A Ma Zone
Zap Mama
The Roots, Speech, Manu Dibango
Engineer: Dan Lacksman
Luaka Bop, 2006
1 CD
Catalogue #: 90037
EAN: 0680899003728
UPC: 680899003728
You save: 25%
Personnel: Manu Dibango (vocals, saxophone); Marie Daulne (vocals, keyboards); Jean Louis Daulne (vocals, gimbri, percussion); Scratch (vocals, scratches); Tanya Saw, Franciose Vidick, Nana Akumu Wakudu, Aningi Bernadette, Anita Daulne, Manou G. Yvette, Hesia, Sabine Habongo, The Roots, Speech, This Kid Named Miles (vocals); Dizzy Mandjeku (guitar); Bilou Doneux (gimbri, percussion); Jean-Pierre Catoul, Carole Duteille (violin); Edouard Thiese (viola); Pierre Michaud (cello); Hans Francken (Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Jan De Ryck, Anthony Tidd, Patrick Nuisser (keyboards); Manou N'Guessan Gallo, Nicholas Thys (bass); Ahmir Thompson, Stephane Galland (drums); DJ Grazhoppa (scratches).
Producers: Marie Daulne, Richard Nichols, Yannik Fonderie.
So strange, so funky, so millennial is the colorful creature called Zap Mama. The hip ladies of this vocal-based group have continued to expand on their once-spare accompaniment of the past, with all sorts of electronic bleeps and bloops, funky guitars and organs, and generous stretches of Saturday-night-on-the-drag bass lines. Postmodern a capella-world beat hip-hop, anyone? Here, urban grit and rural African dreamscapes churn together in a sonic texture that looks to the past and future in a single gaze.
Direct from Planet Polyglot, the lyrics are sung seamlessly in English, French and African dialects, taking these tunes to places cosmopolitan and beyond. The slow-burning "Rafiki" features guest raps by the Roots, Fender-Rhodes piano snatches, and a wild melody sung through a flute. "Call Waiting" features Marie Daulne's haunting voice set to light drum-and-bass and the brisk, striking sound of pizzicato violins and an acoustic bass. If the boys of Massive Attack were to grab some djembes and African folk records, hang out with Angelique Kidjo and smile (much) more, the result might sound something like this.
Tracklist
Zap Mama
Formed in the early 1990s by Marie Daulne, who was born in Zaire and raised in Europe, Zap Mama is a (mostly) a cappella group of female singers whose voices blend Christian choral music, Afropop, Pygmy vocalizations, and vocal percussion, and have inspired countless musicians. Zap Mama has sometimes worked with instrumentation, but the group's voices are equally vibrant and rich on their own.
Manu Dibango
Raised in Cameroon, torn between the divisive ethnic groups of his mother's and father's families, Manu Dibango was easily distracted from the traditions of his homeland. As a world traveler and alto saxophonist, he soaked up diverse influences, including funk, jazz, various African musical styles, and ultimately hip-hop and rap, and collaborated with a variety of global musicians.
