Rotcod Zzaj (aka Dick Metcalf)

     Dick has been performing (live and in-studio) since around 1979... his musical roots go deep into the early 1950's, but he didn't start (really) wreaking his own brand of havoc (which he prefers to think of as "odd-istry", since many of his compositions are quite experimental in nature) until just before 1980 (in the majickland of OlyWa).

     His favorite instrument is a Kurzweill PC 88, a board he's had since (around) 1990.  It shouldn't seem strange that he loves the organ sounds, since his earliest memories of playing involved playing boogie-woogie on gigantic church organs and grand pianos... but his (r)evolution over these many years has also used many string sounds, vocal weaves and a great deal of spontaneous spoken-word.

     Why such a strange nickname, you ask?  During a tour in Korea (1980), a couple of guys were listening to him hammer out strange jazz chords on an antiquated upright piano in a servicemen's club at Camp Humphreys, Korea (yes, he was in the military at the time).  After listening to his keys for a half-hour or so, they complimented him on playing "Great jazz, man; we're gonna' call you "Doctor Jazz", & left.  A couple weeks later, they had occasion to hear him again... after the session, they told him, "You know, we been thinkin' about your music all week long, man.  It sounds like jazz, but it's kinda' "backwards".  Reflecting on that over the next 3 years or so, Dick twisted the moniker around in his head,  & (since you're reading this diatribe) perverted it appropriately.

     Though Metcalf has played on numerous albums with (more than) 100 musicians, he has actually only met about 15 of those folks he played with over the years.  He was a voracious participant in the "home-tape" network scene of the 1980's and 1990's, and produced about 65 or 70 indie tapes... some good, some average & some great!  He moved into the digital arena (though still using analog tape as the source) in the mid-1990's, & continued to issue 3 or 4 CD's each year.  

     In addition to his many recordings, Zzaj also authors a (now online) 'zine called IMPROVIJAZZATION NATION.  The focus of this effort has (always) been on artists/groups who play their preferred genre with great gusto - IOW, high energy.  He took a 1-year hiatus in 2003-4, but is accepting submissions for the 'zine again.

     Though he is not an "educated" musician (except for some brief training in vocals), Zzaj incorporates a love of music in all his performances, and produces music that is (often) challenging, but at the same time (strangely) relaxing.