BAND IN THE USA:
CT has been playing with Sarah Connolly, Chris Volpe and other fantastic musicians - lineup and instrumentation depending on the venue/tour.
IN EUROPE:
Laurent Vander (claviers, piano etc...)
Olivier Perez (batterie etc...)
Etkilendikleri
Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, Charles Baudelaire, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, Bob Marley, Serge Gainsbourg, Miles Davis, Prince, John and Yoko, MC Solaar, The Carter Family, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Radiohead, Mozart, Bach, Kings of Convenience, The Gladiators, Eric Dolphy, Eminem, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, Gram Parsons, Stevie Wonder, T.S Eliot, Eliott Smith, The Stooges, Raymond Chandler, Howard Hawks, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, James Brown, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Jacques Dutronc, NTM, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Dexter Gordon, Alexi Murdoch, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Foggy Mountain Boys, Johnny Thunders, Sufjian Stevens, Big Bill Broonzy, Magnetic Fields, Charles Mingus, Wilco, Eric Dolphy, Sam Cooke, John Mayer, Big Mama Thornton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Earl Scraggs , New Order, Grant Green, Madonna, Cindy Lauper, A. C. Jobim, Duke Ellington, Paul Simon, The Postal Service,Sonny Sharrock, Nirvana, Ravi Shankar, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, AC/DC, Josh Ritter, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Prince Billie/w.o/palace, Non Fiction, Jolli Hollande, Peter Lundgren, Robbie Lee, Ian Thomas, The Bowman Twins, Alex Lowry, Lach, Sir A. F. Toure, Gabriel and Jezebel Francis, Ray, and all the wise kind souls who threw a coin into my cup instead of turning the other way...
Neye Benziyor?
The ingredients are are all organic, and every part of it is about good people, and doing it yourself.
Perhaps that's why it sounds strikingly like Charles Zerner, singing songs that he writes.
People sometimes think that CTZ sounds like: BOB DYLAN JEFF BUCKLEY, BRIGHT EYES, LEONARD COHEN, SERGE GAINSBOURG, LOU REED, TOWNES VAN ZANDT. CTZ can't tell who else he sounds like, and doesn't think it's an important thing for him to think about.
Charles Theodore Zerner grew up in France and the US, graduated with honors from Harvard University, and moved to New York to sing in the subways.
After working a 3-month session with the producer of the Clash, Joe Blaney, holding residencies in New York, and making a home in the NY antifolk scene, and touring, CTZ went deep into the French mountains to record with French producer Francis Lassus. Informed by life experience, his record, A Suitcase Life, like his performances, reflect a unique worldview. The record has been considered one of the best independent albums of the year by a plethora of individual reviewers and websites, like indie-music.com.
CTZ is currently at Tulane Law School to receive training in Law while playing a limited number of engagements. Keep your eyes open for new live/studio recordings, live appearances, and the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival in September.
His first release, A Suitcase Life comes with a 10 page color booklet, and a long life-full of listening pleasure. Support the arts and buy a cultural artifact of your times; it is available now at Itunes, CDbaby, Antifolk.net and select retail outlets in the North East.
"Charles Zerner is a very well-rounded young man. Combining intimate folk rock ramblings, choruses that wouldn't sound out of place on Top 40 radio, Spanish inspired guitar fills and noticeably rhythmic bass and drum sections, his songwriting draws from a multitude of influences. Fortunately, this diversity sounds neither gimmicky nor gratuitously eclectic, and he succeeds in this ambitious endeavor because of his genuine, consistent honesty.
Jetlagged longing, lost loves and moments of displaced loneliness are revisited track by track, memorable and every bit as fresh as they once must have felt. Still, Zerner never compromises his upfront lyrics for rhythm, catchy bittersweet melodies and an intricately arranged acoustic pop-rock sound; the album is a sincere and well-thought-out commentary on a twenty-something's life, not a sentimental confessional about what went wrong.
Zerner's songs range from straightforward guitar-based pieces to more complex and layered arrangements complete with soaring, playful synthesizers and perfectly timed bass lines. His voice is strongest when stripped bare, as heard on "Broke St Lullaby" and "You Were Right the First Time"; more layered vocal sections lose their sweetness and verge on generic, especially when he speaks/raps rather than sings. The production on the instruments, however, is irreproachably poppy - unusual for such an upfront record so strongly influenced by bare-bones folk rock. This smoothness works well more often than not and accentuates the care with which the songs were written: there isn't a sloppy moment on the whole record.
[…]
Weathered cynicism atop a lingering innocence characterizes the mood of the record - jaded, but still young and unwilling to give up on hope. A genuine sincerity ties the songs together, though never at the detriment of professionalism, originality, and technical skill. Combined with a talent to comment on, rather than fall into, cliché, and a heart-wrenching set of melodies that stick long after the songs end, Zerner has made a thoroughly meaningful and sensitive record."
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Charles Thodore est ne pres de Boston de deux historiens de l'art. Brinquebale des son plus jeune age, entre la Cote est et la Cote ouest, entre les deux rives de l'Atlantique (la province angevine, detour un peu plus inattendu), son apprentissage est d emble place sous le signe de l art, de la route, de l echange. Malgre un parcours universitaire flatteur (diplome avec Honors de Harvard University en 2002) que certains imaginaient deboucher sur une carriere en costume- cravate, il repousse les appels du pied de Wall Street pour le metro new-yorkais ou il se devoue a la chanson. Souvenirs : "it's the only way to really do it." Cest dans le Lower East Side, Manhattan, que Charles develope son style. Apres avoir etabli sa presence dans les clubs new-yorkais (Piano's, The Sidewalk Cafe, The Living Room, Galapagos, Cbgb's etc.), dans la scene anti-folk, et avoir tourne sur la Cote est, il rencontre un producteur suedois, habitant Paris, qui lui propose denregistrer un album en France.
Tres vite, les seances ne se revlent pas a la hauteur de ses esperances. Il casse tout. Au regard de ses autres expriences en studio aux cotes de Joe Blaney (producteur des Clash, de Keith Richards etc.), il juge ces collaborations musicales denues d affinites et d'emotions et leurs resultats, mediocres.
Cest alors quil fait la connaissance de Francis Lassus, batteur et producteur (Joe Zawinul, Jacques Higelin, Claude Nougaro etc.). Direction Pau, au studio de Francis et deuxime rencontre : Laurent Vander (fils du grand pianiste Maurice Vander). Entre les trois, l'entente est immediate : La musique, c'est toute de meme un peu de l'alchimie. Comme l'amour, il faut que la chance et le temps saccordent."
Apres un travail intense, la pre-production fait preuve d'honnetete et de complicite musicale prometteuses. Et le mariage culturel qui a toujours guidé ses pas prend enfin tout son sens. Explications : Je crois que c'est une musique franco-americaine dans l'ame... Peut-etre que je pourrais vivre ici....
thanks for the add. i'm really pleased to have found your music. you've a lovely voice and i enjoy your story telling. really gorgeous sounds... all the best to you!
Hello Charles Theodore Zerner, Joli nouveau titre, bravo ! peut-on lire les paroles quelque part ? A cowboy's journey, You're so good, Sur le gris du ciel sont trois nouveaux titres sur ma page, Cheers, Jean-Luc.
I hope we can hang out again soon...not like catch a drink after a show type hang out, but a take a walk and discuss life over a cigarette and a cup of coffee type hang out...you know like when your world is spinning for so long and you really need a good friend and a conversation to hold you still for moment...i miss you buddy
11 de marzo FNAC 'plaza españa" ZARAGOZA (España) 12 de marzo Chill Bill MADRID (España) 13 de marzo El Arco ALCAZAR de SAN JUAN - CIUDAD REAL (España) 14 de marzo Sala Zeta ZARAGOZA (España) 23 de Abril El Varadero GANDIA – VALENCIA (España) 24 de Abril Electroperra festival ALCORISA - TERUEL (España) 25 de Abril La Salamandra HOSPITALET - BARCELONA (España) ....
As always, we at StageBuddy would like to invite you to our FREE StageBuddy Live show: a mix of Theatre, Comedy & Music, along with Prizes & Giveaways! Every Saturday 6-7pm in Times Square & now join us afterwards for our open mic! We'd love to see you there!
I found out about you on that indie site. I am rarely this impressed by music. Love your lyrics and intoxicating vocals. :) Thanks for being a great musician.