Zach received his M.A. in musicology from the University of Oregon (2007) and his B.M. in bass performance from NYU (2003). His research explores the embodied cognition of musical timbre through a synthesis of empirical and humanistic perspectives. Drawing on neurophysiology, psychoacoustics, musical phenomenology, and cultural theory, his work seeks to account for the role of timbre in the creation of musical meaning, aesthetic judgment, and empathy, particularly in the context of post-WWII popular music and jazz. Zach has published his work in edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals, including Sounding the Body (Duke UP, forthcoming), The Dutch Journal for Music Theory, and Ethnomusicology Review. He is a contributing writer to The Oxford History of Western Music, College Edition (OUP). He has presented his work at AMS-New Orleans (2012), The University of Hong Kong, Brown University, MLA-Midwest, AMS-Pacific Southwest, CUNY, the Dutch Society of Music Theory (Groningen, The Netherlands), University of Oregon, and SEM-Northwest.

Zach is currently engaged as co-PI in a collaborative brain research project with neuroscientist Marco Iacoboni. Using fMRI, the project investigates the role of motor embodiment via the mirror neuron system in the experience of music-mediated empathy.

In his free time, Zach is active as a music blogger and critic; in 2009, he co-founded The Taruskin Challenge with Mark Samples (U of Oregon). In additional to his musicological interests, he is a published composer, jazz bassist, and performer of the shakuhachi flute.