ZAO

The band released its debut on Richard Pinha's startup Disjuncta label in 1973 and delivered a mix of Magma influenced zeuhl with a lighter breezier blend of jazz fusion more like The Weather Report. The band followed with its second album OSIRIS which surprisingly sold well but ended up out of print soon enough due to the Disjuncta label quickly going out of business. Between the debut release "Z=7L" and OSIRIS, there was a substantial lineup change, a trait that would dominate the band's existence throughout the 1970s. At this stage vocalist Mauricia Platon left the band and was not replaced by another vocalist but rather the vocal duties were picked up by Seffer and bassist Joel "DUD" Dugrenot.

While the rest of the band remained stable the addition of two extra percussionists added a bit more variation in the drumming department. Despite the changes, the second album sort of continues where the debut left off with a lighter delivery of jazz fusion mixed with occasional zeuhl elements most notably in the bass grooves, percussive hypnotism and occasional vocals reminiscing the days of Magma's earliest albums however the band was far from as adventurous or outrageous as the first two Magma albums and rather played it safe with an easier listening watered down version often sounding more like some of Soft Machines post "Third" releases rather than anything out of the zeuhl playbook.

While the bubbling bass thumping maintains a zeuhl flavor to the mix, the incessant saxophone solos and busy tribal drumming take this into a world of its own making which unfortunately doesn't come off nearly as original as what Magma was cranking out at the same time or even what the band presented on its debut album. With five tracks that feature two lengthy eight minute plus extravaganzas, the emphasis is on jazz improvisations rather than the hypnotic zeuhl effect that features vocal workouts and repetitive variations. The album comes off as a bit uneven because it can't decide if it wants to retain its zeuhl inspired origins or completely abandon them altogether for a dip into the English Canterbury Scene.

ZAO was never known as one of the exciting bands to fall off the Magma tree and although i found the debut had an interesting charm in how it was the first band to reinvent the world of zeuhl into something that would catch on with other acts to follow, this second offering that was the first to slowly shed the zeuhl influences and steer the band into a completely zeuhl-free form of jazz fusion just isn't as interesting and in many ways sounds rather generic when compared to other similar fusion bands that were around at the same time. A nice pleasant listening experience for sure but in the end not something that beckons return visits and considering it still features just enough zeuhl characteristics to squeak into that category, sounds a bit disappointing if you're expecting a greater emphasis on those attributes.

Nearly two decades on, their sound hasn't changed much other than being a little cleaner which you'd expect of production quality in the 90s vs the 70s, although the influence of Zeuhl has reduced somewhat and it is closer to 'standard' jazz rock than previous Zao albums. The heavy bassline is still a continuous feature though alongside some 'darker' passages.

Elioth begins with a quite beautiful Jazz intro, while Thebes is notable for the interplay between saxophone and violin. Baityare is quite heavy on violin and doesn't have much Zeuhl influence at all, but Cobra is a little more early-Magma- esque. Yzzo is a faster paced rack, bringing out the best of Truong's drumming and the bass work, probably the best track on the album. Sable continues the fast pace, but at this point you start to notice the pattern of each track: building a melody, then everyone having a solo passage, then on to the next track - doesn't mean they're bad songs, just that you can almost sense what's coming before it happens. The album does end though with the calm (just Seffer & Cahen duetting) piece, Des fleurs pour Nefertiti, which is slow and melodic and in stark contrast for most of the album before it.

On balance, I've given every Zao album of the 70s three stars, and I'm doing exactly the same here.

It feels a little bit "safe" and so probably doesn't either wow or offend fans of Zeuhl and/or Jazz. But the highlight is definitely the opener 'Merci Jacky'. The 12 minute title track is slow and atmospheric and to be honest I found it a bit boring. They probably knew some people would think that as Troupeau De Bisons Sous Un Crane is a short happy clappy bit of classic funky jazz music. Binah is back to more atmospheric, a nice track but little more than that, and Les Temps Changent is a synth heavy lounge track.

It was encouraging after the first track, then I got a bit bored and it never quite picked up again. A shame for a group that to me delivered a few great tracks but surrounded by filler.

The opener Natura is my favourite Zao track - tightly constructed jazz rock with dark undertones and a slight nod to Zeuhl, great interplay between Seffer and Lockwood. That interplay increases tenfold on the next track Tserouf, which is at a faster pace, starting with a funk theme but breaking into quick and tight jazz improvisation.

F.F.F. is a drum-free break, sounding a little extra-terrestrial to begin with thanks to Cahen's dark piano chords, added to by violin. A really nice change of pace after the previous two tracks but we then return to the tight jazz fusion theme, but definitely without getting 'samey'; Kabal including some good synth work backed up by the usual sax & violin.

Sadie is a looser, slower track built to showcase the saxophone - potentially a sign of Seffer's desire to go solo.

Free Folk opens up with a strange choir chorus that's almost Zeuhl but not quite. Its a fairly relaxed track for the first half before a gradual pick up of pace almost to chaotic levels with heavy bass and drumming before returning to the choral vocals. Lockwood's violin half way through is excellent, and this is also the first time we really hear the tight drumming of Truong who has been surprisingly 'background noise' up to this point.

Just squeezes into 4 stars for me - one of a few Zao albums where I'd listen repeatedly all the way through, but marks off for not showcasing Truong's drumming better, and sometimes the jarring saxophone gets a bit much

Joyl - a jazz groove, very good but not Zeuhl Yen-lang - Atmospheric, has a minimalist Zeuhl feel to start before a pulsating but slow second half driven by the bass and string quartet Zohar - Sudden change of gear with everyone at full tilt. Truong's brilliant drumming is at the fore. The string quartet then take over on their own for a dramatic tension builder. Then its the turn of the percussion and keys, with Truong back jamming away. Metatron - Again really impressive from Truong, some Zeuhl-ish vocals thrown in, and a great fast paced track Zita - Suddenly calm and peaceful again. A soprano voice, strings and keys. Bakus - Quite an avant-jazz track, but more brilliance from Truong.

The drumming is 4 stars, as a Zeuhl album its 3, as a Zeuhl-related Jazz Fusion... 3.5.

Like the debut album, Osiris is linked to the early jazzy Zeuhl style of Kobaia/1000 Centigrades rather than the later 'dark' Zeuhl of MDK which followed Seffer/Cahen's departure.

The opening track Shardaz is perhaps the most Zeuhl, scatty wordless vocals over a repetitive rhythm, but is also possibly the weakest. The group is at its best playing more 'developed' jazz arrangements such as Isis which builds slowly from a bass riff into a rolling jazz number, but without too much to recognise it as Zeuhl. Reinna is shorter and similar, but with a return of the vocals for a more Zeuhl-like track, and combining the best bits of Shardaz/Isis to create what is the best song for me. Yog - the most Zeuhl, and the most dramatic sounding track, I particularly like Truong's drumming here, and this is by far the next best. La Rhune unfortuantely goes back to the style of Shardaz, where nothing really develops and the album ends pretty weakly....

...BUT thankfully there's now a bonus track. Montreal is a really great live Jazz track with some Zeuhl elements, and its pretty much worth buying/listening to the album just for it. Guest female vocals, not sure who it is, but it complements the excellent saxophony from Seffer and some great percussion.

The album itself, 2.5 stars, but the bonus track lifts it to a solid 3-3.5.

Released in the same year as Magma's MDK, Zao's debut album represents the first genuine divergence of Zeuhl as a genre, with Magma going darker and Zao retaining the jazzier lighter style of the Magma debut Kobaia.

Mauricia Platon, who sadly doesn't appear on later albums, provides scatty Zeuhl-ish Jazz Opera lyrics in a much more playful style than Magma's often doom-laden later albums. Her range is excellent, as is the electric violin of Rigaud which also adds something a bit different but only lasts one more album.

I won't go through track by track as there's little to choose between them. But as an entry point into Zeuhl this would be a pretty good one, embracing many jazz elements and even some early 70s funk (aided by the electric piano/violin). Despite her range though, having Platon has a sole vocalist does make things a little samey - it could perhaps do with a male equivalent to add some variety.

- François Cahen / Yamaha acoustic piano, Fender electric piano, Korg synthesizer - Didier Lockwood / acoustic & electric violin, artianal bass violin - Gérard Prévost / Fender bass, hors phase bass, acoustic bass - Yochk'o Seffer / Soprano & Sopranino saxes, vocals, piano on F.F.F. - Jean-My Truong / orange double drums

1. "Natura" (7:03) sounds so much like a modern Pat Metheny Group epic--but it pre-dates all that! Piano, chunky and jazzy bass, and nasal soprano (sopranino?) sax all sound good together. Jean-My is a little quiet. (9/10)

2. "Tserouf" (8:59) a very tight funky jazz fusion song that could have come off of any of the American masters of the era--Miles, Chick, Stanley, Zawinal, even JLPonty, Area or Bob James! Great song. Very melodic. (9.5/10)

3. "F.F.F. (Fleurs for Faton)" (2:34) very nice little musical étude performed by piano, acoustic violin and bowed double bass--like a gift from Débussy or Fauré. (9.5/10)

4. "Kabal" (4:14) very tightly performed, fast-paced opening before stepping down to a slower tempo at 0:50 for some synth work--but then things ramp up again with EVERYBODY getting into the act MAHAVISHNU style. The bass and drum work remain super tight and focused at the bottom throughout this display of virtuosity. (8.5/10)

5. "Sadie" (3:43) opens rather loosely, as if walking by a Jean-Luc Ponty-like street musician. The sopranino sax, bass, and electric violin melodies and harmonic support throughout this oft-shifting tempoed song are gorgeous. At 2:40 we are even treated to an overdubbed solo track for the violin. Nice. Creative, inventive song. (10/10)

6. "Free Folk" (10:44) there's a very relaxed vibe throughout this song--like a WEATHER REPORT song. As a matter of fact, there's very little here--or on this album--that harkens to Zeuhl music. Feels and sounds like the Zao crew has shaken loose from the Vander clutches and moved fully into the jazz fusion fold. Nicely done. Probably the weakest song on the album--almost anti-climactic fill--but still good. (8.5/10)

The question is: why is Jean-My Truong so sedate and/or mixed so low in the soundscape?

2. "Yen-Lang" (8:10) retains more of the band's Zeuhl foundations with its quiet start and slow build using a pulsing, bass-infused almost single chord (single key) melody line. Flute and strings are awesome on this one. (9/10)

3. "Zohar" (10:53) opens at breakneck speed with all band members laying it all on the line--though none more than drummer, Jean-My Truong. By the third minute the music transitions radically to an all-strings format. At 5:00 bass, drums, keys and percussion sneak back in while strings disappear. Cahen's experimentation with keyboard sound takes over for a bit. Though the band is tight in their occasional ensembleness, the song lacks cohesion and overall feels a bit more like a experiment in experimentalism. (8/10)

4. "Metatron" (8:17) opens with Zeuhlish voices and sax and bass before taking off on a run through a series of challenging sections of disciplined precision-timed chord sequences. At two minutes, driving bass and drum race us along while keys, horns and voices move at a deliberately contrasting snail's pace. Things finally shift around the frenetically paced drums as bass and keys open the way for some sax and keyboard solos. Very reminiscent of both Weather Report and even Brand X. Impressive song. Impressive drummer! (9/10)

5. "Zita" (4:38) opens quietly with strings and electric piano weaving into a little soundtrack chamber music exercise with a kind of sound similar to Eberhard Weber or Vangelis. The presence of the lone soprano voice slightly in the background is a cool effect. Beautiful and peaceful. (9.5/10)

6. "Bakus" (5:13) is just weirdness--though keys, bass and drums really put their Zeuhl chops on full display here. Really it's just Seffert's vocals--sounding more like the fore-runner of those from 21st Century Japanese bands Koenji Hyakkei or OOIOO. Solid song. (8/10)

Though Seffers, Cahen, Prévost and the rest of the band continue to move farther away from their Magma roots, and more into that of the Jazz-Rock/Fusion sub-genre, this is still an album I'd classify as 'Zeuhl'--unlike their next one, Kawana, which is pure jazz fusion (despite the addition of violinist Didier Lockwood). There's something I like so much about this album. Kind of like the way I feel about AREA's Arbeit Macht Frei versus the more polished and virtuosic follow up, Crac!

4.5 stars.

If you are familiar with any Magma album, then you will instantly recognize that this was spawned from the greater Magma universe for there is nothing quite like the zeuhl style of avant-prog that only Kobaians from that far away world could create. The similarities are quite striking with the stunning operatic diva duties of Mauricia Platon in the spotlight and the jazz-fusion meets avant-prog virtuosity of the accompanying musicians, but what is even more striking are the differences from any given Magma album. While the intent was to create more of what came before from the first two Magma albums, the truth is more that ZAO engaged in a convergent evolution with Magma advancing similar ideas but with radically different approaches. While Z=7L may sound like the sister release of "MDK" simply because of the dominance of a dramatic diva with the spaced out musical fury of the frenetic zeuhl instrumentation, the fact is that this variety of zeuhl sounds more Earth-bound than the otherworldly visions of Christian Vander's Kobaian odyssey.

Love her voice or not, one can only admit that Mauricia Platon has an absolutely phenomenal vocal ability. She sounds kinda like a space age Ella Fitzgerald meets Cecilia Bartoli for her ability to perform operatic scat vocals with a sense of über-control that is only comparable to the prodigious vocal command of Yma Sumac which is nothing short of amazing. Her ability to wail up and down the scales weaving her magic around the exceptional instrumental section is the magic of this release. While Magma leads the listener more into the realms of rock opera, ZAO delivers more of a jazzy fusionist's paradise that revels in bombarding one with unexpected time signatures and tempo changes and more of a feel like a Kobaian Flora Purim gone wild with an air of early Return To Forever Chick Corea type keyboards alongside with Mahavishnu Orchestra electric violin runs. And of course i can't forget to mention the beautifully woven in sax and clarinet parts all punctuated by the intensely precise percussive talents of Jean-My Truong who quite possibly matches if not exceeds Vander's abilities.

While Magma themselves are hardly a household name around the world finding itself in the more esoteric parts of the prog universe, ZAO is even less known. In fact very little info can be found about this band at all and it remains obscure even within the niche market in which it resides. I have to admit that i came to my first taste of ZAO long after my familiarity with virtually the entire Magma canon and found this to be a little jarring upon first listen simply because it takes many of the Magma-isms and incorporates them into its musical structures but after a few spins the original aspects started jumping out at me and successfully differentiated themselves from that other better known zeuhl creation. I find Z=7L to be an excellent example of a splinter group taking the parts they contributed to their previous band and recontextualizing them within a new paradigm and ZAO pulls it off with flying colors. True it is most likely a grower for most because for the entire run of this album it sounds something like a classic 40s vocal jazz diva crossed with the neo-noir alien diva heard in the movie Dark City, so basically i find this to sound like nothing else even within the tiny niche of zeuhl. The musicianship is nothing short of outstanding and once the listener calibrates his or her ears to the vocal shrillness and eclectic musical developments, it actually becomes quite intoxicating.