Zao - Live (1976)

After saxophonist Yochk'o Seffer quit Zao in 1976, the lineup that was left from the band that recorded Kawana soldiered on for a while, until violinist Didier Lockwood and drummer Jean-My Truong left the band and Zao recorded their last studio album with an entirely different lineup with little ties to the band's past except original member Francois "Faton" Cahen (keyboards). This archival live album documents a show from this transitional quartet (with Gerard Prevost on bass) recorded in December, 1976. The recording of this gig was released on CD in 2004.

Live! compares to Kawana the same way British Tour '75 from Soft Machine compares to Bundles or Softs, as both bands' live albums from the period contrasted the polish of studio albums with rougher edges, a more warts'n'all feeling and more energy and thus have aged better than the studio work from the same period. Even though occasionally the sound quality may be considered lacking by some audiophiles, there is a sense of urgency and improvisational fury that makes this live set worthwhile, as far removed from the early Zeuhl manifestation as it may be. And certainly, the set ignores the material from Z=7L entirely. But it provides a nice overview of the middle period material. Zao at this point even continued to play pieces by recently withdrawn Seffer. His vast compositional input for the band is here represented by "Shardaz", "Zohar" and "Tserouf". The latter composition certainly becomes more alive in the live setting and the absence of soprano saxophone might be a relief for the listener averse to that instrument. With no sax in sight, it's easier to value Seffer's importance as a composer for Zao. "Zohar" is a faster rendition than the studio version and the string quartet orchestration on the studio version is replaced with a nice violin led jam. Apparently the band skips a few sections from both "Shardaz" and "Isis" as the former is without its intro and the latter skips a post-solo unison section with particularly fast notes. Like "Tserouf", Faton's "Kabal" and "Sadie" also have more verve to them in the live setting. The band is certainly firing on all cylinders as far as musicianship goes. And they do improv too. Even if Live! doesn't exactly please purist Zeuhl fanatics who deride anything without vocals as mere "fusion show-off", this album is a fine document how adventurous Zao could be in concert settings during the seventies. One of the pieces here is a 19 minute jam called "Improcol" that starts with the same violin riff that begats the post-theme improv section in "Zohar". Didier Lockwood showcases more of his violin talents on "Jumelles".

Live! is certainly an interesting document of a band in transition, but it also underlines the excellence of Zao in live settings, as their improvisational style could really fire on all cylinders on a fine day. It is safe to say that Zao had reached the beginning of the end though, as this line up would disintegrate a couple of months later, one last studio album would follow with different musicians and Zao would be put to pasture. Still, Live! shows that at this stage, Zao still had plenty of life in it and was capable of delivering a fine live performance.