Morris County is still home to Grammy winner Rachel Z with local show coming up

Having won her first Grammy in 1988, Rachel Z spends much of her time on the road, leading her own jazz ensembles, partnering with husband-drummer Omar Hakim or playing keyboards on world tours with Peter Gabriel.

When she's not commanding stages, the former Rachel Nicolazzo unwinds at her childhood home in the Cedar Lake section of Denville, now equipped with a full recording studio.

Among her favorite hangouts is Boonton Coffee, which in recent years has become a focal point for a vibrant downtown social scene that has attracted other musicians and artists to Main Street.

"Coffee and music. It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said of Boonton and Boonton Coffee, where she will perform with her current trio for about 50 people on Oct. 20. "We're going on tour in November, so basically our friends in the area are going to be helping us put ourselves together for that."

Rachel grew up as a musical prodigy. Valedictorian of her class at Valleyview Middle School, she went on to play clarinet in the marching band at Morris Knolls High School in Denville and in a state symphonic band before switching to keyboards and falling in love with jazz.

Her early musical career also included playing in summer orchestras at John Hill School in Boonton, conducted by her father, Ed Nicolazzo.

"He did that in the summer, but mainly he taught art at School Street School, right up the road from Boonton Coffee," Rachel said. "That's where I learned to play clarinet and oboe. He used to do all these cool plays for the kids with a bunch of teachers."

Grammys and fame

Her jazz career took off after she studied at the New England Conservatory, co-writing the Grammy award-winning song "Tokyo Blue" in 1988 with popular saxophonist Najee. Rachel went on to work with legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter on his Grammy-winning 1995 album, "High Life."

She broke through to a larger audience playing keyboards for Peter Gabriel from 2002 to 2006, appearing before packed arena audiences around the world.

Gabriel's "was my favorite band even before I got the gig," she said. "I was studying those records when I was in college. He's just an always-evolving artist, and I have tried to maintain that sensibility in my music."

Rachel also teaches music part time at Montclair State University and the New School in New York.

Her parents, now deceased, left her the family's Cedar Lake home, which she happily occupies when she can with Hakim, an in-demand percussionist who has worked with Miles Davis, Weather Report, Sting and Mariah Carey, among many others.

"We just love the lake," she said.

Coffee congregation

They also love Boonton Coffee, which they discovered soon after it opened in 2016 on Main Street. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Boonton Coffee thrived enough to more than double its space by buying the former Bob's Men's Shop, a few doors up Main Street from its original location, and moving into that 5,000-square-foot, multilevel location.

"It's a great place to just hang out, drink some coffee and work on some music," Rachel said. "There's a bunch of musicians who tend to congregate there."

Her husband gets a special kick out of walking by the neighboring Don's Sandwich shop, where drum lessons are offered and drum kits are displayed for sale in the front windows.

"We thought we were were hallucinating when we first saw that," Rachel said with a laugh.

Boonton Coffee will now serve as a warmup venue for her upcoming Rachel Z Sensual Tour of Europe with percussionist Mino Cinelu and bassist Jonathan Toscano. Cinelu also has played with a who's who of jazz greats, from Miles Davis to Weather Report. Toscano is a former New School student she has been mentoring for 10 years.

Their November tour will take them to Italy, Switzerland and Greece. For the warmup engagement in Boonton, they will be joined by a young saxophonist from Mountain Lakes, Alex Laurenzi.

"He went to Mountain Lakes High School and Princeton," Rachel said. "He's my even newer mentee, and we're very proud of him."

Their concert comes as Boonton Coffee looks to celebrate its first anniversary of Boonton Coffee Presents concerts next month with a return engagement by Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root on Nov. 17.

"He was our first featured artist and said he would be happy to come back," said Craig Cirinelli, who books the shows there.

Cirinelli, who also books concerts at other small venues, said Boonton Coffee owner Frankie McDonald asked him to find some bands to play in the performance space he envisioned while planning the move to its larger current location.

With a stage in place, Cirinelli added a professional PA system to lure seasoned musicians like Rachel Z to perform in the intimate space. The venue also added a rolling wall to separate the performance space from the bustling coffee shop during concerts.

"They are one of the most professional venues in the world," Rachel said. "Craig has done an incredible job. "They are meticulous about the booking, the timing, the promotion, the logistics. They are not just a coffee shop."

Her set will include her original modern jazz pieces and covers of some recognizable pop tunes set to jazz arrangements. "We cover Peter Gabriel and others in a way that is really fun. We come from the rock side and the jazz side. I guess we call it alternative jazz with rock and funk and with world music. I think you'll like it."

Tickets for Rachel Z's performance at Boonton Coffee are $30 and available online.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Rachel Z, Grammy winner, to play at Boonton Coffee