CHRISTIAN FABIAN, now an American citizen, was born in Sweden and grew up in Germany after the age of six. It was there that he saw a Dizzy Gillespie concert when he was 12—he met Dizzy and was so inspired he decided to play jazz.

After learning electric bass, at 16 he began studying upright acoustic bass. He studied in The Netherlands at Maastricht Conservatory with the principal bass player from the
Concertgebouw Symphony Orchestra. He spent nearly four years there, playing in and later co-leading the jazz-rock-fusion band Time Design, which recorded three albums and built a strong regional following. He has performed throughout Europe—in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Hungary.

When Berklee College of Music awarded him a full scholarship, he moved to Boston and graduated with a degree in performance and Film scoring Magna Cum Laude in 2000. Lionel Hampton selected him as bassist for the Lionel Hampton Big Band, and he has performed with the Band since then. Fabian also received several invitations from the Thelonious Monk Institute to participate in their summer workshops. He was an Artist in Residence at the University of Massachusetts , and has studied with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Billy Taylor, Mike Longo among other Jazz greats.

He is currently very active in the New York jazz scene—recording, performing and teaching in New York throughout the year, and touring in the US and Europe. He performs with such jazz notables as The Mike Longo Big Band and The Lionel Hampton Big Band and has performed with Jimmy Owens, Gary Burton, Danny Gottlieb, Lewis Nash, Jason Marsalis, John La Porta, Elvin Jones, Cheryl Bentyne , Ed Thigpen, Makoto Ozone, Chaka Khan, Bob Mintzer, Charlie Mariano, Claudio Roditi, Rick Margitza and Jon Hendricks.

He performs regularly with several bands, and recently co-founded The Crane/Fabian Project featuring top musicians Frank Gambale, Scott Henderson, Mitch Forman, Alex Acuna, Steve Hunt, Eric Marienthal and Luis Conte among others. His compositions earned the Project two awards and three nominations with Hollywood Music in Media in 2008 and 2009 for Best Jazz Artist. In Japan he tours with world-famous ukelele player Herb Otha-san to sold-out houses. In 2010 the duo produced the Japanese hit CD “Stardust 4 Strings” on JVC.

Christian’s own band, the Fabian Zone Trio, has released six CDs since 2006: Across the Tracks, Curtain of Life, Of The Essence, The Masters Return!, Keys in Ascension and West Coast Session, featuring top musicians as special guests. On national airplay charts, the Fabian Zone Trio reached #1 on Music Choice, Top 10 on Jazz Radio for Canada and Top 20 on Jazz Week (national US radio chart) several times.

‘‘Fabian Zone Trio is not so much about me–it’s really an opportunity for great musicians to come together to try new things, stretch boundaries and create music that has never been made before. My goal is to create total freedom within the ‘Zone.’ Only by being totally open to the moment can you hope to make something innovative and special in Jazz.’’