SHEKINA

The third work released in 1975 "Shekina". Work that added string quartet to member. The MAGMA color was lost, and it became a mysterious, delicate sound. A mysterious Oriental melody is used. It is momentarily as Bartok. It is music that looks like initial WEATHER REPORT. They finally reached an original sound by the third work. In the saxophone of Yochk 'o Seffer, it is preeminently good. Side-A is pretty good."Joyl" is powerful masterpiece.Still getting better from the former work.

I guess I shouldn't be so shocked at how good this album is, I mean Seffer and Cahen were a big part of MAGMA's early sound, and the first two ZAO records blew me away. I really am starting to adore this band. ZAO had to replace Joel Dugrenot on bass as he left to join CLEARLIGHT. So the deep vocal melodies he provided on "Osiris" would be missing on this one, leaving Seffer's higher pitched vocal melodies as the only vocals on this album. And really those vocals are the only link to the Zeuhl sound that is left. Not content to just repeat themselves there are some chamber-rock passages, as well as some dark, atmospheric soundscapes to go along with the Jazz melodies that are at times Zeuhl flavoured. For this record only they added a female string quartet named THE QUARTUOR MARGAND. This made ZAO an eight piece band and gave them more options when it came to the sound they wanted to create. The pictures in the liner notes are a real treat. There is a picture of all eight taken outside with most of them wearing coats. There is another picture of the four ladies all smiling happily, and then one more of them all 8 playing their instruments. When Seffer left the band after the "Kawana" album to do his solo stuff, he did so with the help of the QUATUOR MARGAND on his first album called "Ghilgoul". By the way this album's title is in reference to the place where God's presence resides. I think it resides in this music as well.

"Joyl" hits the ground running with an uptempo melody of sax, drums and keys. It calms down quickly though with sax being the most prominant instrument. The percussion is a nice touch, and the strings make a couple of appearances. This all sounds so good ! "Yen.Lang" features the whisper of the clarinet to open. Very atmospheric as vocal sounds, keys, cymbals, bass and clarinet slowly come and go with no real melody. There is an Eastern feel to this hence the song title. This is so different from anything ZAO has done before. It's far removed from either Jazz or Zeuhl. Violin starts to rise slowly out of this soundscape 5 minutes in getting louder and louder. Drums and clarinet are added. This sounds so amazing ! It's dark and the clarinet is relentless. A real chamber rock sound.

"Zohar" is where Jean-My Truong reveals that he is one of the best drummers on the planet. The bass throbs and the sax blasts away, but it's the awe inspired drumming that is the focus. The string quartet takes over completely 2 1/2 minutes in. I'm reminded of UNIVERS ZERO 3 1/2 minutes in as it sounds quite tense. The quartet stops 5 minutes in as we get a change in climate. This time it's percussion with spacey keys. Nice. It ends with a fantastic jazzy melody that has to be heard to be believed. The sax 9 1/2 minutes in is a highlight. "Metatron" opens with vocal melodies before the song takes off with sax and keys leading the way. The bass is prominant before 2 minutes and the drums are out of control. Vocal melodies are back with bass,drums and keys.This is unreal 3 minutes in. At this point i'm sitting here shaking my head and laughing. Seffer is blasting off sax solo after sax solo. Vocal melodies dominate 7 1/2 minutes in as it gets very Zeuhl-like. "Zita" is a slow moving track with vocal melodies, strings, keys and clarinet all taking part. Well done. "Bakus" opens sounding like a GENTLE GIANT song until the vocal melodies arrive. Uptempo with some more crazy drumming. Sax and percussion after 3 minutes.

4.5 stars. This rating may go up in time. This is another killer ZAO record.

First of all Zao came out from MAGMA project so the first i sayed before getting it was poor, if it comes from MAGMA, it must be cool! and so it was, i really like this album, it has lot of things from MAGMA's sound,.

One thing that i can say is that the ZOHAR song is really a pearl, with his violoncello's solo and with those strange times, it gives me the sensation that i've got when im walking in a dark forest.

Then i like a lot BAKUS mainly for the voice, a suffering voice.

4 stars for it! MAGMA 4EVER!

Band leaders Yochok'o Seffer (saxophones, clarinets, flutes, other winds) and keyboard player François Cahen are both alumni of the the foundational years of MAGMA--both left disgruntled due to the direction Christian Vander was taking the music (with the make-believe world of Kobaïa being equally important to the John Coltrane and Carl Orff influences that inspired the band's founders. Zao was born of this schism.

1. "Joy!" (3:54) one of my all-time favorite "happy songs," "Joy" is a song that just grooves and gets into your bones so that you can't help but get up and dance, be happy. Of course its in the funk being delivered by Gérard Prévost's bass, Jean-My Truong's drums, composer François Cahen's awesome keyboards, and Pierre Guignon's percussion, but it's also in the way the strings and Yochok'o Seffer's nasal saxophone holds notes, thereby allowing the instruments beneath him to be more noticed. (10/10)

2. "Yen-Lang" (8:10) The gentle use of ethnic flutes and percussion bells and shakers in the long (four-minute) opening section are awesome, as are the strings later. Once the song begins to "move," once can tell how the band members have retained some of the band's Zeuhl foundations with its quiet start and slow build, eventually using a pulsing, bass-infused, almost-single-chord (single key) melody line. An enjoyable and atmospheric song that comes across as more of a natural, primitive, group contemplation tune. (13.25/15)

3. "Zohar" (10:53) opens at a pretty fast 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, here sounding very much like something from one of the early SHAKTI albums (which would be virtually impossible since the initial Shakti recording sessions were occurring at almost the exact same time [July of 1975] as this material). 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 cohesiveness (like in the whole-band burst in the final 90 seconds), the song lacks a unifying flow and overall feels a bit more like an experiment in experimentalism. (17.75/20)

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. This smoother part is very reminiscent of both Weather Report and even Brand X (as well as Magma). An impressive song displaying an impressive drummer! (18/20)

5. "Zita" (4:38) François Cahen's second composition on the album (the others are all attributed to Yochok'o) opens quietly with sophisticated chamber strings play while electric piano and bass gently support weaving into a little soundtrack chamber music exercise with a sound that is kind of similar to both Eberhard Weber and Vangelis. The presence of the lone soprano voice slightly in the background is a very cool effect. Beautiful and peaceful. A tender, contemplative song that I adore! (9.5/10)

6. "Bakus" (5:13) is just angular weirdness--not unlike the music of 1990s Japanese artists BONDAGE FRUIT and KOENJI HYAKKEI. François' keys, bass, and drums really put their Zeuhl chops on full display here but really it's Seffer's vocals that I love the most: here sounding more like the fore-runner of those from 21st Century Japanese bands Koenji Hyakkei or OOIOO. Still, this is a solid song. (8.875/10)

Total Time 40:54

Opening with one of my all-time favorite 'happy songs', "Joy!" the rest of the album is interesting for the range of emotions it takes the listener through. 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 (perhaps due to the addition of classically-trained, jazz/J-R Fusion-leaning 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!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of Zeuhlish Jazz-Rock Fusion.

Bassist Joel Dugrenot moves on and is replaced, and the electric violin of Jean-Yves Rigaud is replaced by a full string quartet. This leaves Seffer as the only vocalist, so the Zeuhl-style vocals are pretty limited at this point. Its alsmost pure Jazz fusion at this point, that said the Zeuhl links are still there, particularly the precise drumming of Truong, who once again shows his talent perhaps only surpassed by Vander himself in this style.

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.