Songs (click on the -icons for audio)
1. 'Allo 'Allo
2. Rafiki
3. Call Waiting
4. Songe
5. Yepe
6. W'Happy Mama
7. Gbo Mata (Station)
8. Kemake
9. M'Toto
10. Ya Solo
11. Comment ça va ?
12. My Own Zero

Produced by Marie Daulne (except rhythm production by Richard Nichols "The Roots").

Muzikanten :
- Marie Daulne (Vocals)
- Dizzy Mandjeku (guitars)
- Stephane Galland, Ahmir Thompson (drums)
- Manou N'Guessan Gallo, Leonard Hubbard, Nicholas Thys (bass)
- Hans Francken, Anthony Tidd, Jan De Ryck, Patcik Nuisser, Kamal James Gray ... (keyboards)
- Jean-Pierre Catoul, Carole Duteille, Pierre Michaud, Eduard Thiese (strings)
- Bilou Doneux (Percussion)
- Tanya Saw, Anita Daulne, Françoise Vidick, Nana Akumu Wakudu, Aningi Bernadette, Manou, Yvette, Kesia, Jean-Louis Daulne, Black Thought 's Tariq Trotter (additional voices, backings ..)
- Manu Dibango (vocals + Saxophone)
- Kyle Jones, DJ Grazzhoppa (scratches)

Graphic Design : E201, Photo's : Jurgen Rogiers

My opinion

Few other bands manage to re-invent themselves this well for every new album as does Marie Daulne's Zap Mama. The points in common between their first CD "Zap Mama" of 1991 and this "A Ma Zone" of 1999 are rare and few, apart from the musical inventivity or joy of life that every not breathes. Also there is still quite a bit of vocal juggling going on, but nowadays the basis of the song is almost invariably a beat and a bass.
More than ever Zap Mama is like a kind of sponge, that sucks in all kind of influences from the four corners of the globe, and that pours all these influences with a firm squeeze on the tape at the time of the recording sessions. On "A Ma Zone" (a wordplay that means both "amazon", like the female warriors (or the internet bookstore ?" or "à ma zone", in my zone) the dishes that are served range from drum'n'bass ("Songe"), hiphop ("Rafiki"), Björk ("Call Waiting"), French Rap (Comment ça va), Zulu-drums ("W'Happy Mama"), nursery rhymes ("Yepe Yepe" and "M'Toto"), African Soul ("My Own Zero"). Just as the CD's that preceded this one, it has a refreshing, invigorating and happy-making effect.
So this is a world record in more than 1 sense. No doubt in my mind about that.

Sent-in Opinions :

P. Morgan wrote : "Your review is right on the money. I bought this album without hearing a single track first because each of Zap Mama's recordings, though totally different from eachother, has knocked my socks off!
This one is no exception. I think that I will drive my neighbors crazy playing some of these songs over and over, such as Rafiki, M'Toto, and 'Allo 'Allo.
I recently saw the group perform live and their singing, movement, and on-stage energy drove the crowd wild, even though it was evident that many were expecting the a cappella music of Zap Mama's first two albums.
For any world music lovers out there, this album is a MUST have!"

And your opinion?
Did I get it all wrong, or was I spot-on ? Do you want to share your opinion about this cd ? Send it in, and I'll put it up here !

This Album in the Press

- PDW in Humo : "Sultry trip-dub, joyful Africana, horny drum'n'bass, soulful riddims, world-hop ... Daulne makes a gracious slalom between all the clichés that menace the genre of world music.".
- Weekend-Knack : "This cd is not only about technology (fax, gsm, videospelletjes) by it's themes, but also in a musical way it is definitely contemporary. The group goes even wider than on "7" where they were beginning to frolic with funk & hiphop. They did it with a condom on on that occasion, now they're doing it without it."
- Teek : "A Ma Zone again is a step forward".

Did you see a good (or bad) review of this album ? Tell me about it !

More about this group :

- De Zap-Mama bio in dit archief.
- Luaka Bop, de officiële site van de groep.
- Contact : management = Gary Richmond (GRichm@aol.com)

Where to buy this CD ?

You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched on April 29th, 1999, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).

Shop	Price of the CD	Shipping + other expenses	Total	Direct Link
Frontstage	688	50	736 fr.	Frontstage
Azur	767	0	767 fr.
HVH-Megastore		54
Proxis	644	95	739 fr.	Proxis

The lowest price is in yellow, the highest in red. This price comparison doesn't take things into account like deduction of shipping expenses when ordering more than 1 cd, bonus points, differences in guarantees ... Shipping prices are those for customers in Belgium.

Have you seen this record elsewhere on the net, do you own an online-CD-shop with Belgian products in it, or if there's something wrong with my calculations : let me know.

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