Zong ||| Portrait

Zong

The meeting between Yann Costa and Drean did not seem immediately apparent, given their different backgrounds. Costa trained as a classical pianist before plunging into the electro scene of the Nineties. Drean spent twenty years in a folklore ensemble on the picturesque island the two live on. The latter had set up the band in 1996 with a certain Mister Zong, and she was joined by her future partner (on stage and in life) a year later. Costa added his addiction to machines of devilish size and breadth, things with names like TB 303 or Fender Rhodes. Their debut album in 2001, Chromozong is not a CD the group is particularly proud of, given the disruptive nature of the break with Mister Zong. In 2002, Costa persuaded his old military buddy Fever to bring his madcap knowledge of the drums and add it to the Zong sound. He soon became Costa’s rhythmic alter ego, honing the wild electro and vocal journeys his fellow-musicians embarked on.

The trio then set sail for South Africa where they recorded Zong’s second album Paradis Thématik. Their fascination for the multiple musical cultures they discovered there has meant they have been returning regularly. But it was an unhappy accident to Drean and her elbow that did most to transform the group’s sound. A year after her and Costa’s son was born, she slipped on one of his toys and fell awkwardly on her arm.The resulting fracture forced her to rethink the way she breathed and thus sang. The group was pushed into a new way of playing to accompany her singular voice. Drean even began to compose in the Creole of her island. The result is twelve songs on their 2007 album, symbolically called Fractures, which are a far cry from the second album. Three songs are in Creole, one of which is a lullaby to her boy Maceo, called “Coz”.

Zong have ventured well beyond the sumptuous horizons of the Reunion Island. They have collaborated with Interlope from Paris, the South Africans The Constructus and the Marseilles band WatchaClan, who are currently going down a storm in Europe. Live, Zong are a gripping vision: Drean gives vent to her unbridled nature with a screaming version of songs in Creole, English and French. Costa accompanies or leads her into these adrenaline rushes that whip up the audiences into a frenzy. While Fever goes from drum ‘n’ bass rhythmic leads to free jazz interpretations that channel these impossible ventures into a world beyond the pale of the Indian Ocean.

March 26th 2008

Daniel Brown

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