Seth Trachy
Saxophonist/composer
Saxophonist/composerSeth Trachy was raised on a farm in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and spent his childhood exploring the Appalachian wilderness and absorbing the soulful sounds of artists such as Sam Cooke and Otis Redding from his father’s record collection. Trachy received recognition early on in the Downbeat student music awards while attending high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts. He has performed and recorded with artists such as Kenny Werner, Dave Douglas, Steve Cardenas, Peter Bernstein, Miguel Zenon, Henry Cole, Clarence Penn and Jeff Hirshfield..
Trachy relocated to New Jersey in 2000 to study on full scholarship at William Patterson University for two years before completing his studies at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. In 2005, Trachy was selected to participate in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Workshop as well as the Ravinia Jazz Festival. He has studied with Sam Yahel, Dave Tofani, Miguel Zenon, George Garzone, Armen Donelian, Joe Lovano, and Eddie Saulkin. In addition to studying jazz, Trachy has studied Indian classic music at the Ustad Alik Akbar Khan School of Music in San Rafael, California. He currently lives in Brooklyn working as a freelance saxophonist.
Zygmon performs modern instrumental adaptations of Cameroonian Baka pygmy music. Inspired by a lifelong fascination with Pygmy music from the Ituri Rainforest Trachy wrote a suit of compositions based on transcriptions of Baka music. After workshopping the repertoire for a year with bandmates Glenn Zaleski, Pablo Menares and Felix Lecaros Zygmon went into the studio to record the debut album with special guest Miguel Zenon.
%10 of all gross profits from Zygmon are donated to either Global Music Exchange or Survival International to help the Pygmies in their fight to not be evicted from their homelands.
Learn more about the Baka here
