Opafire

Opafire
Photo by Shaun Caster
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, USA
Genres	Jazz Fusion, World Fusion, Contemporary Jazz, Smooth Jazz
Years active	1990–1998
Labels	RCA Records/Novus Higher Octave/EMI
Members
Zachary Norman E. Robert Powell Dallas Smith Bryan Mantia Michael Pluznick Tom Corwin Christopher Hedge

Opafire is a Jazz Fusion / World Fusion / Contemporary Jazz musical group, originally based in San Francisco, California, best known for their 1991 RCA Records release Opafire, (Catalog #: RCA3084X937), which sold close to one million units World Wide, the 1992 RCA Records release Without a Trace, as well as the 1994 Higher Octave/EMI release Ricochet Sun, and the 1992 JVC release KKSF 103.7FM Sampler Volume Two, which both sold over 600,000 units.

The musical group Opafire was created in 1990 by composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer Zachary Norman E.

In 1990, Opafire was signed to a recording contract with RCA Records after Steve Feinstein, the famous & multi music industry publication award winning program director who guided San Francisco's Contemporary Jazz Radio Station KKSF 103.7FM to be one of the leading stations in the NAC / New Adult Contemporary format, began playing Opafire's music, which became some of the most "Listener Requested" songs on KKSF. When RCA Records / BMG Music released the debut album Opafire, it gained International success & heavy rotation radio airplay. The Opafire songs, "Wajumbe", "Kalimbahari", and "Walk Like Rain" reached the #2, #11 & #26 spots on the Gavin Report New Adult Contemporary Most Radio Plays chart and "Top Ten" spots in the R&R Magazine, as well as reaching the charts in Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Holland, and Taiwan.

In 1991 Opafire toured with Miles Davis, Spyro Gyra, and the Yellow Jackets as part of the JVC Jazz Festival Tour, performing in larger venues with audiences of up to 12,000 people.

Opafire has headlined many music festivals, theaters, and clubs throughout the years, such as the Oxfam International Festival Tour, the Whole Life Expo Tour, the Stern Grove Festival, the Great American Music Hall and Yoshi's Night Club in San Francisco & Oakland California, The Baked Potato in Los Angeles, as well as large "Listener Appreciation Concert" performances for KTWV 94.7FM "The Wave" in Los Angeles & Santa Monica, California, and the KKSF 103.7FM "Music Without Borders Listener Concerts" in the Atrium of the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, the largest being the "KKSF 103.7FM Sampler Volume Two Record Release Concert" in Justin Herman Plaza, with Opafire headlining and John Tesh as Master of Ceremonies.

In 1998, while healing from a serious hang gliding accident, citing both his apathy for Clear Channel Communications now nationally syndicated "Smooth Jazz" radio format, and his interest to focus more on composing original music for film & television, including commissions by NPR, PBS & Nova (TV series), as well as producing more rock & vocal based music in his Maui recording studio in Hawaii , the musical group Opafire was put on sabbatical by leader Zachary Norman E.

Members

• Zachary Norman E. - guitar, synthesizers, percussion, composer, producer, engineer
• Robert Powell - guitar, various stringed instruments
• Dallas Smith - sax, wind synthesizer, bamboo flutes
• Bryan Mantia - drums
• Michael Pluznick - percussion
• Tom Corwin - fretted bass
• Michael Manring - fretless bass, (studio sessions only)
• Christopher Hedge - production, engineer, (studio sessions only)

Discography

• Opafire (1991 - RCA Records/BMG)
• KKSF 103.7FM Sampler Volume 2 (1991 JVC Records)
• RCA Novus Sampler '90 (1991 - RCA Records/BMG)
• Without a Trace (1993 - RCA Records/BMG)
• Ricochet Sun (1994 - Higher Octave Records/EMI)
• Panorama: A Collection of Music from Around the World (1996 - Higher Octave Records/EMI)

References

• Larkin, Colin (1995) "The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music" ISBN 1-56159-176-9
• Yurochko, Bob (1993) "A Short History of Jazz" ISBN 0-8304-1595-5

External links

• Official site