JJA |PERCUSSIONIST OF THE YEAR * 2025 *

Honored to be a now 4-time recipient of the Jazz Journalist Association's Percussionist of the Year award,  a recognition that humbles me deeply.
Let’s keep the rhythm alive!

@TheNYtimes

TOP 10 :

PERCUSSIONIST  OF THE YEAR
JAZZ GROUP OF THE YEAR
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@Downbeat Magazine
@slate
@rbrmusic
@wordwidefm
@gilesperterson
@spiritmuserecords

@TheNYtimes

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Kahil El’Zabar, Spiritual Jazz’s Dapper Bandleader, Keeps Pushing Ahead ...

@TheNYtimes

SPIN MAGAZINE

The Amazing Musical Journey of Kahil El’Zabar : 
For 50 years the jazz instrumentalist and composer has reinvented American music

@Spin

DOWNBEAT

Kahil El’Zabar: Celebrating the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble at 50

The occasion needed some fire. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, percussionist, cultural torchbearer and bandleader Kahil El’Zabar sat for a photo shoot in his expansive creative workspace in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.

@ Downbeat

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble is 50. But bandleader Kahil El'Zabar is more Interested in the next 50 years

@ Chicago Trubune

PITCHFORK

The Chicago percussionist, bandleader, and composer offers a moving, frequently ebullient album that doesn’t shy away from the terrors of America’s past and present while managing, somewhat incredibly, to find hope in the country’s future

@ Pitchfork