An occasional update of music releases

CD CLASSIFICATION = World Music

CD TITLE = Zap Mama - Sabslyma, Luaka Bop (Warner Bros.)

These African pop musicians, with their bouncy rhythms and pleasing melodies, do so much to lighten the load in this world. But sometimes they stick to forumulas. Fortunately, Marie Daulne's vocal quintet, Zap Mama, breaks some molds. Daulne, a singer of Zairean and Belgian backgrounds, draws on her roots in Zaire's soukous music and then throws in some rich harmonic surprises: Carribean merengues, Indian ragas, pygmy chants, and even the strange, dreamy sounds of Australian didgeridoo.