Malika Zarra
Encyclopedia
Malika Zarra is a Moroccan
-born, French
-raised singer, composer
, and music producer now based in New York City
known for singing in Moroccan Arabic
, Berber, French
, and English
. Her music has been on the JazzWeek Top 20 radio chart in world music
.
mother from the High Atlas
and a father from Tata
. Her family moved to Paris
when she was young, but remained culturally Moroccan in the home. In school, she studied clarinet
. She became interested in jazz because it was similar to Arabic traditional music in the core importance of improvisation. Eventually, she studied at the jazz conservatories at Tours
and Marseilles and studied privately with Sarah Lazarus and Françoise Galais. On the Paris scene, she appeared at venues including Festival L'esprit Jazz de St Germain, Sunside/Sunset, and Cité de la Musique
. She started to draw serious attention by singing jazz standard
s to her own Arabic translations.
Subsequently, she performed or recorded with John Zorn
, Makoto Ozone
, Tommy Campbell
, Will Calhoun
, Lonnie Plaxico
, Michael Cain
, Brad Jones
, Jacques Schwarz-Bart
, David Gilmore
, and Gretchen Parlato
, among others.
She moved to New York City
, eventually settling in Jersey City, in 2010, where she was signed on the Motéma Music
label.
She has appeared at Carnegie Hall
(opening for Bobby McFerrin
), the London Jazz Festival
, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Opera House Lincoln Center, the Apollo Theater
, the Festival du Monde Arabe, the Salzburg Jazz Festival, Festival Nuits d’Afrique Montreal, the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, Brooklyn Maqam Festival, Blue Note Jazz Club, The Jazz Standard, Joe's Pub
, Sob's
(opening for Sara Tavares
), Smoke Jazz Club, Brooklyn Academy of Music
, Chorus Jazz Club, Porgy & Bess Jazz Club, Domicil Jazz Club, WDR 3, and Klub Cankarjevega Doma.
, Gnawa music
, Chaabi, French popular music
, jazz
, house
, funk, dance
, and traditional African music. Specific personal influences include Hajja Hamdaouia, Rais Mohand, Farid el Atrache, Um Kalthoum, Warda Al-Jazairia
, Ella Fitzgerald
, Bobby McFerrin
, Thelonious Monk
, Stevie Wonder
, and Aretha Franklin
.
Her band includes Francis Jacob on acoustic
and electric guitar
s, Brahim Fribgane on oud
, cajón
, bendir
, tam tam, and darbuka, Michael Cain
on piano
, synthesizers, and Rhodes piano
, Mamadou Ba on bass, Harvey Wirht on percussion, and Jasser Haj Youssef
on viola
and violin
.
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
-born, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-raised singer, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, and music producer now based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
known for singing in Moroccan Arabic
Moroccan Arabic
Moroccan Arabic is the variety of Arabic spoken in the Arabic-speaking areas of Morocco. For official communications, the government and other public bodies use Modern Standard Arabic, as is the case in most Arabic-speaking countries. A mixture of French and Moroccan Arabic is used in business...
, Berber, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Her music has been on the JazzWeek Top 20 radio chart in world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
.
Biography
Zarra was born in Ouled Teima, the eldest of five children to a BerberBerber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
mother from the High Atlas
High Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas Mountains is a mountain range in central Morocco in Northern Africa.The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly...
and a father from Tata
Tata, Morocco
Tata is a town in Morocco with a population of around 15,192.It is situated on the Sahara plain, southeast of Agadir and Taroudannt, close to the Algerian border and the mountain range Anti Atlas at the foot of Jebel Bani....
. Her family moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
when she was young, but remained culturally Moroccan in the home. In school, she studied clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
. She became interested in jazz because it was similar to Arabic traditional music in the core importance of improvisation. Eventually, she studied at the jazz conservatories at Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
and Marseilles and studied privately with Sarah Lazarus and Françoise Galais. On the Paris scene, she appeared at venues including Festival L'esprit Jazz de St Germain, Sunside/Sunset, and Cité de la Musique
Cité de la Musique
The Cité de la Musique is a group of institutions dedicated to music and situated in the La Villette quarter, 19th arrondissement, Paris, France. It was designed by the architect Christian de Portzamparc and opened in 1995...
. She started to draw serious attention by singing jazz standard
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
s to her own Arabic translations.
Subsequently, she performed or recorded with John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
, Makoto Ozone
Makoto Ozone
is a Japanese jazz pianist.He began playing organ at two and by seven was an improviser. He appeared on Japanese television with his father from 1968 to 1970. At twelve he switched to piano after being impressed by albums by Oscar Peterson. In 1980 he entered the Berklee College of Music and later...
, Tommy Campbell
Tommy Campbell
Thomas 'Tommy' Campbell is a Scottish former footballer who played as striker for a number of Scottish clubs.-Career:...
, Will Calhoun
Will Calhoun
Will Calhoun is an American drummer, who graduated with honors from Berklee College of Music.-Career:...
, Lonnie Plaxico
Lonnie Plaxico
Lonnie Plaxico is an African American jazz bassist.Plaxico was born in Chicago, Illinois into a musical family, and started playing the bass at the age of twelve, turning professional at fourteen...
, Michael Cain
Michael Cain
Michael Cain is a pianist and composer.- Biography :Michael Cain first started playing the piano at the age of four and was quickly improvising and composing...
, Brad Jones
Brad Jones (musician)
Brad Jones is a Power pop music producer, and singer/songwriter. He has produced music for Cotton Mather, Matthew Sweet, Imperial Drag, Jill Sobule, and Marshall Crenshaw-Gilt-Flake:Label: Ginger Records Release: June 6, 2000Tracks:*The Blunderbuss...
, Jacques Schwarz-Bart
Jacques Schwarz-Bart
Jacques Schwarz-Bart is a New York based jazz saxophonist. His mother is the Guadeloupean novelist Simone Schwarz-Bart, author of The Bridge of Beyond. His father was French Jewish author André Schwarz-Bart. The two published a joint novel, Un plat de porc aux bananes vertes, in 1967...
, David Gilmore
David Gilmore
David Gilmore is an American jazz guitarist.Gilmore studied at New York University with Joe Lovano and Jim McNeely. In 1987 he began working professionally with the M-Base Collective and Ronald Shannon Jackson...
, and Gretchen Parlato
Gretchen Parlato
Gretchen Parlato is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Lionel Loueke, Wayne Shorter and Kenny Barron....
, among others.
She moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, eventually settling in Jersey City, in 2010, where she was signed on the Motéma Music
Motéma Music
Motéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...
label.
She has appeared at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
(opening for Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
), the London Jazz Festival
London Jazz Festival
The London Jazz Festival is a London-wide music festival held every November. It takes place in a variety of London venues, including larger concert halls—such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall—and smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and Vortex...
, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Opera House Lincoln Center, the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
, the Festival du Monde Arabe, the Salzburg Jazz Festival, Festival Nuits d’Afrique Montreal, the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, Brooklyn Maqam Festival, Blue Note Jazz Club, The Jazz Standard, Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub
Joe's Pub at Public Theater is a nightclub that hosts live performances regularly. The venue, which is a non-profit operation, is located at 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in Manhattan, New York City...
, Sob's
SOB's
SOB's is a live music venue and restaurant in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. S.O.B.’s is an abbreviation of Sounds of Brazil. The New York Times writes: For a mixed crowd of all ages and all dance abilities, there’s Saturday’s Samba Soul at S.O.B.’s, after 26 years the city’s longest-running...
(opening for Sara Tavares
Sara Tavares
Sara Alexandra Lima Tavares is a Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and percussionist. She was born and brought up in Lisbon, Portugal, where she still lives. Second-generation Portuguese of Cape Verdean descent, she composes African, Portuguese and North American influenced world music. She...
), Smoke Jazz Club, Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
, Chorus Jazz Club, Porgy & Bess Jazz Club, Domicil Jazz Club, WDR 3, and Klub Cankarjevega Doma.
Music
Zarra's music is influenced by traditional Berber musicBerber music
The Berber people is the indigenous and major ethnic group inhabiting North Africa and part of West Africa . Berbers call themselves "imazighen"...
, Gnawa music
Gnawa music
Gnawa music is a mixture of sub-Saharan African, Berber, and Sufi religious songs and rhythms. It combines music and acrobatic dancing. The music is both a prayer and a celebration of life...
, Chaabi, French popular music
French popular music
French popular music is a music of France belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and mostly distributed commercially. It stands in contrast to French classical music, which historically was the music of elites or the upper strata of society, and...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, funk, dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
, and traditional African music. Specific personal influences include Hajja Hamdaouia, Rais Mohand, Farid el Atrache, Um Kalthoum, Warda Al-Jazairia
Warda Al-Jazairia
Warda Al-Jazairia , commonly referred to as just Warda , is a French-born Algerian singer. She is well known in the Arabic music community for her Egyptian songs and music.-Biography:...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
, Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
.
Her band includes Francis Jacob on acoustic
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s, Brahim Fribgane on oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
, cajón
Cajón
A cajón is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front face with the hands.-Origins and evolution:...
, bendir
Bendir
The bendir is a frame drum used as a traditional instrument throughout North Africa. Unlike the tambourine, it has no jingles but most often has a snare stretched across its head, which when the drum is struck with the fingers or palm gives the tone a buzzing quality.The bendir is a frame drum...
, tam tam, and darbuka, Michael Cain
Michael Cain
Michael Cain is a pianist and composer.- Biography :Michael Cain first started playing the piano at the age of four and was quickly improvising and composing...
on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, synthesizers, and Rhodes piano
Rhodes piano
The Rhodes piano is an electro-mechanical piano, invented by Harold Rhodes during the fifties and later manufactured in a number of models, first in collaboration with Fender and after 1965 by CBS....
, Mamadou Ba on bass, Harvey Wirht on percussion, and Jasser Haj Youssef
Jasser Haj Youssef
Jasser Haj Youssef is a Tunisian violinist, viola d'amore player and composer who works in wide variety of musical situations: Oriental music, contemporary classical music and jazz. Its research at the Paris 8 University and the Tunis University works on a fusion between Arabic music and jazz...
on viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
.
as leader
- On the Ebony Road (CD BabyCD BabyCD Baby is an online music store specializing in the sale of CDs and digital music downloads from independent musicians to consumers. The company is also a digital aggregator of independent music recordings, distributing content to several online digital music retailers.CD Baby has achieved recent...
, 2006) - Berber Taxi (Motéma MusicMotéma MusicMotéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...
, 2011)
as guest artist
- John ZornJohn ZornJohn Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
- Nova Express (Tladzik, 2011) - Marcin WasilewskiMarcin WasilewskiMarcin Wasilewski , commonly known as Wasyl, is a Polish defender who plays for RSC Anderlecht and the Poland national football team. He is under contract with Anderlecht until 2013.- Career :...
Trio - Faithful (ECM, 2011)
External links
- Official Site
- Malika Zarra artist page at Motéma MusicMotéma MusicMotéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...
- Malika Zarra artist page at CD BabyCD BabyCD Baby is an online music store specializing in the sale of CDs and digital music downloads from independent musicians to consumers. The company is also a digital aggregator of independent music recordings, distributing content to several online digital music retailers.CD Baby has achieved recent...
- Malika Zarra on All About JazzAll About JazzAll About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...
- NPR review