APPROVED PROMO KIT
About
“Punchy, energetic and suffused with joy…” ★★★★ – Songlines Magazine
Led by French-Australian singer Pauline Maudy (2023 Australian Folk Artist of the Year), who sings with ease in an array of languages, MZAZA are a six-piece band with a line-up of talented musicians from around the globe, and an aesthetic said to recall the free-spirited romanticism of Lhasa de Sela or redoubtable France-based collective Lo’Jo. Their songs draw inspiration from the cultural heritage of their members and collaborators, predominantly from France, Spain and the Balkans.
This multi-award winning group has already connected audiences across extensive Australian and European tours, and supported acts such as Baba Zula (TUR), the Violent Femmes (USA),Yasmin Levy (ISR), and DJ Click (FR). MZAZA’s third studio album ‘The Birth and Death of Stars’, described by Songlines Magazine as “a supernova of an album”, was recorded in Athens, has been extensively toured in major arts festivals and theatres in Australia (50+ shows) and is accompanied by a critically-acclaimed theatre show devised in collaboration with director Benjamin Knapton (C!RCA).
The impressive musicianship of MZAZA – deftly realised with vocal harmonies, accordion, violin, shah kaman (Persian spike-fiddle), percussion, drums, double bass and guitar – embraces diversity, the old and the new, the familiar and the foreign.
Find out more about MZAZA’s latest theatre show, The Birth and Death of Stars.
Highlights
- Theatre show, The Birth & Death of Stars: 40+ dates in Australia
- The Birth and Death of Stars album was in the Transglobal World Music Charts Top 40 two months in a row (Oct & Nov 2020)
- 3 Queensland Music Awards (2015, 2016, 2021) + 6 tracks Highly Commended (2011, 2015, 2016) + 2 tracks finalists (2019, 2020)
- Lead singer is Australian Folk Music Awards Artist of the Year (2023)
- Finalist Australian Folk Music Awards Contemporary Album of the Year (2022)
- 2 European tours & recording (2016, 2018)
- 18 date Tour of ‘Children of the Road’ show (2017)
- 1 EP + 3 albums
- Showcases at AWME (AU), APAX, Showcase Victoria and more
Festival Highlights: Scheune Schaubuden Sommer (DE), Prazdiny v Telci (CZ), Kulturnacht in Magdeburg (DE), Linz Pflasterspektakel (AUT). Brisbane Festival, Darwin Festival, Queensland Music Festival, New Annual, North Australian Festival of Arts, Woodford Folk Festival, MONA FOMA, National Folk Festival, Lorne Festival of Performing Arts, Cygnet Folk Festival, Crossbows Festival, Karavan International Gypsy Music Festival (AUS)
Supports: Baro Banda (Turkey), DJ Click (France), Violent Femmes (US), Yasmin Levy (Israel), Dva (Linsey Pollak and Tunji Beier) (AUS), Band of Brothers (Grigoryan and Tawadros brothers) (AUS), Katy Steele (AUS)
Releases
The Birth & Death of Stars (2020) (Album)
“A supernova of an album” ★★★★ Songlines Magazine
- Dying to Dance with the Devil (2016) (Single) Universal France – Boris Bergman box set
- Dying to Dance with the Devil & Enfants du Chemin (2016) (Singles) Echoes BEMAC Compilation
Ghosts (2015) (Album) (Planet MGM)
“A world where the past is ever-present and music knows no borders.”★★★★ – The Courier Mail
- Airplay highlights: SBS, ABC Radio National, Triple J, RRR, OP Racija (BH Radio 1) (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), QANTAS, Virgin and more
- Feature Album on PBS (VIC)
- 5 weeks in 4ZZZ’s Top 20
- Single ‘Enfants du Chemin’ spent 3 weeks in the AMRAP Metro Charts
- Nightwatch (2014) (Single) Echoes BEMAC Compilation
- Sous La Lune (2014) (Single) (Universal Music) SBS Chill Compilation
Journey Over Skin (2011) (Album) (Planet MGM)
“Held together by their coherent arrangements and energetic playing, Mzaza have crafted a joyous and diverse listening experience.” – 4ZZZ
- Airplay highlights: ABC Radio National, ABC Classic Fm, SBS, Triple J, Qantas, PBS, 4ZZZ
- Album of the Week on Kanaliena Radio (Greece)
- Two tracks highly commended in the Queensland Music Awards 2011.
Parliament of the Birds (EP) (2009)
“Each track displays such a high level of musicianship […] Mzaza’s driving rhythms and haunting melodic lines made me yearn for exotic places and adventures.” – The Folk Rag
PHOTOS
Video
Music
Reviews
“MZAZA are a six-piece band with an Australian-European line-up and an aesthetic that recalls the free-spirited romanticism of Lhasa de Sela or redoubtable France-based collective Lo’Jo.” ★★★★ – Songlines Magazine
“While there’s undoubted unorthodoxy in leader, singer and chief composer Pauline Maudy’s modus operandi of mixing songs delivered primarily in French with exotic Balkan rhythms, a brace of Queensland Music Awards and a swag of appearances at leading Aussie festivals shows there’s method in her -and their – musical madness.” The Weekend Australian
“Pauline Maudy… has the voice of an angel.” – Sounds Of Oz
“A unique and uniquely diverse band.” – 4ZZZ
“MZAZA have been a real revelation for our SBS Chill audience. They are just Amazing!” – SBS Radio
“Maudy and band darted across bright, asymmetrical rhythms with persuasive ease” – The Age
The music is of a uniformly high quality and it is easy to see why the band has achieved airplay on ABC Classic, Radio National, Triple J, SBS and Qantas” – Trad and Now
“Passionate, infectious, haunting, Turkish, Bulgarian, Andalusian– words won’t express it.”- Big Orange Chair
Workshops
The MZAZA team are experienced teachers and workshop facilitators and have a wealth of experience in designing and delivering community engagement activities. They have worked as classroom, instrumental, and language teachers, community engagement consultants, arts producers and music therapists.
Workshops can be targeted towards primary and high schools, emerging artists of all ages, adult music groups, language learners, cultural groups, groups with a lived experience of mental health or disability, and seniors. Check out this video about our community engagement program delivered as we toured The Birth and Death of Stars.
Available workshops include:
- World music singing for all levels
- World music workshops for instrumentalists
- Musical collaboration and song development
- Storytelling: explore your ancestry with MZAZA
- Schools: interactive show
- Schools: vocal or instrumental workshop (can include performance outcomes)
- Cultural connections workshop (for example with refugee groups)
- Professional Development: workshops for emerging artists and cultural workers
- One on one mentoring (music, performance, community engagement or arts career coaching)
SOCIALS