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HECTOR ZAZOU
"If music cannot change the world, what use does it have?"
This is the question raised by Hector Zazou, one of the most innovative and unpredictable French composers, as the versatility of his career demonstrates: rock music (the band Barricades), French impressionist music (the duet ZNR) or traditional African music (three albums with Bony Bikaye)... Hector Zazou has a surprise waiting with each new composition. Whether it be for string quartet, wind instruments, classical voices or synthesizers, all illustrate his passion for the most unexpected inventions.
The album "Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses" (1991- is yet another successful experiment blending century-old a-cappella songs with shades of contemporary music performed by Zazou and occasional collaborators such as Jon Hassell, Manu Di Bango, Richard Horowitz, Ryuichi Sakamoto and John Cale. The following year Hector's "Sahara Blue" was released: the album, based on the work of the French poet Arthur Rimbaud and performed by the Sahara Blue Orchestra stars David Sylvian, Bill Laswell, Khaled, Dead Can Dance, Gerard Depardieu among other guests. Inspired by the musical folk traditions of the Northern Hemisphere, Hector's next adventure was "Songs From The Cold Seas" (1995), a literal journey through Siberian Shamanism, Scandinavian folk songs, Japanese ballads and Greenland mythology featuring an impressive cast of musicians including Värttina, Tokiko Kako, Suzanne Vega, Björk, Siouxsie and Jane Siberry. Released in 1998, "Lights In The Dark" – an exploration of ancient sacred Celtic music from the XIIth century featured some of the most beautiful Irish voices (Katie Mc Mahon, Breda Mayock and Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola), a gospel choir and guest appearances by Mark Isham, Carlos Nuñez, Caroline Lavelle or Peter Gabriel. A successful tour followed in France (Printemps de Bourges), Italy and Switzerland (Montreux Jazz Festival). Recorded with American singer Sandy Dillon, "Las Vegas Is Cursed" (2001) saw the return of Hector Zazou to electricity and experimentation (A flabbergasting baroque opera, a series of intriguing sonic scenes mixing electronic rock and altered chamber music (Keyboards Magazine).
This amazingly rich and eclectic career brings to light the pioneering aspect of Zazou's unique approach and confirms his position in the foreground of the world music scene.
In 2003 Hector Zazou composed an original soundtrack for Carl-Théodor Dreyer’s “la Passion de Jeanne d’Arc” while his new album “Strong Currents” was released, a collection of acoustic songs that was the fruit of several years of work (with Jane Birkin, Lisa Germano, Laurie Anderson…). Spring 2004 saw the release of “L’Absence”; an electronic twin of “Strong Currents”. He was then commissionned (by cine-mix and Le Forum Des images in Paris) to compose another original soundtrack, this time for Robert Flaherty documentary “Nanouk Of The North”.
Hector Zazou has proven himself as a creative force behind several unsual projects, as a unique musical arranger and producer called upon for his constant capacity of innovation. He has been commissionned to write pieces for strings ensembles (By the Balanescu Quartet), contemporary dance performances or for the opening night festivities of the 1998 football world cup.
Hector Zazou’s inventiveness as a producer has lead him to work with numerous artists among them Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo (Real World Records), Galician bagpipes player Carlos Nuñez, Uzbek singer Sevara Nazarkhan (Yol Bolsin, Real World Records) , Italian band PGR (“Per Grazia Ricevuta”, released by Universal, was hailed as a masterpiece by the Italian press) and among others.
His most recent project, a CD/ DVD titled Quadri [+] Chromies, result of a two years collaboration with French digital painter Bernard Caillaud is scheduled for release in November 2005.
REVIEWS
DISCOGRAPHY
Albums
ZNR (Zazou/ Racaille) : Barricades 3 - RCA 1976
ZNR (Zazou/ Racaille) Traite De Mecanique Populaire - Invisible 1978
Geographies - Crammed 1982
Zazou/ Bikaye – Noir & Blanc – Crammed 1982
Reivax au Bongo (with Ray Lema, Bony Bikaye, Kanda Bongo...) - Crammed 1984
Zazou/ Bikaye Mr Manager - Crammed 1985
Zazou/ Bikaye Guilty - Crammed 1987Geologies - Crammed 1988
Hector Zazou 1977- 1990 - Tonk 1990
Hector Zazou & Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses – Polygram 1991
Sahara Blue (with Gerard Depardieu, David Sylvian, Khaled...) - Crammed/ Sony 1992
Chansons Des Mers Froides (with Suzanne Vega, Bjork, John Cale...) - Sony 1995
Hector Zazou & Harold Budd – Glyph – Crammed 1995
Hector Zazou & Barbra Gogan - Made On Earth - Crammed 1997
Lights In The Dark (with Katie MacMahon, Breda Mayock, Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola)– Erato/Warner 1998
12 (Las Vegas Is Cursed) with Sandy Dillon – Crammed Discs (2001)
Strongs Currents – digipack French edition - Taktic Music/ Telescopic 2003
Sonora Portraits #2 Strong Currents - CD/ Book (96 pages) edition - Taktic Music/ Materiali Sonori 2003
L'Absence - Taktic Music/ East West/Warner & Audioglobe (Italy, Greece) 2004
Productions
Sainkho, "Out Of Tuva" - Crammed 1994 (2 tracks)
Penta Leslie Swanson, "Sorrow And Solitude" - Erdenklang 1994
Wolfram Huschke, "Alien's Diary" - BMG Classics 1998
Mimi Goese, "Soak" - Luaka Bop/Warner Brothers 1998 (5 tracks)
Yungchen Lhamo "Coming Home" - Real World Records 1999
Carlos Nunez "Os Amores Libros" – BMG 1999 (1 track)
Anne Grete Preux "Alfabet" – Warner Norway 2001 (2 tracks)
PGR "PGR" – Universal Italy 2002
Sevara Nazarkhan – "Yol Bolsin" – Real World Records 2003
Remixes
Hoover, "Inhaler" - Sony 1996
Films
Campo Dourado by Gregory Rood - 1996
Le Grand Challenge - Video from Cindy Crawford - TF1 Video
Enquete Sur Le Monde Invisible by Jean-Michel Roux - 2003
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