After almost three weeks of interviews and concerts shot this past October in Poland, Germany, and Austria, the new trailer for “Passion” is available for your viewing pleasure atwww.passion-themovie.com. The movie, directed by Erin Harper, is a documentary about the journey to illuminate the lost legacy and music of Zbigniew Seifert. Seifert, arguably the most important modern jazz violinist since Jean-Luc Ponty, remains the only violinist to truly absorb the language and harmony of John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner. While Seifert’s musical voice was nothing less than transcendent and his approach to playing the violin was unprecedented, his life was cut short by cancer in 1979 at the age of 32. Now, almost thirty years after his death, despite having made major-label recordings for Capitol and MPS with musicians such as Tomasz Stanko, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Richie Beirach, and Billy Hart, Seifert’s entire catalog is out of print. Zach, Erin, and the entire crew (maybe you too?) hope to change this in the next year. Downbeat Magazine will publish a brief article about the movie later this winter. Stay tuned for an essay that will be posted in the Blog section on www.zachbrock.com. The film, which is currently mid-production, is seeking to expand it’s mailing listand is looking for donations. If you or anyone that you know might be interested in making a tax-deductible donation, please go to the IFP Donations page and under “Designate my donation” please specify your donation for “Passion.” ”Passion” is a sponsored project of IFP and The Polish Cultural Institute of New York, and is slated for release in fall ‘08.

Zach will be joining legendary electric bass pioneer Stanley Clarke from January 17-20 at Jazz Alley in Seattle. You can catch the same band for another weekend of shows January 25 & 26 at Anthology in San Diego. Mr. Clarke is touring in support of his new CD “The Toys of Men.” The band includes Ruslan Sirota on keyboards and Ronald Brunner, Jr. on drums. Special thanks goes out to Eric Aceto and Jean-Luc Ponty

As most of you know, Chicago is a happening place. Local bass phenom Matt Ulery has just released his first CD, “Loom”, on Woolgathering Records. Matt composed and arranged all of the music for an unusual ensemble that includes Zach Brock on violin, Thad Franklin on trumpet and flugel horn, Tim Haldeman on tenor sax, Rob Clearfield on accordion and piano,Jon Deitemyer on drums, and Grazyna Auguscik on a guest vocal track. “Loom” is appearing on Sunday, December 9 at an exciting new independent music and film festival called “Ears & Eyes”. The festival, a brainchild of recent Chicago immigre Matthew Golombisky, is an aural and visual experience that brings together local, national, and international talent in music, visual arts, and film