| Zo! - Artist of the week |
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| Written by Jamila Hayman and Curt Hayman |
| Monday, 08 February 2010 08:29 |
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Born Lorenzo Ferguson on September 11, 1978 in Southfield, Michigan to a mother who played piano and a father who played guitar professionally while jamming with the likes of Wilson Pickett and others, music was a natural fixture in Zo!'s life from day one. From the many influences (including his parents' extensive vinyl and 8-track collection) came piano lessons, which began at the age of 5 and continued into his middle school years. The summer of 1992 served as a turning point when his parents bought him his first keyboard and sequencer. Zo! took full advantage of the equipment by remaking popular songs of that time. He began experimenting with creating his own material in the summer of 1996 before leaving for Western Kentucky University on a full baseball scholarship after being drafted in June of 96 by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 13th round. Zo! did not begin to fully explore his musical talent until the spring of 2000. Two years prior, he met fellow WKU student and aspiring artist, DJ Jon Doe (of Prophetix). Zo! was convinced by Jon (who then moved to Atlanta) to formulate tracks and send them to him so that his new connects could hear the music for themselves. After receiving positive responses from the first two cassettes that were sent, Zo! Went on to complete his first 'official' CD release entitled "Zo! Presents...Ablyss in December 2001 -- A 24-track compilation of work from 2001, including two collaboration pieces with Jon Doe himself. Zo! began to generate interest by completing and circulating four more instrumental projects from 2002 through April of 2003. But he has received the most attention from his latest projects entitled "Zo! Presents...Passion & Definition" as well as his remix album "Re:Definition". "Passion...', released in July of 2004, is a soul-driven instrumental project that boasts a 21-track lineup of thick, low-grooving rhythms that all possess a wonderful warm quality. Both albums thoroughly showcase Zo!'s ability to expand creatively as he played all of the different instruments featured live. Though known mostly for solo work, he has collaborated with a variety of artists such as Finale, Prophetix, Rubix, S.U.N., Athletic Mic League, and Slum Village. In 2004 he teamed with producer Waajeed of the Platinum Pied Pipers to play keys on PPP's lead 12" single "Stay With Me" featuring vocalist Tiombe Lockhart. He also laced PPP's "No Worries" (ft. Steve Spacek) with grand piano licks. Both songs appear on the Pipers' album "Triple P". In 2005, Zo! went on to produce the "Feel My Love" single including the remix for California-based vocalist Havana...that 12" is due out in March of 2006. One can catch Zo! rocking the keyboards with the incredible Gorilla Funk Mob for whom he has been a member since September of 2003. Currently, he just completed an album of remade classics ( ...just visiting ) and has constructed yet another instrumental album entitled "Freelance", which was released December 2006. Zo! has also teamed with talented vocalist Tiffany Paige on a collaboration project entitled "The Dreamwalk LP" ...coming in 2007. VISIT HIS WEBSITE HERE GET HIS LATEST FREE CD HERE  To create link towards this article on your website, copy and paste the text below in your page. Preview : 
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