Dann Zinn is a Bay Area-based tenor saxophonist and educator. He has worked with the likes of Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Erskine, Taylor Eigsti, Allison Miller, and Derrick Hodge. As a leader, he has recorded six albums, beginning with his 2003 debut Ten Songs and continuing through to his latest effort, Two Roads. Dann was the Director of Jazz Studies at the California State University East Bay for decades, the Director of the San Francisco Jazz Festival High School All Star Combo for 16 years, is still on the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, The California Jazz Conservatory and Jazz School, and formerly taught at the Brubeck Institute. He lives in Alameda, CA with his wife and their daughters, aged 25 and 27 years old.
UK Jazz News: What is the best advice you received about balancing/juggling parenthood and career?
Dann Zinn: Years before having kids, a good friend and fellow musician warned that having kids is the best thing ever, but your life will never be the same- not even close! So armed with this advice and ready for anything, we embarked and loved it. However, late nights became early mornings, and being home became much more important than being away. I was advised by friends that perhaps the stability found in teaching was more conducive to a steady and happy home life.
UKJN: What information or advice do you wish you’d received but didn’t (and had to learn through trial and error or on the go)?
DZ: Balance. How to balance maintaining a steady practicing schedule with teaching and gigging, and being the best parent I could. Luckily most musician work is in the evening or at night, so I had my girls during the daytimes. Also, my kids had heard the sax from in the womb, so they barely reacted to my practicing, and I could play at nap time! I learned to make good use of every possible minute of every day, and I needed to just to get my work done.
UKJN: Your top tip(s) for other parents in jazz:
DZ: Stating the obvious, but in our family, kids come first. As long as that priority is clear, everything else will fall into place. It is difficult. Musicians are night owls, and kids are morning people. I have become both! I love the late nights and love to get up early and practice. It makes afternoons rough, but nap when your kids do. Be present as much as possible. The days seem so long but the years fly by. Enjoy small moments. Your kids, even when grown, still need you, so though parenting never ends, it really is a gift that keeps on giving!
UKJN: Travel/gigging/tour-with-child advice. This can be gear or gadget-related, or pertain to approach/what to do/what not to do:
DZ: I decided early on that I would be around as much as possible. Though I have maintained a steady gigging presence, I moved into teaching as my primary source of income. I felt I needed a lot more stability in my income and being home than my previous gig based life could provide. It was a tough call for sure. Luckily many teaching opportunities did present themselves. Many of my friends that chose otherwise had a hard time balancing, and were constantly trying to find the right compromise. I talked to Mike Brecker about this, and he was trying to travel from Thursday to Monday and be home in the middle of the week. Each family has to find their own solution, but kids first!
UKJN: What is one way that figures or structures in the jazz industry could better support parents who are working jazz musicians?
DZ: A very heavy question! I know there are certain countries in Europe and Scandinavia, where the government supports artists with subsidies and a living work income, enabling creativity to flourish and giving the artist a mental and physical space to create. When an artist becomes a parent, issues of time and finances explode exponentially. Daycare costs, medical costs, food, schooling, saving for college; all these issues are in the forefront.
If there was an organized jazz industry, either government subsidized or funded by other means, this would be a tremendous help to all of us. However, in this day and age, outside of the most famous players, we are all on our own to make it the best we can. In America, arts funding, and jazz in particular, could really step up.
It’s never been easy to be a musician, but with so many income streams ending in the last ten years, these are particularly tough times.
UKJN: What has surprised you about becoming a parent and remaining engaged with your professional activities and ambitions?
DZ: How doable it is! Perhaps my dreams of a life on the road never fully developed as I’d imagined, but being home and watching my kids grow has been more than enough reward. And, though I never set out to be an educator, I have had 30 years of the most amazing students and friendships one could ever ask for. Our family only enhances our life-it never takes away from it. I still practice every day, gig often, record, tour, and teach. My kids are not musicians, but deeply appreciate art and music, and thrive in their own fields.
UKJN: What boundaries have you set for yourself as a parent in jazz (could be related to travel/touring, riders, personal parameters, child care decisions, etc.)?
DZ: I have always been clear about practice time and we built a soundproof practice room in the house so that I could always have a space to go to. The family knows that Daddy needs to practice at some point during the day, so we all work together to allow that to happen. I even bring my horn with me on family vacations, so no matter where we are, I create time for it and my wife and kids have always supported that!
Dann’s latest recording, “Two Roads”, represents a bold new musical direction for the saxophonist, embodying his dedication to continued artistic exploration. Over the past two decades, he has crafted a unique body of original work, influenced by Jan Garbarek’s Nordic folk-inflected compositions and his own roots in American Jazz and East Bay Funk. The album features esteemed collaborators Rachel Z and Omar Hakim.
(*) Parents in Jazz was started (first as ‘Mothers In Jazz’) by vocalist Nicky Schrire in August 2022. The initiative aims to create an online resource for jazz industry professionals with children, those contemplating parenthood, and jazz industry figures who work with and hire musicians who are parents. The insight of the musicians and administrators interviewed for this series provides valuable emotional, philosophical and logistical information and support that is easily accessible to all. “Parents In Jazz” shines a light on the very specific role of being both a parent and a performing jazz musician or jazz arts professional.
