Rachel Carmel Nicolazzo better known as Rachel Z, is a jazz pianist. She attended the Berklee College of Music Summer School and Manhattan School of Music Pre-College, where she launched the quintet, Nardis, whilst studying with Joanne Brackeen and Richie Beirach in NYC. Later Rachel Z graduated from the New England Conservatory with a 'Distinction in Performance' award. Her characteristic musical intelligence and development of her genre has made her one of the most exciting female jazz musicians of the twenty-first century.