Zap Mama

Urban Etnic Musicfrom Brussels. When you first hear that, it sounds something of a contradiction, but since Marie Daulne gathered a number of slightly eccentric friends around her in 1990, nobody finds it strange any more. And there are reasons for that. Since then, Zap Mama has toured Europe, Africa and the United States, and everywhere they have gone, the audience has fallen for the eclectic mixture of styles somewhere between soul, gospel, pygmy song and Afro-Cuban rhythms. With the help of gestures and an inexhaustibte imagination, the five acrobatic female voices take the audience on a wondrous world joumey, pausing for a moment to visit a Congolese souk, and then a few moments later, soaring on a flying carpet above the Taj Mahal. The colourfully attired ladies sprinkle the whole performance with a substantial dose of joie de vivre and a disarrning sense of humour. Both Sting and Peter Gabriel were deeply impressed when Zap brought out a first, untitled CD in 1991. Both wanted to sign them for their own label, but finally Talking Head David Byrne won that competition, and the record was released in a slightly modified version (with the hit single "Brrrlak!") on Luaka Bop. During the following two years, the CD was released in more than twenty countries, and from Australia to Canada, there was talk of a revelation. The consequences were soon felt. The BBC filmed a documentary about the group, and the United States willingly succurnbed. When Billboard published the list of best-seiling World CDs at the end of 1993, Zap Mama was right there at the top. That brilliant success was consolidated with consummate ease a year later with Sabsylma, a refreshing disc that sounds even more universal, more symbiotic, and immediately received a Grammy nomination. By now, Zap had a few other Mamas in it´s line-up, and slowly it became Clear to everyone that Marie Daulne was emerging as the only genuine figurehead within the group. She made guest appearances on discs by the Wizards of Ooze and Brazilian singer Maria Bethania, and then did some vocals on Spearhead's Choclate Supahighway. Returning the compliment singer Michael Franti worked on "7", the third Zap Mama disc, where the group name became synonyrnous with Marie Daulne. She was the only rnember of the original line-up, and posed alone for the cover photo. The human voice still played an important role on 7, but things had changed quite a lot. Thanks to the introduction of keyboards, guitar, bass and percussion, the numbers suddenly sounded decidedly funky, and by incorporating elements such as rap and hip hop into her sound, Zap Mama had revealed itself more than ever as a versatile, authentic pop band. In this way, Zap Mama has been able to reach a different even wider audience, as they proved when the joyous band went on tour to Africa in the autumn of '98. And now for the new alburn A Ma Zone which is, in turns, joyful, melancholic and exuberant with Marie pulling off an amazing balancing trick, treading a fine line between the soul of the past and the technology of the future. The title A Ma Zone is much rnore than a play on words, because the meanings Marie attributes to it offer a perfect summary of what the songs are about. "Naturally an Amazon is a rebel, a fighter who, once she has set her heart on something, pulls out all the stops to achieve her goal. I feel this way as well when I´m standing on the stage with the group.- as a team we share the same aim of winning over the audience with our music. Above all, A Ma Zone ("In My Zone"), means that I feel at ease wherever I am. I´m a nomad. I´m meeting new people all the time and sealing these friendships with tunes". On A Ma Zone, Marie's tradition of working with guest musicians is continued, with Manu Dibango (Allo Allo), The Roots (Rafiki, Songe) and Speech from Arrested Development (M´Toto), who have all made remarkable contributions.