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www.dawndrake.com
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. Her original music takes the listener and dancer into House, Funk, Afro-beat, Samba, Afro-Cuban rhythms and Jazz. 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.
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 and others. Currently, they have a residency at "L'Orange Bleue" and "BOOM", both 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. 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 throughout the World.
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