Home » Jazz Musicians » Eric Zabala

Eric Zabala

Hailing from Spokane, WA and currently residing in St Petersburg, FL, Eric goes by many things - a percussionist, music educator, keyboardist, even “zebop” - but his heart is set on the vibes.

Eric has been very fortunate to study with masters of the vibraphone, both via in-person and online masterclasses. His mallet-playing journey first seriously began through college, where he worked with Seattle-based mallet virtuosos Dr. Miho Takekawa and Dr. Ben Thomas. Eric then attended the 2020 and 2021 Steve Weiss Online Mallet Festivals where he studied with Tony Miceli, David Friedman, Joe Locke, Stefon Harris, and Warren Wolf, where topics ranged from ear training to professional development as a vibraphone artist. Eric is also fortunate to have an amplification system and pedalboard for his instrument to fit any scenario, whether big stage or acoustic, straight-ahead or experimental.

Eric attended Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA where he graduated summa cum laude in 2020 with a Bachelor’s in Percussion Performance under Dr. Miho Takekawa. He flourished as an orchestral percussionist, winning the Student Soloist competition as a sophomore and the PASIC Ludwig Industries Scholarship the same year (see the video below for a clip from this performance). During this time he also began private jazz study with renowned pianist and composer Dr Cassio Vianna, where he honed in on jazz harmony and literature.

Most recently, Eric shared the stage with the legendary Kenwood Dennard in Kenwood Dennard’s Grateful Groove, where he played keyboards and vibraphone. He is currently the vibraphonist/keyboardist for the Sarasota-based fusion outfit The Barker Project, along with the more experimental Chaunces Trio. He also plays vibes in Paul Gormley and Friends, a straight-ahead jazz outfit led by former LA bassist Paul Gormley, and the Tampa-based Rod Alnord Quartet. Outside of jazz, Eric has been fortunate to share the stage on keys with multiple touring singer/songwriters, including Brett Wiscons and Sean Cunningham. Lastly, Eric posts educational and performing vibes content weekly on YouTube (EZVibes) and Instagram (zebop_bebop), specializing in transcription. He has also released full-band covers of jazz standards such as Humpty Dumpty and Havona on Bandcamp and YouTube . Find the links here! - https://linktr.ee/eric.zabala.music

Beyond performance, Eric is fortunate to have an extensive background in music education. He is currently a keyboards/percussion teacher at Berretta Music Academy in Clearwater and also maintains an independent percussion studio (Eric's Music Studio)