by Jaime Becktel

People of Durango, you are about to be visited by a cultural ambassador and world music diva of the highest possible order. Prepare yourselves for the elegant Marie Daulne of Zap Mama and her ensemble of polyphonic female vocalists. She is an artist masterful at spinning stories with her vocal manipulations and weaving together ancient sounds and rhythms from around the globe. A woman of the world – born in the Congo, raised in Belgium – Marie Daulne’s birdsong trills have graced many continents, countries and cities. Her music enraptures audiences with the same fervent appeal whether she performs in Brazil or Britain. What did we, living in this mild-mannered, mountain Mecca do to deserve such a musical blessing? Most assuredly, it is not to be taken lightly.

Zap Mama has been called a “sonic stylist,” splicing a dash of modern spice into African roots and blending that with indigenous music from around the world. African vocal techniques rise and fall amidst a fluctuating backdrop of urban, hip-hop, beatbox, soul and jazz, to name a few.

And what’s in a name? Daulne said she was drawn to the word “mama” for its reference to Mother Earth and because it’s a common vocalization that all human beings make. “We are all of this Mama Earth. I use Mama instead of Mother because it’s closer. We are all family, and in Africa, Mama is a word of respect for a wise person,” she said in an interview Monday while on tour in San Francisco.

As for the “zap,” that comes from the sense of zapping from one culture to another, as is often done with her music. “With Zap Mama, we are always zapping between sounds, and Z is my favorite sound,” she said. “Some people have favorite colors … I have a favorite sound!”

Daulne had much to share on the topics of inspiration, creativity and the essential role of voice in human history. Born with a great love for music and a capacity to drive a lot of energy in one direction, she strives to open doors to creativity and re-invent new avenues for creative expression. “I am so inspired and I find my connection to the creative energy of the world so intense that it drives me crazy if I do not find a way to express it,” she said. “It’s like a wave passing through me. I feel the emotions and need to translate them through my art.”

Just the Facts What: Zap Mam and the Flashmob Vocal Project. Onye and the Messengers open When: Fri., Aug. 16, gates open at 5 p.m.; music at 5:45 p.m. Where: Buckley Park, downtown Durango Tickets.: $35 general admission; $75 VIP; kids 12 and younger free. Available at Animas Trading, Southwest Sound, Front Gate Tickets, Ska Brewery, Wagon Wheel Liquors or online at www.tamigraham.com/zap_2013.html A portion of the proceeds from beer and wine sales will benefit injured climber Rosa Malloy-Post

Determined to be a professional athlete at one time, Daulne suffered an injury that altered the trajectory of her destiny, bringing her back to Africa where she had the realization that music was her mission. “We decide how to take things. My mother taught me to be a positive and strong survivor and to believe that when we fall, it is only so that we may stand again,” she said of her injury. “We have to4  learn to be patient as we recover from deep pain. There is always a light at the end of the journey.”

It is this message of inspiration that she tries to convey through her music. “I compose music to let people go deeply into their sadness; to be able to cry and let go,” she said. “I also create music to let people start again and stay up.”

Having toured internationally for more than 20 years, Zap Mama gives no indication of ebbing the flow of their musical outreach. With an ever-evolving style, the group’s current incarnation comes in the form of the Flashmob Vocal Project, a musical collaboration between artist and audience. Daulne is passionate about the power of voice, and the potential it has to transform a person, a community and culture itself. “For years, and in communities all over the world, there were women and men chanting,” she said. “Parts were received and passed down from grandmother to mother and they went to different houses singing, to help and heal people and to give them courage. The voice is an instrument itself – the original instrument.”

Daulne values the history of the human voice, from ancient tribal cultures to modern pop culture. “In the past, the ancestors of every land were using voices for sharing stories and singing their appreciation, going to war, or to find courage through slavery,” she said. “After the radio and music business took over, there was music everywhere and people stopped singing and breathing. We need to breathe more! And to sing more!”
She said the younger generation is more into voice than its predecessors, using it to connect and bring people together. This is the inspiration behind the Flashmob Vocal Project: for people to use their voices as instruments, not only for singing but to be living, breathing part of the music. As such, Zap Mama concerts often become mass classes where audience participation is the main act of the show.

And this Friday evening, in the heart of downtown, Durango has the opportunity to be that bright, co-creative, vocal flashmob.
“These sounds relay so many stories and so much knowledge,” said Daulne in closing. “I don’t question myself anymore, or my ego will take over. I just execute because it’s there and I’m connected, and I just want to share with people that we all have a voice to be heard.”

For a sneak peak or listen of Zap Mama, go to: www.zapmama.com