Colorado-based Zilla is an instrumental rock group with a heavy emphasis on improvisation featuring Michael Travis of the String Cheese Incident (drums, percussion, keyboards, mallet Kat); Jamie Janover (hammered dulcimer, mini-kit, percussion, sampler, electric kalimba, sitar), who formerly played with Travis in the band Zuvuya; and Aaron Holstein (guitar, bass, sampler, keyboards), former guitarist with Boogie Shoes and Vibe Squad. (When it was founded, the band also included keyboardist Steve Vidaic, whose commitment to Citizen Cope caused him to leave Zilla in May 2005.) In 2003, Zilla began self-releasing a series of live albums with the first volume of the Crop Circle Brain Factory series. The second volume followed in January 2004; the third on May 11, 2004; and the fourth on November 20, 2004. The band's next album, Zilla, was released February 23, 2005. Egg appeared on August 1, 2005. On November 2, 2005, Zilla embarked on a six-week national tour. On February 13 and 14, 2006, the band went into the studio and improvised for over 16 hours, later culling the performances down to the double-CD set all iZ, their first studio album, released by the String Cheese Incident's record label, SCI Fidelity, on September 5, 2006. ~ William Ruhlmann