YEOUE GLAOLOU NARCISSE
(songwriter/lead vocals)

Narcisse is from the extreme west of the Cote d’Ivoire near the border with Liberia. He is a member of the ethnic group self- identified as either We or Guere. His family is from the small town of Bangolo, but Narcisse was raised in the regional capital of Duekoue. He didn’t excel in school, but was always noted by teachers for his ability to sing. This was no accident, as his family is full of traditional singers and dancers, including a famous uncle who would go from village to village to perform one of the mask ceremonies so central to Guere culture.

After dropping out of school at a very young age, Narcisse began pursuing music full time with Dr. Blihe Bayé Gaspard, a guitarist and singer from the older generation who had played with some of the area’s top musicians in the 60s and 70s. During that time Narcisse also met Laurent, who was working at his father’s hotel in the neighborhood. They recognized in one another a kindred spirit and passion for music, and fast became like brothers. They rehearsed every night and formed a band in Duekoue to participate in radio competitions and other events, until Laurent left for Abidjan in 1992 to attend music school.

In 1993 Narcisse went to Abidjan to record an album with Dr. Blihe Baye Gaspard (at the studio of Mamadou Doumbia), and to reconnect with Laurent. They played wherever they could, and eventually appeared on national television shows like Podium (3 times), Chorus and Marlboro Rocking. Through King Shabba, a good friend and leader of the rasta community in Port-Bouet, Narcisse and Laurent met American drummer Alex Owre in 1997, and later guitarist Michael Shereikis. They soon added bass player SEHOUA Aristide, and Zieti was formed.

Narcisse has been supporting himself exclusively through music ever since. He is living in a new neighborhood near the airport called Moussakro, and is reachable by cellphone. He has four children, 3 of whom live in Duekoue with their aunt. The eldest is in Togo with her mother.

TIENDE DJOS LAURENT
(songwriter/arranger/rhythm guitar/harmonica)

Laurent is also from the extreme west of the Cote d’Ivoire near the border with Liberia, and a member of the We, or Guere, ethnic group. He was born in Duekoue to a well established family. Due to his integrity and wisdom, along with his position as Capitaine de la Douane (Chief Customs Officer), Laurent’s father is a well respected and oft-consulted man in the region, a sort of de facto chef du canton. Laurent was expected to take over his father’s affairs and perhaps inherit his mantle, but music had other plans.

Laurent left Duekoue for the capital, Abidjan, in 1992 to attend INSAAC (Institute National Supèrieur des Arts et de l’Action Culturelle). He soon wrote a letter back to Narcisse urging him to come to Abidjan and pursue their music together. The two settled in Port-Bouet, a beach shanty near Abidjan’s airport. They played wherever they could, and eventually appeared on national television shows like Podium (3 times), Chorus and Marlboro Rocking. Through King Shabba, a good friend and leader of the rasta community in Port-Bouet, Laurent and Narcisse met American drummer Alex Owre in 1997, and later guitarist Michael Shereikis. They soon added bass player SEHOUA Aristide, and Zieti was formed.

Though he did not respect his father’s wishes in the path he chose, Laurent stays very connected to his Guere heritage and cultural tradition, and draws most of his musical inspiration from what he calls le folklore. In addition, before her passing in the late 90s, Laurent’s mother was recognized in the area as a visionary. She received the gift of seeing-beyond as a young woman, and was held in high regard for this gift throughout her life. Laurent very much lives and writes from the same sort of old-school spiritual perspective as his mother.

Laurent is currently managing a family farm near a small village in the area of Duekoue. He survived the recent political upheaval keeping his head low while events ebbed and flowed, and amid tragic reports of hundreds massacred in Duekoue. While Laurent is not currently reachable by phone, word has been sent to him of Zieti’s re-emergence, and he has sent word back that he is making arrangements to come join Narcisse in Abidjan. Laurent has 2 grown sons, who are hopefully safe as well.

MICHAEL SHEREIKIS
(producer/guitar, etc.)

Michael Shereikis picked up his roommate’s guitar in college, but his playing didn’t really pick up until he was living as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Central African Republic. With plenty of time on his hands, a walkman and an acoustic guitar, Michael began a lifelong love affair with African cross-rhythms. Untrained in any classical sense, Michael has nonetheless learned from some of the greatest guitar players to ever devastate a fretboard: Diblo Dibala, Sekou Bembeya Diabate, Djelimady Tounkara, Atisso, and on and on, all from cassettes and CDs.

After Peach Corps, Michael studied anthropology at Tulane University, and spent two years in Cote d’Ivoire researching for a dissertation on how market forces shape the artistic vision of local musicians. He and Zieti found each other within a week of landing in Abidjan, and they spent two years making music together.

After leaving Abidjan, Michael settled in the DC area with his wife and two kids. There he found a somewhat hidden network of African musicians of massive talent, struggling to make ends meet as security guards and pizza deliverers. They were sadly finding their dream of making music in the states a harsh reality of low wages and bills to pay. He abandoned his dissertation (ABD as they say), and set about the project of creating infrastructure to give those musicians a fighting chance.

He started by building a modest studio into his garage, and co-founding an independent record label, Grigri Discs, for which he has produced albums by local African music groups Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band, Cheick Hamala Diabate, Elikeh and now Zieti. Michael has played guitar or bass for all these projects, and is still plucking, singing and writing songs with Chopteeth. 

ALEX OWRE
(drums)

Alex Owre began drumming the morning of his eighth birthday when he awoke to some shiny bongos at the foot of his bed. Soon he was accompanying his father's saxophone on drumset and playing along to records running heavily to jazz and world music. In the early '90s he studied djembe in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso with the drum and dance troop Watinoma. He returned to West Africa in 1997, to Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, where he joined forces with his fellow musicians in Zieti. Alex now lives and drums in Maine with his wife and two children.

[NOTE: Other than the two backup singers who were recruited in Abidjan by Narcisse and Laurent, the rest of the musicians on this album are all members of the Chopteeth extended family in DC.]