Nick Zoulek builds worlds out of brass, breath, and reeds. Based in Chicago, Zoulek is a saxophonist whose music feels physical, visceral, and urgent. Tender one moment, tectonic the next, his sounds are simultaneously alive and mechanized. Allan Kozinn wrote in The Wall Street Journal, “Zoulek’s performance, on saxophones in every range, is stunningly virtuosic, whatever the genre.” A musician of “pure mindfulness and talent” (PopMatters), his intuitive playing results in a “no-holds barred engine of avant-garde exploration.” (Portland Press Herald)

Zoulek’s new album, Enter Branch, unfolds as a narrative of growth. The album bridges his vivid approach to the saxophone with a cast of collaborators from across the musical spectrum, including Sean Carey (S. Carey, Bon Iver), spoken-word legend J. Ivy, Nathalie Joachim, Nick Photinos, Chris Porterfield (Field Report), ~Nois, and the Tontine Ensemble. These artistic voices merge with Zoulek’s prismatic performance style. His solo saxophone sound is raw, almost impossibly layered. This is not achieved through digital effects like looping or delay, but rather through a tapestry of circular breathing, extended overtones, vocalizations, and unrelenting arpeggios. Every tone of the saxophone is live and unedited, recorded in full, uninterrupted takes, and shaped with experimental mic setups. Even the cracks of the saxophone’s sound create a root system of expression, woven with strands of vocals, bowed strings, ambient drones, seismic depth, and unfiltered warmth from his collaborators.

Enter Branch follows Zoulek’s debut album, Rushing Past Willow (Innova, 2016). Of that record, Allan Kozinn wrote, “Circular breathing yields rapidly undulating, swirling figures that seem unstoppable…fascinating chordal figures…evocations of electronic timbres and feedback. None of that would matter much…if [Zoulek] were a less imaginative composer.” Zoulek’s projects have been interdisciplinary from the start, and Rushing Past Willow exemplified this . With collaborations with installation artist Erwin Redl, Wild Space Dance Company, and filmmaker Cody LaPlant. The project yielded long-form dance works, art installations, and a series of landscape-based performance videos.

Though known for his original music, Zoulek is grounded in classical solo and chamber performance. He has commissioned and premiered over 100 works, including pieces by Martin Bresnick, Shelley Washington, Emma O’Halloran, and Aaron Kernis. His collaborative spirit has led to performances with champions of the contemporary music world, including Eighth Blackbird, Third Coast Percussion, Present Music, and ~Nois, with features by the Shockingly Modern Saxophone Festival, New Music Detroit, the Encore Chamber Music Festival, and the Sensoria series. He is the tenor saxophonist of the Coalescent Quartet and half of the experimental Duo d’Entre-Deux.

Zoulek grew up in southeastern Wisconsin. He took up the saxophone in fifth grade, and in middle school, discovered Anthony Braxton’s For Alto a particularly eclectic local record store. That experience soon expanded, listening to John Zorn, Ned Rothenberg, Joshua Redman, modernist composers like Stockhausen, Berio, and Takemitsu, along with recordings of saxophone with electronic manipulation. Solo saxophone became a fascination. At the same time, skate videos and their soundtracks left a lasting mark, with everything from DJ Shadow to Slayer blending into his musical identity. 

After earning a degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, moved to Paris, studying avant-garde repertoire with Jean-Michel Goury and improvisation with bassist Joëlle Léandre. He later completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in Contemporary Music at Bowling Green State University with Dr. John Sampen, one of the foremost innovators of contemporary classical saxophone. Alongside his musical practice, he developed a deep craft in audio engineering, videography, and photography—skills that naturally folded into his interdisciplinary projects. 

As a composer, Zoulek’s work lives in a diverse array of settings, writing for Third Coast Percussion, the Madison Ballet, Wild Space Dance Company, Rockstar Games, Legs of Steel ski films, and Found Format films. He is also an accomplished video artist, with films screening at festivals and galleries worldwide. His visual work under the rubric NZMEDIA has led to collaborations with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, screenings with the Library of Congress, and numerous projects that translate music to the visual medium. No matter how far his practice branches outward, it remains rooted in the saxophone, built from breath and bones, but wired to become something more.