“Not only is David (ZENG) one of the most gifted and prolific young musicians I have ever encountered, but he is also an absolutely brilliant human being.”

                                          -Grammy-nominated pianist/musical director Damien Sneed (Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder)

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“Merging jazz, R&B and hip-hop sensibilities, and featuring collaborations with and performances by top talents from a multitude of genres in the NYC music community, Loading… finds Zheng floating his jazzy sensibilities atop a sophisticated blend of hard-hitting dance-floor grooves, intricately textured electronics and dreamy atmospheres.”

                                          -JAZZIZ Magazine 

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Keyboardist, Composer, and Producer ZENG sees the world as one, musically speaking. He’s opened for jazz luminaries such as Grammy-winning trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard and Grammy-nominated keyboardist Marc Cary, and he’s been on the NY/Philly improvisational music scene with appearances at hallmark venues such as Smalls, Smoke, Birdland, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Lincoln Center, The Django, Rockwood Music Hall, Nublu, The Bitter End, Pianos, Arlene’s Grocery, Chris’ Jazz Café, South, World Café Live, Sofar Sounds, and many, many more. Endorsed by Nord Keyboards as a Nord Artist and recently elected a member of the prestigious Recording Academy/GRAMMY’s, ZENG has been mentioned in the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer and has been featured in NPR, USA Today, JAZZIZ, Voyage LA, Shoutout LA, and numerous other outlets. He’s also shared the stage with many jazz greats including the 7x Grammy-winning bassist Robert Hurst, Blue Note Recording artist Mark Shim, Grammy-nominated drummer Anwar Marshall, Grammy-winning drummer Thomas Pridgen, Grammy-winning saxophonist Christopher Mcbride, and Zildjian artist Dana Hawkins. And he’s worked as a producer/session musician with many up and coming artists such as DAP The Contract (Mark Ronson, Lawrence), Tony Glausi (Peter Cincotti), Jak Lizard (Brasstracks, Lawrence) and legendary international house DJ Lenny Fontana.

       His debut album as a producer and keyboardist, released on the multi-Grammy award winning jazz label Ropeadope Records (Terrace Martin, Christian Scott, Nate Smith, Snarky Puppy), is titled “Loading…”, immediately disarming critical faculties, forcing us to pay attention, and preparing the listener for something…NEW. The album ranges from a smooth and seductive blend of laid back groove infused with Jazz meandering, upbeat dance floor bangers, and layered electronics. The production is uniquely ZENG, taking us into a new world where these seemingly different styles all exist together. Consisting of hard-hitting grooves combined with lush harmonies and melodies, tight production, and soaring solos, the album highlights ZENG’s role as a genre-bending producer, songwriter, and composer with jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and dance sensibilities, and is intended to appeal not only to the listener’s ears, but also their bodies.  

       As a graduate of the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in Jazz Piano Performance (where he attended graduate school), he studied with Blue Note Recording artist Kendrick Scott and also studied arranging/composition with Macarthur Genius Fellow/multi-Grammy nominated saxophonist Miguel Zenon. While in graduate school, David was mentored by the highly acclaimed and Grammy-nominated gospel-pianist/vocalist/music director Damien Sneed (Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross), and as of recently he is now completing further studies in Orchestration at The Juilliard School. Prior to this, he graduated from Princeton University in 2014 magna cum laude and was heavily involved in the Downbeat award-winning jazz program there. And as a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, ZENG’s academic interests and research (at institutions such as Princeton, MIT, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine) cover the intersection of music and cognitive neuroscience/psychiatry/neurology. He continues to record and gig throughout the NY/Philly music scene and is continuing his medical training at NYU as both a neurologist and psychiatrist. 

       Loading... (Ropeadope Records), which has garnered hundreds of thousands of streams, features ZENG as primary songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Guest artists, placed carefully according to the song's nature, include many of the most in demand musicians currently on the scene: Grammy-award winning vocalist J. Hoard (Chance the Rapper, Brasstracks), Emmy-award winning artist Braxton Cook (Tom Misch, Solange, Rihanna), Grammy-award winning saxophonist Chris Bullock (Snarky Puppy), Grammy-award winning trumpeter Maurice Brown (Anderson Paak and the Free Nationals), bassist-producer phenom CARRTOONS (Rae Khalil, Mac Ayres), and trumpeter Marquis Hill (Marcus Miller, Dee Dee Bridgewater). ZENG is one of the most in demand producers/keyboardists currently on the NY scene and is destined to make waves in the jazz and beat music scene.