Video of the Day: Guitarist Artie Zaitz previews new album The Regulator

Artie Zaitz is considered one of the most exciting and talented guitarists on the UK jazz scene today, and for his new album, The Regulator – the follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2022 album Back To Back – he’s joined by Ross Stanley on Hammond C-3 ‘Big Bertha’, Steve Brown on drums and Dave Pattman on conga.

Feel-good groove with some serious soloing on top from Zaitz, The Regulator features six compositions, tracked live in the studio and recorded in full analogue glory. Though the album is in essence a homage to the classic organ recordings of the mid-60s Chitlin Circuit in New York, Zaitz has added percussion to reflect his love of Afro-Cuban and Latin American sounds, as he explains: “We were booked to do the Late Show at Ronnie Scott’s following one of the hottest Hammond Trios around - Goldings, Bernstein & Stewart. So I decided to augment mine with another instrument; the conga flavours the sound of this combo giving it an appealing character.”

The Regulator opens with ‘Some Extent’, a blues written by Zaitz when he was 17 followed by Dizzy Gillespie’s ‘Con Alma’ and ‘A Nod To The High Priest’, long-time collaborator Ruben Fox’s tribute to Monk. Side B opens with the open chord jam ‘Boogaloo Ga Goo’ composed by Zaitz’s father Jake, which nods to Eddie Harris, Grant Green, B.B. King and John Scofield. ‘Our Miss Brooks’ is by the underrated American tenor saxophonist Harold Vick and Kavuma’s ‘The Regulator’ closes the album, featuring a moving spoken word introduction by Fausta Joly. “Mark called me the ‘Regulator’ because of the role I had The Banger Factory as a chordal player and provider, always regulating the groove.”

Artie Zaitz also appears as part of the Banger Factory Records night at the QEH at the EFG London Jazz Festival on 17 November.

See the video below and for more info visit efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk