With Christian Vander’s usurpation of Magma, pianist François “Faton” Cahen and saxophonist Yochk’o “Jeff” Seffer split to form Zao. They recruited two topflight players from the Paris jazz scene: drummer Jean-My Truong and bassist Joël Dugrenot, along with Jean-Yves Rigaud on violin. Their debut album, Z=7L, was recorded at Strawberry Studios and saw release on the Vertigo label in France. As one would expect, it furthers the “zeuhl” of Magma, but with a catch: If Magma had Klaus Blasquiz providing unique vocals, Zao parlayed this histrionic approach with Mauricia Platon.