Moroccan singer composer/producer,
MALIKA ZARRA is a multi-cultural shape-shifter, an enchantress who
leaps effortlessly between seemingly unconnected languages and
traditions, uniting them while utilizing each to further enrich the
others. The exotically beautiful artist with the velvety, sinuous
mezzo-soprano voice has demonstrated a rare ability to communicate
both powerful and subtle ideas and feelings in Berber, Moroccan
Arabic, French and English is now a much-in-demand headliner at
nightclubs and festivals the world over.
Malika was born in Southern Morocco, in a little village called Ouled
Teima. Her father's family was originally from Tata, a city on the
Sahara plain, while her mother was a Berber from the High Atlas.
During her early childhood, there was always music and dancing in the
house and Malika sang almost from babyhood. After her family emigrated
to a suburb of Paris, she found herself straddling two very different
societies. “I had to be French at school yet retain my Moroccan
cultural heritage at home,” she recalls. “Like many immigrant
children, I learned to switch quickly between the two. It was hard but
brought me a lot of good things too”.
Malika’s interest in music led
her to take up the clarinet in grade school. Meanwhile, she was being
exposed to a wide variety of musical styles. She cites fellow Moroccan
Chiha Hamdaouia, the Lebanese-born, Egyptian-based
ud
virtuoso/composer Farid el Atrache, and Algerian-French singer Warda
(Al-Jazairia) as major influences. She also absorbed albums by Ella
Fitzgerald, Bobby McFerrin, Thelonious Monk, Stevie Wonder and Aretha
Franklin. “When I decided to learn singing, I started with jazz
because I was attracted by the improvisation, which is also important
in Arabic music,” she says. Although her family was not in favor of
her pursuing a musical career, Malika nonetheless attended classes at
conservatories and jazz academies at Tours and Marseille and studied
privately with Sarah Lazarus and Françoise Galais.
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Photo Hosea
Johnson
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During her apprentice phase, when she
became a fixture in France and on the Paris scene, Malika performed at
a variety of well-known clubs and events, including Festival L’esprit
Jazz de St Germain, Sunside, Baiser Salé, Hot Brass, Espace Julien,
Pelle Mêle and Cité de la Musique. In the beginning, she interpreted
classic material strictly in the original languages -- then a
breakthrough occurred. “When I started to sing in Arabic, writing new
lyrics for jazz standards, I found that people reacted really
strongly. There is always more emotion when you sing in your own
language because your feelings are more intense.” As a composer, the
process was similar ; asked why and when she began writing her own
songs, she says impishly, “After getting tired of forgetting English
lyrics !”
An early visit
to New York made a strong impression on her: “I came the first time
in 1996. It was an amazing experience. I felt that I could be more
myself and learn a lot of things, musically and as a human being.” In
2004, Malika decided to relocate to New York City. Having crafted a
repertoire that incorporated her native Berber, Gnawa (a percussive
form of religious trance music) and Shaabi (Arabic working class
blues) heritages, the intellectual elegance of French pop, plus
freewheeling jazz rhythms and techniques, her reputation as a solo act
began to grow. Malika's vocal versatility led to invitations to
participate in a wide variety of projects, including house, dance,
gospel, funk and African music.
Malika eventually collaborated with Tommy Campbell, Makoto Ozone, Will
Calhoun (Living Color), Lonnie Plaxico, Andy Milne, Michael Cain,
Keith Carlock, David Gilmore, Harvie S and many others. Among the
venues she has graced are the Carnegie Hall, the London Jazz Festival,
the Festival du Monde Arabe, Montreal Jazz Festival, the Duke
Ellington Jazz Festival, the Salzburg Jazz Festival, Jazz Standard,
French Embassy in Washington DC, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn
Maqam festival, Brooklyn Museum, Joe’s Pub, Sob’s, Smoke Jazz Club,
Knitting Factory, Makor, Festival Nuits d’Afrique Montreal, Chorus
Jazz club, Porgy & Bess Jazz club, Domicil jazz club, WDR 3,
Klub
Cankarjevega Doma.
Working with some of the finest international jazz players now active,
she is in her element as bandleader and collaborator, at once creating
a new vocabulary and intuitively going with the flow. She is well
aware that in the USA, there is still another set of realities, every
bit as complex as those she experienced in France, and that it's not
always easy to get past fear and prejudice. However, she remains
upbeat and confident of her ability to reach out with her voice and
heart. We all need to get just a little bit interested in other
cultures.
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Malika
Zarra is a rare and special voice, a natural born musician who sings
as easily as we breathe.
Her
newest CD Berber Taxi is a masterpiece, every track a gem. Filled
with creative arrangements, soaring improvisations, beautiful poetry
and of course Malika's gorgeous voice, it is one of the most
exciting CDs in recent years.
A
natural blend of her life experiences, it transcends all borders and
creates an enchanting new world filled with
honesty, imagination, craft, purity, and passion. Malika speaks to
us all in a language of love -- JOHN ZORN
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