Dawn Drake & ZapOte
Brooklyn, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2006 | INDIE
Music
Press
"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 - Darrell McNeill
"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
- Jenny Lazar
"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 - Meewsic Records
"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 - Jules Bistro
“Slovenian-American bassist, conguera, and singer-songwriter Dawn Drake leads this all- female, worldbeat-meets-funk ensemble, which breaks down cultural barriers by incorporating everything from Afro-Cuban jazz to hip-hop to samba into a soul-shaking mix. Deep bass grooves and swinging horn lines provide a danceable backdrop for Drake’s socially conscious lyrics, which impart messages of universal consciousness, empowerment, and compassion”. - Brooklyn Academy of Music
“Dawn Drake and ZapOte completed the evening program with funky Afro Beat. The band’s leader, The New York bassist Dawn Drake studied in Africa, Cuba and Brasil and is a true multi-talent on stage. She sang and played bass at the same time and also showed her talent as a percussionist- a true band leader with “herzblut” ( literally “with heart blood”) - Walliser Bote, Brig Switzerland
"[They] were the hit of the season" -Beth Flusser, Talent Buyer -
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Slovenian-American bassist, conguera, and singer-songwriter Dawn Drake leads this all-female, worldbeat-meets-funk ensemble, which breaks down cultural barriers by incorporating everything from Afro-Cuban jazz to hip-hop to samba into a soul-shaking mix. Deep bass grooves and swinging horn lines provide a danceable backdrop for Drake’s socially conscious lyrics, which impart messages of universal consciousness, empowerment, and compassion.
BIOGRAPHY About Dawn Drake and ZapOte:
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 Brooklyn Academy of Music Cafe Live series, Medgar Evers College Womens Week, venues on NYC’s legendary Bleecker Street, DROM, Esperanto, Oliva, Jules Bistro, Boom, L’Orange Bleue, NUBLU and others.
An active musician in New York City’s African, Brazilian and Latin music scene, Dawn Drake started her career as an electric bass player and percussionist. Now she is known first and foremost as a singer-songwriter, composer and bandleader.
Dawn’s love of a variety of music first came from home listening to Slovenian Polka, Southern Bluegrass and Soul Train. Later, she began traveling and studying world music at the University of Ghana, West Africa where she lived for a year.
Dawn studied and played congas and sacred Batá drums in Cuba, and samba percussion in Brazil, where she played in Rio de Janiero’s Carnaval. She is one of very few female Cuban Batá players in the US and has played with many well known Batá players in the Cuban community.
Upon moving to New York City she started to play bass and percussion with many international groups which she continues to do, most notably Congolese, Senegalese, Brazilian and Cuban artists.
“Dawn Drake & ZapOte” have performed live on WBAI, KPFA Pacifica Radio in Berkeley, Ca, KUSP in Santa Cruz, and WTJU in Charlottesville. They were featured performers at BAMCafe Live in 2007, 2010 AND 2015, the multi-city Bluemont Concert Series in Virginia in 2008, the Wisteria Cornstalk Festival and Culturefest WV in 2009, the Downtown Berkeley Music Festival in 2009 and 2010, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens Chili Pepper Festival in 2010. The Iowa Women’s Music Festival 2011, the Third Street Music Concert Series 2012 and 2013, the Cortland NY Main Street Concert Series 2012. Frauenstimmen Festival in Switzerland 2014, and Danbury City Center Festival 2014, Mamapalooza Festival 2011 and 2015, and the Prospect Heights Music and Art Festival 2015. The albums are available at CD Baby, www.cdbaby.com/artist/dawndrake, as well as on itunes at www.itunes.com/dawndrake.
FOR ALL VIDEO GO TO: www.dawndrake.com or www.youtube.com/thedawndrake
Additional quality video can be seen at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/d2ya41jo5jtzsb5/AAAIfyBbVxduko_R9PzTRbRza?dl=0
Band Members
Links
