Shahzad Ismaily

Shahzad Ismaily (born 20 June 1972 in Pennsylvania) is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly as a bass guitar player, and record producer. He is a member of Marc Ribot's trio Ceramic Dog since its formation in 2006. He also plays with Secret Chiefs 3 and Cosa Brava. He is of Pakistani origin. In 2009, he composed music for the documentary film William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe. In 2012, he played banjo and electric guitar while appearing in Ragnar Kjartansson's installation film The Visitors. He was invited to join the otherwise all Icelandic cast by then-partner Gyða Valtýsdóttir. In 2019, he released the album Dreams of Sleep and Wakes of Sound in collaboration with Laraaji and Merz. He is featured in the 2021 Bob Dylan concert film Shadow Kingdom: The Early Songs of Bob Dylan. His 2023 album Love in Exile, made in collaboration with Arooj Aftab and Vijay Iyer, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Jazz Album. He also contributed to Aftab's albums Vulture Prince and Night Reign, released in 2021 and 2024 respectively. As a producer, he worked with Jolie Holland on her 2008 album The Living and the Dead. He also produced one song from The Following Mountain by Sam Amidon. In 2022, he produced several songs from Cass McCombs's Heartmind album.