Tucker Zimmerman was born February 14, 1941, San Francisco California.

He studied violin from age 4 to age 7, playing a violin made by his grandfather, an immigrant from Bavaria in the late 19th century, who was both an architect and a violin maker.

At age 7 he was moved to Healdsburg (a rural town in Northern California) where he lived until the age of 17. He attended and graduated from both the grammar school and high school there. During this time he studied piano and trombone with private teachers. In 1956, through 1958 he was selected to play trombone in the California State High School Orchestra. Also in those same years he formed a 4-piece rock and roll band in which he sang and played piano (sax, bass and drums). This group played for local weddings and school dances.

In 1958 he returned to San Francisco and studied music for two years at San Francisco City College. Theory and history. He began composing at this time and studied privately with Robert Morton. He also played trombone in various jazz ensembles and big bands in the city. In 1959 He received an AA (Associate of Arts) degree from San Francisco City College.

From 1961 to 1966 he attended San Francisco State College (now University) where he studied theory and composition. He received at BA (Bachelor of Arts) in Music in 1964 and an MA (Master of Arts) in Theory and Composition in 1966. Private lessons in composition with Henry Onderdonk.

In 1965 he began writing songs (words and music) for his own voice with harmonica and guitar and to date has written over 800 such songs.

In 1966 he received a Fulbright Scholarship to study composition in Rome, Italy with Gofredo Petrassi. both privately and in master class at Santa Cecilia Academy. In 1967 the scholarship was renewed for a second year. During this time he began to perform his solo songs in various folkclubs in Rome.

In 1968 he left the academic world and moved to London where he began to seriously pursue his songwriting and singing. He lived in England for two years, first in London and then in Oxford, playing gigs under assumed names, posing as a Canadian, since he was not granted a work permit. He also worked in various recording studios as an arranger and musician. In 1969 he recorded his first album TEN SONGS BY TUCKER ZIMMERMAN produced by Tony Visconti for Regal Zonophone Records, EMI.

In 1970 he returned to the continent and began living in Belgium where he lives to the present day. From 1970 to 1984 he played hundreds of solo concerts all over Europe, especially in Belgium, Switzerland and Germany, where he is still regarded as a “song poet.” During this period he also he continued to write songs and recorded 5 more LPs

TUCKER ZIMMERMAN (the self-titled “BLACK” album) on Autogram, Germany, 1971,

OVER HERE IN EUROPE on Spalax, Paris, France, 1974,

FOOT TAP on Musikiste, Germany, 1977, reissued on Zytglogge, Bern, Switzerland in 1978,

SQUARE DANCE on Musikiste, Germany, 1980,

WORD GAMES on Musikiste, Germany, 1983.

In 1984 he stopped touring as a solo performer and only rarely appeared in public for single concerts. He also stopped writing songs.His creative output from then until present is divided into two media : musical composition and writing of fiction.

Compositions from the time he left Rome to the present day include 25 scores for films, over 20 pieces of studio engineered synthesizer work, and several large scale composition for choir, orchestra, chamber ensembles and solo piano. His most recent composition is Onze Septembre – a memorial to those who lost their lives in the September 11th tragedy..

His writing includes ten novels and two collections of poetry.

In 1996 he allowed himself to persuaded by his good friend, Didier Bourguinon, to start performing again. A short trial with a traditional blues band proved to be a failure, but he soon reformed the group, renamed it Tucker Zimmerman’s Nighshift and with only original material began playing concerts again. His Nighshift operates both as a quartet (12-string guitar, harmonica/banjo, bass and drums) and as a trio (same as the quartet without drums).

The most recent recording of his songs is TUCKER ZIMMERMAN’S NIGHTSHIFT TRIO: WALKING ON THE EDGE OF THE BLUES to be released on Parsifal Records in Jan. 2003. He also appears on BANJOMAN, a tribute to Derroll Adams on Blue Groove records.

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