Book a Band Listing

Worldwide Zoo is an electrifying Tampa Bay trio that combine sounds as if it were alchemy. Some jazz, a little latin, lot's of funk, a pinch of space, with blends of world beat and rock. The band was founded in April 2005 by Michael Zabrek(keys) and Santiago Rodriguez(bass) after being asked to play a show in Gainesville, Fl at a bar called the Shamrock. Then known as "Schiavo", they played an energy filled set of songs titled "Schiavo" for a very accepting and forgiving crowd. This sparked the fire and an experiment known as Worldwide Zoo emerged. 25 more shows were played in the first year throughout the Tampa-St Pete. area including a win at a battle of the bands, "based on talent" at the Orpheum, and they're own 15+ act "Zoo Fest" which was held at The Bank in St. Petersburg. In Jan. 2006 the Zoo met drummer Jason Stander and the trio was formed. Switching to live drums gave them the freedom to improvise in a new way. Since then they've done 60+ performances and show no sign of stopping. They've packed houses in Tampa, Gainesville, St. Petersburg, Dunedin, Tarpon Springs, even a music festival in Brooksville. Many of their shows have been featured in local scenester rags and the Tampa Tribune decided to do a feature article based on their day to day lives. All have found different things to say about the sound: "Attention-grabbing, jazzy-funky and eclectic as all get out, Worldwide Zoo doesn't cage up its creative beasts, it loads 'em up on a party-cruise ark and floats them ingeniously into your psyche.", "Worldwide Zoo is more of a stylistic salad, a crunchy toss of world beat, folk, rock and jazz."-Julie Garisto(Tampa Bay Times/St. Pete Times) "Sophisticated, jam-intensive brand of funk/jazz...", "Fusing elements of jazz, funk, jam oriented rock and what we will simply call experimental, local organ trio Worldwide Zoo offer forward-thinking sonic explorations that mesmerize....WWZ plays with a sense of purpose, taking the listener around unexpected turns that prove both surprising and pleasing.", "a spacey brand of funk-jazz that's by turns propulsive and exploratory."-Wade Tangelo(Creative Loafing Magazine) "Like George Duke, early Santana (sans Carlos), Herbie Hancock, late Mothers of Invention/Beefheart, maybe some Bernie Worrell and Stevie Wonder. The rhythm section wore huge boots made of bloody granite."-Otolathe "Very now. Crisp. Lots of tinsel. A grooovifonic sound explosion. I dig the vibe. Keep it vague you barbarian freak masters!"-Rob the Canadian "Mix up some traditional jazz, acid jazz and some funk, and you've got a good idea of the sounds. Killer jazz drum solos, Rhodes keys and some crazy bass lines."-Dave Sammon