Zao - Shekina (1975)France, Jazz-Rock,Fusion Full Album

Zao biography ZAO was founded at the beginning of the seventies by Yochk'o "Jeff" Seffer (saxophone, clarinet) and François "Faton" Cahen (pianos), both ex-members of MAGMA's first era, that includes "Kobaïa" (1970), "1001 ° centigrades" (1971) and "Uniweria Zekt-the Unnamables" (1972). If one regard MAGMA as the central trunk of the Zeuhl tree, ZAO would be equivalent to an early side branch very close to the stock. ZAO's music, at least at the beginning of their career, is therefore an extension of MAGMA's first era, with a light music, at times weird, with hints of jazz, contemporaneous music, Hungarian folk (Yochk'o is a native of Hungary) and obviously of Zeuhl. Nothing in common with the absolute incantatory power of "MDK" and "Kohntarkhosz" to which Yochk'o Seffer and François Cahen didn't want to contribute. In the first album, "Z = 7L" (1973), the very complex melodic instrumental layers are enriched with the wonderful voice of Mauricia Platon (with its kobaïan accents), but unfortunately she was missing on the follow-up "Osiris" released in 1975. ZAO will break from its Zeuhl roots and the music will lean towards some jazz-rock fusion more and more debatable and debated. "Shekina" (1975) augmented by the presence of a string quartet and "Kawana" (1976) remain respectable albums of the French jazz-rock fusion scene but "Typhareth" (1976) recorded just after Yochk'o Seffer left the band is of little interest. ZAO will then split but the members will gather anew in 1994 with the release of "Akhenaton" (once more jazz-fusion inflected), the album that saw the band reform but without any follow-up. It seems that the band planned to reform this year (2004) with the return of Yochk'o Seffer. To be continued ? Moreover, we can note that ZAO's bassist, Joël Dugrenot, will join for a short while the French symphonic progressive band CLEARLIGHT. Among the solo albums, let's consider Yochk'o Seffer's "Ghilgoul" (1979), strange atmospheres, dissonant music and the presence of Zeuhl in some tracks. Tracklist: 1. Joyl (F.Cahen) - 00:00 2. Yen-Lang (Y.Seffer) - 04:03 3. Zohar (Y.Seffer) - 12:13 4. Metatron (Y.Seffer) - 23:06 5. Zita (F.Cahen) - 31:26 6. Bakus (Y.Seffer) - 36:01 Personnel: - Yochk'o Seffer - saxes, clarinets, vocals - François "Faton" Cahen - keyboards - Gérard Prévost - bass - Jean-My Truong - drums - Pierre "Ty Boum" Guignon - percussion - Michèle Margand - violin - Marie-Françoise Viaud - violin - Françoise Douchet - viola - Claudine Lassere - cello