Meet this female driven worldbeat-meets-funk ensemble ZapOte, who 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 socially conscious lyrics, which impart messages of universal consciousness, empowerment, and compassion. -Brooklyn Academy of Music Cafe Live, 2015.
Keep up with our current projects!:
1.) WAKE UP Remix, our latest release, will feature remix artist, arranger and composer Chico Mann! It will be released as a video in a matter of weeks!
We are currently shooting a Glo-Paint Video promoting sustainable energy in collaboration with Shamanic artist Myztico Chango who will be incorporating his artwork and live Glo-paint into our story board about a move towards sustainable energy practices
2.) Album on the way!! There are twelve tracks from the new album that we will be in the studio finishing! Thanks to the kind support of Institute for Audio Research this project is over halfway finished!
3.) ZapOte Global "Girls Initiiative"!:
ZapOte started a new international initiative this year called the ZapOte Global ‘Girls’ Gender Equality Initiative’ aimed to empower women and girls through music. We have several projects underway including a cultural exchange, performance and volunteer workshop for youth in Belize during the Belize International Jazz Festival in Belize City, Belize.
We have an invitation to continue this work in Santiago de Cuba at the Santiago de Cuba’s Festival del Caribe where we will be giving a presentation on the topic of gender in the music industry as well as performing at the festival.
We aim to represent and empower women to be self-reliant entrepreneurs who put artistry and the quality of music first and to spread a positive and strong message to today’s young women about their own possibilities to excel. We are doing this through music, as this is our profession and our chosen field; however we aim to work towards gender equality in all aspects of society.
We hope to be role models for young women who want to be musicians, instrumentalists and entrepreneurs as well as show that there are a myriad of ways to represent oneself as an artist. We hope to empower and inspire the next generation’s girls to be self reliant and to support each other as women.
Importantly, we work with boys AND girls in our performances and workshops and we believe that we can be powerful role models for boys as well. For boys to see women in varied roles we may also help them to be more well-rounded individuals in their views of gender and identity, perhaps giving them more freedom and flexibility to try different things as well.
Funding and support is needed for our travel and accommodations for these workshops! We appreciate it, and please do review our giving levels and rewards. We have some grand options!
Learn More: http://dawndrake.com/dawn/zapote-global-girls-initiative/