Hector Zazou, the French composer, producer, and arranger whose work crossed boundaries from rock to classical to various global styles to electronic music and back again, passed away earlier this week. Zazou made the most of his 60 years, collaborating widely (with, to name a few, Bjork, Nico, Mark Isham, John Cale, Jon Hassell, Manu Dibango, Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, David Sylvian, and Ryuichi Sakamoto) and creating a well-loved body of work that will likely see a boost in profile thanks to his passing. This year alone he’d already issued Corps électriques and has another CD on Crammed, In the House of Mirrors, featuring the Indian-Uzbekestani quartet Swara, performing a subtly electronics-enhanced variant on classical Asian music. Zazou was 60.
Hector Zazou, R.I.P.
September 10th, 2008 // 3 Comments
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A damned shame, and a very thoughtful musician — I had a chance to interview him back in 1994 or so, just a phoner, but I remember him being both a polite and very considered subject.
Oh, man. That’s awful. Songs from the Cold Seas was a hugely important record for me – it opened me up to a slew of new artists and new sounds, new atmospheres. He had a rare gift for bringing different artists and different sensibilities together and emerging with a whole that’s greater than the sum of the parts; he managed to fuse exotic “world” music with more familiar pop / rock / folk sounds, without compromising what made each component unique.
a real heartbreaker… 60 is way too young…