Ancestry in Progress

1	Intro
2	Sweet Melody
3	Vivre
4	Bandy Bandy / Erykah Badu
5	Yelling Away / Talib Kweli, Common & ?uestlove
6	Show Me the Way / Bahamadia, Lady Alma & ?uestlove
7	Follow Me
8	Miss Q'N
9	Yaku
10	Ca Varie Varie
11	Alright
12	Cache Cache
13	Leçon no. 5
14	Wadidyusay? / Scratch
15	Zap Bébés

Barnes & Noble

Zap Mama's fifth disc represents another step forward in the Afropean ensemble's polyphonic evolution. Led and created by Belgian-Congolese vocalist and musicologist Marie Daulne -- the face and primary voice of Zap Mama -- Ancestry in Progress is more Americanized and cohesive than previous offerings. While Daulne continues to showcase her distinctive vocals in both French and English and weaves a variegated musical tapestry that includes drum 'n' bass ("A Varie Varie"), cartoon-inspired a cappella ("Follow Me)," and mantra-like Pygmy chants ("Leçon no. 5"), the disc's ambient vibe is rooted in neo-soul. Recording in Philadelphia, home to the pulse of progressive R&B and hip-hop, Zap Mama recruited the Roots and other prominent artists from the scene to help stir the melting pot. Most notably, Erykah Badu -- with whom Daulne toured in 2003 -- blesses the otherwise languid groove of "Bandy Bandy" with her signature primal scream, while affirmative lyrics from rappers Talib Kweli and Common complement the uplifting "Yelling Away." Guest appearances, however, don't always add to the creative process, and an abrasive cameo from fledgling rapper Intense nearly ruins the meditative "Yaku," about a single woman yearning for motherhood. Despite that small misstep, Ancestry in Progress masterfully melds African and African-American aural traditions and reinforces the connection between the two. Tracy E. Hopkins

All Music Guide

On its first full-length in four years, Marie Daulne's Zap Mama project returns to Luaka Bop from a brief encounter with Narada and resumes its quest to wind African melody and vocal harmony around hip- hop, jazzy breaks, soul and Afro Cuban rhythms first explored on 7 and continued with mixed success on A Ma Zone. Produced by Daulne and Anthony Tidd, the music production was supervised by the Roots' Richard Nichols. As such, this exotic blend is earthy, steamy, full of souled-out slips and shimmers in "Bandy Bandy" with special guest Erykah Baud, and the laid-back funk of "Show Me the Way," with guests Air Thompson Bahamadia and Lady Alma. This is far more an urban recording, where urban pop and nu-soul are informed by worldbeat esthetics rather than the other way around. Take "Miss Q'N" with its late-night groove and stacked harmonies (all performed by Daulne) coming from out of the ether and weaving a tapestry of soft seductive lullaby around the lyric. "Yak," with its male chorus intoning the pronunciation ("Yah Yoa") is an intro against the whispering hi hat loop, before a huge chorus of alto and contralto voices re-frame it and Daulne's solo voice. As the hypnotic effect becomes the M.O., M.C. Intense begins rapping from his urban reality perch and throws the whole thing into overdrive. And so it goes, drifting, cutting, edging, and willowing toward some otherworldly collage that is all held together in the sheer vocal magic of Daulne's vision. Thom Jurek