Ptitza Zu (Птица Зу or Zu-Bird) is a Russian musical ensemble that moves floatingly in a playful space between rock, funk, jazz and pop.

Ptitza Zu was born in the smallish town of Pervouralsk in the Ural mountains in Russia. Here it's musical egg hatched and in the end of the 80's and early 90's, where Russia was still uncharted territory and Western rock groups weren't known to the common man, the group explored and played music with notes from psychedelic rock mixed with "manchesterish", absorbing influences from traditional hip-hop (Beastie Boys) to bands like Nirvana, Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and The Cure. The one album they released back then truly was a soundtrack of a generation and Russian teen-agers in rebellion.

Later the music changed and went back to a more jazzy influence, which came from front man and founder Yuri Tzaler's upbringing. He and his cousin Stanislav, the drummer of Ptitza Zu, were brought up with jazz, Yuris' father being a distinguished jazz-man with his own ensemble.

Ptitza Zu's flight was ended later in the 90's, when the bass player Lozhnikov died, and the band members followed each their path. Yuri went to the capital Moscow and began to play with the famous rockapops act Mumiy Troll, where his influence can be heard clearly, while Stanislav played with several groups and lately with the rock act Oleg Chubykin.

But the Zu-Bird wouldn't quite leave Yuri alone. In 2006 he released an album with 15 of the band's song, and since then Ptitza Zu has slowly but stubbornly demanded a come-back, and now Yuri, his brother Oleg and Roman Yaremchuk are ready to present the new generation of Ptitza Zu in the shape of versatile music - some of it fitted for soundtracks or smoky jazz-clubs, some for rock venues and screaming crowds.

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