Zebra to play entire debut album at Westbury gig to mark 40th anniversary
Bassist Felix Hanemann, guitarist Randy Jackson and drummer Guy Gelso of Zebra perform during the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame ribbon-cutting event in Stony Brook on Nov. 22, 2022. Credit: Newsday / Steve Pfost
If you missed them last fall at The Paramount, you can catch Long Island Music Hall of Famers Zebra playing the entirety of the band's 1983 debut album at The Space at Westbury on April 15 as part of the trio's 40th anniversary tour. Opening for them is another Long Island stalwart, the Stanton Anderson Band.
Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster.com. Entry to a preshow meet-and-greet, which includes a signed poster, T-shirt, laminate, a photo using your phone or camera, and autographs on up to two brought items, are $109.72 including fees at TicketWeb.com. These do not include a ticket to the concert, which must be purchased separately at Ticketmaster.
Released by Atlantic Records on March 21, 1983, the album "Zebra" was certified gold by the music-industry trade group RIAA in May 1990, meaning at least a half-million copies sold. It was partly recorded at the now-gone Kingdom Sound Studios in Syosset, best known as a home of such Long Island legends as Blue Öyster Cult, The Good Rats and Joan Jett.
The eponymous album's nine songs run 39 minutes, and the band additionally will play what a news release calls fan-favorite Zebra songs as well as a smattering of Led Zeppelin classics.
Formed in New Orleans in the mid-1970s, the trio of singer-guitarist Randy Jackson, now of South Setauket, bassist-keyboardist Felix Hanemann, now of Wantagh, and Louisiana-based drummer Guy Gelso "is a band of legendary status in two 'hometown' areas (Louisiana and Long Island), but are woefully underappreciated in much of the remaining rock world," wrote Colin J. Hulin in the liner notes of the 1998 collection "The Best of Zebra In Black and White."
The band had relocated from its origin city almost from the start, Jackson explained in a March 2022 interview. A friend "had a connection to a club owner, Lee Feldman, in Long Island," Jackson, 68, said, "and we eventually got a gig on Long Island on Jan. 31, 1976, opening up for Rat Race Choir. After several months establishing ourselves, we were able to move to Long Island, and make enough money to stay if we wanted. We made many trips back to Louisiana to perform over the next few years, but our base of operations was certainly Long Island by that point."
Zebra became a staple of the Long Island club scene, performing at such legendary venues as Speaks in Island Park, Hammerheads in Levittown and West Islip, and The Mad Hatter in Stony Brook. The band was inducted into Long Island’s hall in 2012.
