cellist and violinist played with the wood side of their bow and knocked out rhythms on the sides of their instruments, and Dave Gordon reached inside of the piano to physically pluck the strings, every last drop of melody and rhythm was being squeezed from each instrument on stage. Zum are deeply talented musicians who tangoed with the imaginations of every person at the Salisbury Playhouse on Thursday night. A delight to hear and a treat to watch."

BBC on Salisbury Festival performance

"This five-piece band generate a passionate fusion of folk music traditions from around the world, exploring new juxtapositions and old links between Eastern European Romany fiddle-playing and Argentinian tango, with detours through Appalachian bluegrass, Andean pan-pipes, calypso, klezmer and bebop. These excursions calm the otherwise relentlessly hot-blooded mood, but it is the virtuoso solo playing - of composer/violinist Adam Summerhayes particularly in these infernal foot-stompers that impresses most: hairtrigger changes of time signatures, melodic lines that spiral from funereal mournfulness into reeling intoxication. They clearly love playing together, relishing the delight that their virtuosity produced in the audience. Composer/pianist Dave Gordon has a spicy musical wit, and cellist Christ Grist and bassist Jonny Gee spar deftly around the soloists, with Eddie Hession's multi-talented accordion provided a reliable bedrock. It's immensely reassuring that bands playing music such as this are around and capable of attracting capacity crowds, and it's certain that Zum will be welcome again whenever their caravan tangos into town."

BBC on Leicester Phoenix Arts Centre performance

"This was a highly individual fusion of gypsy and jazz. Added to a small selection of "straight" Piazzolla and other dances were a number of traditional tunes arranged by Summerhayes and pianist David Gordon. A further level of abstraction brought original, dance-inspired compositions - among them a boldly bitonal arrangement of a Bosnian wedding song, a cheeky little tango by Rosendo Mendizabal and Summerhayes' comic theatrical Mosquito Splat, in which bassist Jonny Gee is amusingly distracted by a nuisance insect before it meets its death on his instrument....rendered with unbuttoned passion and brilliance, with virtuoso performances especially from Summerhayes, Gordon and accordionist Eddie Hession."

The Strad on South Bank performance

"When I signed up to review Zum, I did not know quite what to expect, but I must admit this was one of the finest and funniest concerts I have been to in years. An electric mix of European gypsy music and Argentinean tango, this band proves there really is no barrier to good music when it comes to diverse genres.

Completely compelling and always original, Zum produced a performance full of laughter and character, which could not fail to capture the audiences' imagination.
Throw in a host of witty repertoires between songs and you start to realise there is more to this five-piece band than its simple title. And, proof of their startling ability - if my words were not enough - lay in their three encores after actually playing dead at the end of their last song.

If you get a chance to see this band, forget whatever other plans you have and get yourself out for an evening - I guarantee you will not be disappointed."

Duncan Bradley - Bury Free Press

"Zum have grabbed a repertoire from styles that have been getting noticed lately. on to the perennially fascinating gypsy music of Eastern Europe they have grafted the tangos of Argentina, producing an evening of lively, unpredictable music, full of feats of ensemble, virtuosity and humour.

Tiverton Spring Festival has always managed to root out something 'different' each year but ZUM really are different. They are a crazy line-up of Palm Court Trio + accordion + double bass, yet not just a 5-piece group, more a bundle of stars."

John Byrt - The Gazette

"Exciting, brilliant and impassioned playing. All five musicinas play so brilliantly, with dexterity, musicianship, gypsy, jazz style as well as beautiful or sonorous tone as required, it is not possible to separate them - it is one fantastic and effectively electric "whole". The arrangements and compositions are extremely clever, the humorous introductions and not only the great rapport with each other, but also with their audience, made this an altogether most exciting and awe-inspiring evening"

Margaret Mills - The Gazette