Charlie Zeleny
| Charlie Zeleny | |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Charlie Z |
| Genres | Progressive rock, progressive metal, jazz fusion, pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, EDM |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, music director, producer, solo artist |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | charliezeleny |
Charlie Zeleny, also known as Charlie Z, is an American session drummer, music director and solo artist. He was also a member of the progressive metal bands Blotted Science and Behold the Arctopus, has played in a duo with keyboardist Jordan Rudess, and has performed drum duets with Terry Bozzio for The Drum Channel. His 2011 video project, Drumageddon Brooklyn, was a one-take, continuously shot 8-minute drum solo with Zeleny performing through an entire building in Brooklyn and ending on the building's rooftop. Zeleny is also known by his solo artist persona "DRMAGDN: Cyborg/Drummer DJ".
Zeleny began playing drums at the age of 7 in his school concert band and switched to drumset for the school's jazz band when he was 10. He attended Morris Knolls High School in Morris County, New Jersey and then Drew University, where he graduated in 2002 with a major in music performance. While in high school and college, he also studied drumset privately under Tommy Igoe, Nick Scheuble, Joe Bergamini and John Riley. He was accepted at the graduate school of New York University to study jazz drumset performance but he did not attend and decided to pursue a professional career as a musician instead.
According to Zeleny in a 2016 interview, he has played in 43 US states, in 20 countries, and has appeared on over 135 records in the course of his professional career. He is also listed in the Sick Drummer Magazine "Hall of Fame." As a session drummer he plays in a variety of styles including pop, rock, jazz, fusion, progressive metal, hip hop, funk, R&B and electronic music.
Zeleny has performed with keyboardist Jordan Rudess as well as playing drum duets with Terry Bozzio for The Drum Channel. His artist's profile at Pearl Drums lists him as having played or recorded with Euro pop star Gala, hip hop artists Outasight, and XV, and Broadway and Glee star Kristin Chenoweth. Other artists and groups with whom he has played or recorded include Latin pop star Thalia, classic rock artists Joe Lynn Turner, Steve Augeri, and Derek St. Holmes; and the prog and metal bands Suspyre, Kayo Dot, Mythodea, and Anuryzm, as well the classical violinist and guitarist The Great Kat. Among his jazz performances are playing with his Charlie Z Jazz Trio during the 2016 Lucie Awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall and with Cracked Latin at the Iridium Jazz Club.
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