About the Artist
Zachary Berns is a composer, producer, and drummer based in New York City, creating music at the crossroads of jazz and house. A working jazz musician and record producer with a deep love of underground club culture, Berns brings live percussion, jazz orchestration, and improvisation into conversation with electronic textures and grooves, crafting a future-facing sound that is rooted in NYC tradition.
After solo releases under projects such as zbeeez, still mystique, and jazz-hiphop collective Poetic Thrust, along with studio work for countless NYC artists including Agho, Raina Sokolov-González, Starchild & The New Romantic, and Yoh, Berns now releases compositions under his full name for the first time. It marks a culmination of his journey so far: a commitment to honesty, depth, and a fully realized artistic vision.
Berns is a working jazz drummer in New York City, the world’s beating heart for jazz music. His work as a composer and record producer allows for a unique perspective, informed by two parallel NYC lineages of jazz improvisation and underground house music. A combination of the improvisational fire of drum legends like Elvin Jones and Tony Williams, with the deep grooves of jazz-house luminaries like Louie Vega and Moodymann … the jazz harmony and orchestration of Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus, meshed with modern sonic world building from producers such as Flying Lotus and Arca .. his compositions ultimately amalgamate as a jazz drummer’s vision of club music in 2025 and beyond.
A performer on NYC stages ranging from Carnegie Hall to MOMA PS1, from Governors Ball to The Lot Radio, as well as stadiums across the US such as Mile High Stadium, Alamodome, and Stanford Stadium, and international performances from Paris to Bogota to Taiyuan, Berns’ young career has already spanned continents and disciplines. His solo releases - including “Shine Vol. 1 & 2” and “Serenades / Reflections” with Vesa - have earned hundreds of thousands of streams and appearances at iconic NYC parties like “Soul in the Horn”. His percussion has appeared on labels such as Ghostly International, his piano compositions supported artists of the legendary Merce Cunningham Trust, and has shared knowledge as a guest educator at Julliard and Purchase Conservatory.
Now, with his debut vinyl release under his own name, Zachary Berns distills years of cross-genre exploration into a sound that is unmistakably his: a jazz drummer’s vision of club music - live, future-facing, and deeply rooted in groove and humanity.
LTDWLBL011
A jazz drummer’s vision of club music.
Berlin’s Limited White Label presents the vinyl debut of New York City–based composer, producer, and drummer Zachary Berns. A fixture of NYC’s jazz and underground scenes, Berns has built a reputation through boundary-crossing projects (notably zbeeez and the jazz/hip-hop collective poetic thrust), collaborations with rising artists across R&B, jazz, and electronic music, and acclaimed appearances at leading parties and live sessions. With this record, he steps forward under his full name for the first time, delivering a statement that bridges his dual lineage in jazz and club culture.
Zachary Berns' studio, New York City
Space Float / Zalenciaga / Soul In The Horn / Moiss Music