Dawn Drake & "ZapOte"

Artist Information

Biography

About "Dawn Drake & ZapOte":
Female-fronted Funk, Latin and Afro-zilian band. Original dance music simmering in a palate of serious Latin, African and Caribbean rhythms.

Taking its name from a luscious fruit in Cuba also known as "mamey", "ZapOte" is an original Funk Latin Afro-Beat band lead by Dawn Drake,the Slovenian-American female bassist/conguera/singer/songwriter and composer, who
manages to wear several hats while setting the scene with her own brand of cool. Her original music takes the listener and dancer into a zone where House, Funk, Afro-beat, Samba, Afro-Cuban rhythms and Jazz are right at home. Her poetic lyrics spread messages of universal consciousness,
delivered with heartfelt vocals, and are joined with the irresistible grooves of Latin percussion,
funky bass, swinging horn lines and virtuosic improvisation.

PRESS:
"This saucy debut by soul sistah Dawn Drake is an incredible gift to the world of world music!  She skillfully weaves together her bold poetic lyrics, melodic vocals, and a fusion of danceable rhythms performed by herself and  a very talented band of musicianados.  You'll love the horns, the deep bass, the compelling percussion..."
Luis Da Silva, Jules Bistro, NYC

"Dawn Drake and her band ZapOte are at the beginnings
of a fascinating journey to enthusiastically bridge
chasms of cultural and gender disconnect that plagues
so much of pop music's body politic.
To hear them is to imagine early period jam sessions
between Laura Nyro and Carole King with Sly Stone
and Sergio Mendes sitting in.Theirs is a playfully intense dynamic that needs to be seen more"-Darrell McNeill, Director, Black Rock Coalition, Curator Brooklyn Academy of Music Cafe
 

BIOGRAPHY
About Dawn Drake and ZapOte:
This band has gone far and wide for the short period of time that it has been together. Formed in 2005 to record the original songs of Dawn Drake, the band shortly thereafter started to play venues in and around New York City, including the prestigious Brooklyn Academy of Music Cafe Live series, Medgar Evers College Womens Week, venues on NYC's legendary Bleecker Street, DROM, Nublu, Esperanto, Oliva, Jules Bistro, Boom and others. Currently, they have a residency at "L'Orange Bleue" in Soho, NYC.

An active musician in New York City's African, Brazilian and Latin music scene, Dawn Drake started her career as an electric bassplayer and percussionist. Now she is known first and foremost as a singer-songwriter, composer and bandleader.

As a Slovenian-American, Dawn's love of a variety of music first came from home.  Later, she began traveling and studying world music at the University of Ghana, West Africa where she lived for a year. Upon moving to New York City, she started to play bass and percussion with groups which have included Obini Ashe; Beat the Donkey, Samba New York, The Femm Nameless, Jojo Kuo,  Manmzel, Paprika, Azouhouni Adu, Nepo Soteri and others.

Dawn studied and played congas and batá in Cuba, and samba percussion in Brazil, where she played in Rio de Janiero's Carnaval. She has shared the stage with Me'shell N'degeocello, Cyro Baptista, Trey Anastasio, Mo'Guajiro, Los Jovenes del Barrio, Kokolo, Jorge Alabê and members of Antibalas. She has appeared on The CBS Early Show, and Telemundo TV, PBS, WBAI, and played stages such as Symphony Space, SOB's, The Zinc Bar, Rockefeller Center's Rainbow Room, Radio City Music Hall, BAM CAFE, The Walker Art Center, Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, the New Orleans Jazz Festival.
 
"Dawn Drake & ZapOte" have performed live on WBAI, KPFA Pacifica Radio in Berkeley, Ca, KUSP in Santa Cruz, and WTJU in Charlottesville. They have toured Europe and the East and West Coast of the US, and they were featured performers at BAMCafe Live in 2007, the multi-city Bluemont Concert Series in Virginia, 2008, the Wisteria Cornstalk Festival and Culturefest WV in 2009, the Downtown Berkeley Music Festival in 2009 and 2010, the Brooklyn Academy of Music Cafe Live Music series 2010, and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens Chili Pepper Festival in 2010. Their full-length album and two EPs are available at CD Baby, www.cdbaby.com/cd/dawndrake3, as well as on itunes at www.itunes.com/dawndrake.

Instrumentation

Touring Band:
Arei Sekeguchi: Drums
Terry Dame: Tenor Sax, Percussion
Dawn Drake: Bass, Percussion, Vocals
Yayoi Ikawa: Keys
Jackie Coleman: Trumpet, Percussion

Discography

Dawn Drake;s Albums:
www.cdbaby.com/cd/dawndrake2
www.cdbaby.com/cd/dawndrake3
www.cdbaby.com/cd/dawndrakezapote
www.cdbaby.com/cd/dawndrake

Singles available:
www.itunes.com/dawndrake

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• CD BABY
• Youtube Channel
• MySpace
• Artist Website
• Itunes

Audio

• who am i mp3 final master
  Listen  
• Breathe
  Listen  
• In my Dreams
  Listen  
• Fisherwoman
  Listen  
• Love is Love
  Listen  
• ZapOte final master
  Listen  
• Cross Crocodiles
  Listen  
• Palabras
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Eyes of the Sun
• slipping
• Sugah Pop
• Breathe

Video

breathe chili edit 2010

Photo Gallery

Press

• BAM CAFE LIVE [+ Show ]
  

  "Dawn Drake and her band ZapOte are at the beginnings of a fascinating journey to enthusiasticall..."Dawn Drake and her band ZapOte are at the beginnings of a
  fascinating journey to enthusiastically bridge chasms of cultural
  and gender disconnect that plagues so much of pop music's body politic. To hear them is to imagine early period jam sessions between Laura Nyro and Carole King with Sly Stone and Sergio Mendes sitting in. Theirs is a playfully intensedynamic that needs to be seen more."
  
  -Darrell McNeill, Black Rock Coalition Director of Operations &
  CURATOR of BAM Café LIVE, Brooklyn Academy of Music

• Jules Bistro Presents Dawn Drake [+ Show ]
  

  "This saucy debut by soul sistah Dawn Drake is an incredible gift to the world of world music! Sh..."This saucy debut by soul sistah Dawn Drake is an incredible gift to the world of world music!
  She skillfully weaves together her bold poetic lyrics, melodic vocals, and a fusion of danceable
  rhythms performed by herself and a very talented band of musicianados.
  You'll love the horns, the deep bass, the compelling percussion..."
  Luis Da Silva, Jules Bistro, NYC

• GO MAGAZINE [+ Show ]
  

  "Dawn contributes heavy Afro-Caribbean licks on congas, bongós and Brazilian caixa as a partial list..."Dawn contributes heavy Afro-Caribbean licks on congas, bongós and Brazilian caixa as a partial list...and it's no amateur hour..."
  Jenny Lazar, GO NYC Magazine
  

• Dawn Drake [+ Show ]
  

  "Cuban, African & South American styles mesh together into delicious jazz/pop fusion; a wonderful ..."Cuban, African & South American styles
  mesh together into delicious jazz/pop fusion; a wonderful backdrop for Dawn's sassy vocals. She also arranged the horns (excellent job), played bass and did all the percussion; a truly multi-talented performer!" Brian Fox, Meewsic
  Records
  
  

Setlist

We do three one hour sets, or 2 one and a half hour sets; or a 45 minute set, depending on venue or event. Original music. We do cover music if requested. Our cover repertoire includes 70s and 80s pop, funk and dance tunes as well as latin and brazilian standard dance tunes.

Originals:
Breathe
Eyes of the Sun
Slipping
Sugar Pop
Cross Crocodiles
Who am I
Palabras
Piedra dura
Fever
Distraction
Catch
All Jacked Up
ZapOte
Fisherwoman
My World
Love is Love
Yin/yang
Driving
Conga Bonga
In My Dreams
Voodoo

Covers:
Latin and Brazilian:
Lagrimas Negras
Aquarela Do Brazil
Tristeza
Mais Que Nada
Que Viva Chango
Lloraras
Carnaval
Todo tiene su final
O batucada dos nossas tantans
Agua de Beber
Rompe Saraguey
Brazilian Samba Show

American Covers:
Boogie Oogie
Lady Marmalade
At Last
Bad girls
Freak Out
Billie Jean
Genius of Love
Rapture
Let's Talk about Sex
Gin and Juice
No sleep till Brooklyn
Sexy Back
Play that Funky Music
People Make the World Go Round
Goldfinger


I Also offer culturally significant programming focusing on Afro-Cuban culture and religion, as well as drum and rhythm workshops focusing on the rhythms of Cuba and Brazil.

Basic Requirements

Calendar