Zaz Stirs Our Souls, Dominates Our Playlists

With a jazzy, vintage flair and deeply resonant vocals the likes of which haven’t been heard since Edith Piaf, Zaz became the first French superstar with a global following in a long, long time. She topped the charts in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany, and has a fan base spanning from China to South America. She even won over some globally minded music fans in the U.S. with her epic debut album.

The first time you hear her debut single “Je Veux,” you, too, will find yourself pulling out your wallet (or logging into your music service of choice) to hand her your money.

Crackly and full of emotion, her vocals dance and soar over Gypsy Jazz and Pop compositions.

Born in Central France, Zaz (born Isabelle Geffroy) studied violin, piano, guitar, and voice at a music conservatory in Bordeaux. Like Piaf, she played the cabaret scene in Paris, and busked on street corners in Montmartre prior to getting her big break.

When she hit the scene in 2010, there was already somewhat of a Jazz Manouche resurgence going on. Carmen Maria Vega was doing her thing, and Thomas Dutronc had just won a Victoire de la Musique (French Grammy) for his Gypsy Jazz anthem “Comme un manouche sans guitare” the year before. The pump was primed, so to speak, and Zaz seized the moment.

BTW, Jazz Manouche (or Gypsy Jazz) is a style of Swing Jazz popularized in the 1930’s by guitarist Django Reinhardt, who grew up in the Romani camps outside Paris. It doesn’t sound like it would be the winning formula for a smash hit in modern times, which is what made the resounding success of her first single, “Je Veux,” that much more amazing.

Zaz (debut album)  

The song was more than a hit. It was an earworm that was suddenly everywhere being played by everyone. It led to her self-titled debut album going double diamond and becoming one of the biggest French music exports in a long time, selling over 700,000 albums worldwide.

“Je Veux” also won Song of the Year at Les Victoires de la Musique (French Grammys) in 2011. The lyrics had a meaningful message, too. (Money isn’t what makes her happy. She doesn’t want jewelry from Chanel, a limo, or the Eiffel Tower. She wants love, joy, freedom, etc.) Check it out:

Other singles off the album included “Éblouie Par La Nuit,” “La Fée,” and “Le Long de la route”

Download: Get the whole album!!

Zaz became a hot commodity following the success of her debut. She recorded a live album, Sans Tsou and the song “Coeur Volant” for the Hugo soundtrack. In 2012, she appeared on the Generation Goldman tribute album along with a who’s who of today’s hot, young French singers.

Recto Verso: Sophomore Album

Recto Verso

After her meteoric rise, expectations were riding high for her 2013 sophomore album, Recto Verso, where she continued to showcase her fantastic voice and a style rooted in French tradition. The album reached number one in Switzerland, and number 2 in Germany and France, and the leadoff single, “On Ira,” reached the top 20.


She splits the difference, offering a half-traditional, half modern Pop album, which I think is the smart play. No one wants to hear her try to make “Je Veux” over and over again, and surely the singer herself surely doesn’t want to be pigeonholed, but she realizes that people still want a taste of the sound that put her on the map. Everybody wins!

The singles include “On Ira,” “”Comme ci, comme ça,” “Gamine,” and “Si,” which was written by Jean-Jacques Goldman (as in “Generation Goldman”).

Here’s the hit single, “On Ira”:

Download: “Si,” “Comme ci, comme ça,” “On Ira,” “Gamine”

Latest Album

Paris

In December 2014, Zaz released an album of Paris-themed songs, aptly titled Paris. It features classic odes to the City of Light such as “Sous le ciel de Paris” (made famous by Edith Piaf), Josephine Baker’s “J’ai deux amours,” and “Champs Elysées.”

Here she is performing the Maurice Chevalier classic, “Paris Sera Toujours Paris” (Paris Will Always Be Paris).

What do you think of Zaz? Leave a comment and let me know.