Ekova

by Heather PharesThe globally inspired trio Ekova got its name from a word coined by singer/songwriter Dierdre Dubois when she combined the words "echo" and "ova." The Paris-based group consists of Dubois, a transplanted Californian; Iranian percussionist Arach Khalatbari; Algerian guitarist/oud player Mehdi Haddab; and French keyboardist Cyrille Dufay, who was actually enlisted only to modernize the sound on portions of the group's debut album. That album, Heaven's Dust, combined modern textures and arrangements with African, Celtic, Indian, and Near Eastern elements and Dubois' unique, self-created language. The album was released in France in 1998 and found a U.S. release in 2000 on Six Degrees Records, as did a 1999 remix album titled Soft Breeze & Tsunami Breaks. Space Lullabies and Other Fantasmagore followed in early 2001.