:: reviews :: FOLIO WEEKLY {September 2003} by Flora Fair SONGBIRD: Violinist Rebecca Zapen is a first-string player    Some musical experiences can be likened to food, with certain dishes representing different songs and styles. Listening to violinst/vocalist Rebecca Zapen's new CD, "Hummingbird" (Bashert, 2003), is like enjoying strong coffee and a delectable dessert after a rich, satisfying meal. Mellow melodies, like the album-opening original "Andrea", soothe, while more up-tempo tunes energize. Zapen's voice and violin intertwine and compliment one another gracefully. The songs are somewhat reminiscent of Astrud Gilberto, with tone and melody that at times imply a breezy tropic isle, and at others suggest a New York City rooftop strung with paper lanterns. When the musicians hit their mark, they are capable of transporting listeners beyond sound.    Zapen officially releases "Hummingbird" on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at Friday Musicale in downtown Jacksonville.    Raised in a musical family, Zapen began studying the violin when she was 3 years old. Her mother, Lois Gosa, a symphony violinist, taught her daughter using the Suzuki method, which is ideal for young children. "In the Suzuki method, you learn to play before you learn to read the notes," explains Zapen. "[It] involved a lot of listening."    Zapen's careful ears served her well. "When I was a little kid, I managed to say up past my bedtime by playing the theme to 'Dallas' as my parents were watching the opening credits to the show," she recalls. But Zapen admits that of all the TV chestnuts she has played, the "Star Trek" tunes are her favorite. As playful as her foray into TV themes may have been, the musical mimicry affected how Zapen approached her instrument.    At Florida State University, the budding virtuoso pursued bachelor's degrees in music and biology. It was there that she began to explore jazz. Moving beyond her foundation of classical training, Zapen discovered a new fredom in jazz. "I love the qualities of the chords, and the melodies that can be so chromatic, at times," she says. "In playing, there is so much freedom and creativity. ...I'm not restricted to the printed note." Opening up to new forms of music, Zapen also began to perform at venues in Tallahassee. She soon moved on to bigger gigs, including stints with the symphony orchestras in both Illinois and Jacksonville.    Although variations on gypsy jazz and the bossa nova are evident in Zapen's music -- three of the five original songs on the album are bossa novas -- her range is diverse. In addition to symphonic and jazz work, Zapen also plays with local group Pretty Boy Freud and the indie-influenced Michelle Payne Band. "The first gigging band I played with was a klezmer band called Klezmania," says Zapen of her tenure with the Jewish alternative-folk band.    Zapen considers the "expressive and sensitive" work of Stephane Grappelli to be a major influence on her violin playing, but it's the intonation and purity of Tierney Sutton's voice that inspires her own. And there's always Ella: "When I first started listening to jazz, I listened to lots of Ella Fitzgerald," explains Zapen. "I like her clean sound and the way her personality shines through." As for her songwriting, "Hummingbird" evokes Antonio Carlos Jobim.    "Hummingbird," Zapen's debut CD, gives the violinist a chance to take center stage. But making an album is only part of the musical experience.    "Sometimes a thrill comes from performing for a crowd, like this past May when I performed with the Boril Ivanov Group," says Zapen. At other times, the thrills are more about the interaction between musicians: "About two years ago, I knocked on [guitar professor] Gary Starling's door at [Jacksonville University] and asked if I could sing for him. We spent about an hour or so going through some standards, and he told me he really liked my voice. I felt this connection and was so excited."    Starling plays guitar on "Hummingbird," along with Chelsea Chason on bass, Darren Ronan on drums, John Ricci on tenor saxophone and Tony Steve on marimba. Zapen describes her style as sensual, lyrical, melodic and mournful -- with the occasional turn of humor. "I wrote a song about a Japanese bathhouse," Zapen reveals, "but we won't get into those lyrics right now." [submit a review]