Hector Zazou | Artist
Hector Zazou was a French composer and record producer born 1948 in French Algeria. Zazou produced and collaborated with an international array of recording artists and is regarded as one of the more successful practitioners of cross-cultural music, incorporating modern techniques and sounds in re-recordings of traditional material. He first came to international attention as part of the ZNR duo with Joseph Racaille, where both played electric keyboards. Their 1976 debut album Barricade 3 was notable for its "strong Satie influence, stripped to minimal essentials, everything counts". His groundbreaking 1983 album Noir et blanc, recorded with Congolese singer Bony Bikaye, garnered a lot of international attention, and is widely recognized as one of the earliest experiments in fusing African and electronic music. Other long-time collaborators include trumpeter Mark Isham; guitarist Lone Kent; cellist and singer Caroline Lavelle; trumpeter Christian Lechevretel; clarinetist and flutist Renaud Pion; drummer Bill Rieflin; and Japanese recording artist Ryuichi Sakamoto. His discography of 21 studio albums demonstrates an affinity for cross-cultural collaborations. Standout releases include Noir et blanc (1983), Sahara Blue (1992), Chansons des mers froides (1994), Lights in the Dark (1998), and In the House of Mirrors (2008). Also noteworthy is Electric Bodies (2008) a live performance with Katie Jane Garside from Queenadreena. Musically, Zazou was influenced by Peter Gabriel's album Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ with its fusion of musical polarities (traditional and modern, electronic and acoustic) on many of his own works, which over time also adopted modern classical influences. On his 1986 album, Reivax au Bongo, he experimented with fusing classical vocals with an electronic backdrop, and on 1989's Géologies he combined electronic music with a string quartet. His albums released from the 1990s onwards are usually concept albums that draw from literary or folk sources with contributions from a diverse and global range of pop, folk, world music, avant-garde, and classical recording acts. The last project he worked on was an album entitled In the House of Mirrors, in which he offered a new take on classical Asian music, subtly reprocessed with a nod to the music produced in the 1970s by Terry Riley and Fripp & Eno. The album was recorded in Mumbai with the collaboration of four outstanding instrumentalists from India and Uzbekistan, as well as guests such as Diego Amador and Nils Petter Molvær. This album came out only a few weeks after Zazou's death in September 2008.
Artist Website : wikipedia/Hector_Zazou
Featured Albums: Hector Zazou
Related Artists: Bony Bikaye, Katie Jane Garside, Harold Budd
