DESCRIPTION:
"ZapOte" is a Female-forward Global Mash Up band. We specialize in World Music, Salsa, Cha-Cha, Cumbias, Kompa, Soukous, Afro-beat, Samba, Bossa Nova, Dancehall, Caribbean grooves and more.
Taking its name from a luscious fruit in Cuba also known as "mamey",
"ZapOte" delivers non-stop dancing to the irresistible grooves of Latin percussion, funky bass, swinging horn lines and improvisation.
PRESS:
"This tropical pop ensemble played with Hearts Blood"! -Walliser Bote, Switzerland.
"[They] were the hit of the season!" - Beth Flusser, Talent Buyer for The Third Street Music Summer Concert Series
"This saucy debut by soul sistah Dawn Drake is an incredible gift to the world of world music!
She skillfully weaves together her bold poetic lyrics, melodic vocals, and a fusion of danceable rhythms performed by herself and a very talented band of musicianados.
You'll love the horns, the deep bass, the compelling percussion..."
Luis Da Silva, Jules Bistro, NYC
"Dawn Drake and her band ZapOte are at the beginnings
of a fascinating journey to enthusiastically bridge
chasms of cultural and gender disconnect that plagues
so much of pop music's body politic.
To hear them is to imagine early period jam sessions
between Laura Nyro and Carole King with Sly Stone
and Sergio Mendes sitting in.
Theirs is a playfully intense dynamic that needs to be
seen more"-Darrell McNeill, Director, Black Rock
Coalition, Curator Brooklyn Academy of Music Cafe
Events Played:
Huntington Herschel Stage opening for Tito Rodriguez Jr. 2023
Babylon World Music Festival 2023
Honk NYC Department of Transportation Concerts 2017-2023
The Ice House, Morgan Arts Center, Berkeley Springs WVA Concert Series 2023
The Bright Box, Winchester Va, 2023
Brooklyn Arts Council 2020-2022
Taproot Gala, Philadelphia PA 2022
US State Department Art and Culture Seminar, New Mexico 2019
Club Bonafide, NYC 2019
Kimmel Center, Philadelphia PA 2019
Gwynned University, PA 2020
Belize International Jazz Festival 2017, 2018, 2019
Arts Envoy in Belize US State Department 2018
Various concerts NYC and beyond 2016-2022
Subrosa, NYC 2016
Brooklyn Bowl, NYC 2016
The Way Station Saturday Night Music Series Residency, Brooklyn, 2015
The Prospect Heights Music and Arts Festival 2015
Provence En Boite Bastille Day Celebration, 2015/2016
MNN Channel 56 Manhattan 2014-2015
Brooklyn Academy of Music Cafe Live Series, 2015
Silvana Harlem, NYC Residency 2015/2016
United Nations DP Management Meeting in Westchester County, NY. March 2014
Mafrika Festival, Shrine World Music NYC 2014
Frauentstimmen Festival, Brig, Switzerland, June 2014
Danbury Concerts on the Green, CT, August 2014
Mamapalooza Festival 2010, 2011, 2015
Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Chili Pepper Fest 2010
Third Street Music Settlement Summer Concert Series 2012 and 2013
Sister Space Weekend 2013
Brooklyn Academy of Music's BAMCafe Live! Series 2007, 2010
Virginia Bluemont Concert Series 2008
Wisteria Cornstalk Festival 2009
Downtown Berkeley Music Festival 2009, 2010
Iowa Women's Music Festival 2011
FOX News Cleveland, Channel 8, 2011