M'Zum: 'Come together joyfully'
Drum and dance troupe's inclusive call to all ages, cultures, colors
BY KATHY HALL
Correspondent

M'Zum Carnaval founder Marco Fuchs (center rear) poses with some of the troupe's dancers and musicians at last year's Fort Monmouth Community Day in Eatontown. Right, Fuchs, marching while drumming, was introduced to Caribbean music at a festival.

Can't make it to New Orleans for Mardi Gras or Rio de Janeiro for Carnival? Don't worry, you can always visit the Asbury Park boardwalk on Tuesday evenings and experience M'Zum.

M'Zum Carnaval (pronounced em ZOOM ay) is a troupe of professional drummers and dancers who specialize in African, Brazilian and Caribbean dances and rhythms performed in the Batucada style.

According to their CD liner notes, Batucada is "the stuff that festivals and parades are made of." The troupe also plays New Orleans-style rhythms that echo the carnival musical tradition.

Every week from May to October, weather permitting, the group holds an open rehearsal/party from 8 to 10 p.m. next to Convention Hall and attracts people drawn to the troupe's irrepressible carnival spirit.

Recently, drummer Larry Eagle joined the troupe for a quick jam before the April 25 Bruce Springsteen "Seeger Sessions" show at Convention Hall, and M'Zum has had up to 130 people dancing on the boardwalk, according to Marco Fuchs, the group's founder.

The name M'Zum pays homage to Combo Zoom, a band Fuchs played with when he first moved to the Jersey Shore in 1992.

According to Fuchs, he coined the name M'Zum to signify freedom or liberation.

"I made up the word," he admitted. "I created the name based on how the music makes us feel. I put zoom in the middle and came up with the 'a' sound at the end to make it ethnic," he said.

In some Christian countries, carnival is held right before Lent to give participants one last chance to party before entering into a period of fasting and abstinence, but the tradition of holding festivals before a time of scarcity is common to many cultures.

According to Fuchs, all cultures around the world have festival celebrations, but in African, Brazilian and Caribbean cultures, the drum plays a central role.

M'Zum’s percussion ensemble consists primarily of Brazilian carnival instruments, including the surdo, a large base drum that creates the foundation of the rhythm, snare drums, bells and shakers as well as djembe (African drums).

"The rhythms of carnival are as complex as a classical piece of music," said Fuchs, who also writes the group's arrangements. "All the rhythms are precise and written out, and the parts for different drums all fit together."

The drummers interact with the dancers in a special way, according to Lorraine Stone, Eatontown, who has been dancing and choreographing for the group since 1999.

"In performance with a drum-based group, the dancer responds to the drum similarly to the way people might respond at a party, but in a party it ends there," she explained. "In a performance, the drum then responds to the dancer, and the dancer and the drummer are driving each other.

"We have certain pieces that are very choreographed and other pieces where rhythmically the drum will dictate the movement. The rhythm moves the dancer and the dancer responds to that," she added.

The number of people who perform with the group varies depending on the venue. Fuchs has a list of 20 musicians and dancers and also has access to fire-eaters and stilt-walkers. The group can perform with 15 drums or as few as two.

M'Zum has infused its infectious carnival spirit into local events, including the Red Bank Jazz and Blues Festival, Community Day at Fort Monmouth, Red Bank StreetLife, Jazz by the Beach in West End, Long Branch, and Unity Day in Lakewood.

M'Zum offers children's and in-school programs as well as more adult entertainment.

"If you are familiar with the Rio de Janeiro carnival style, it can be very sensuous, very sexy," Fuchs said. "We can also be much more moderate."

Fuchs, who lives in Long Branch, grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he studied with a number of different drummers and learned to play percussion instruments from all over the world. As the leader of the group, he plays the repinique, which looks similar to the tom-tom in Western drum kits.

In addition to working with M'Zum, Fuchs takes private students and teaches Afro-Caribbean drumming at the Count Basie Cool School in Red Bank. He also facilitates a drum circle for the Red Bank Music Community on the first Thursday of each month, which he describes as "just a group of friends having a rhythm party." There is a $5 donation to participate.

Fuchs was introduced to the carnival concept by a Trinidadian woman who took him to a Caribbean carnival on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. He was immediately attracted by the inclusiveness of the music.

"What influenced me was the steel band that came out to play at 4 in the morning," he said. "You had young people and old people, grandfathers and granddaughters, black and white, male and female. Everybody was playing. I thought, This is just great; that's how it should be."

And, a spirit of inclusiveness is central to M'Zum events.

"You can sit and watch us and we'll entertain you, but we want you to get involved," Fuchs said, adding that most performances include audience participation in the finale.

"Our dancers will teach you traditional carnival dance steps," he promised. "We hand out tambourines, drums, it's a lot of fun for people. It becomes a big community celebration."

The energy exchange between the musicians and the audience inspires the performers, according to Jennie Meares, who dances with the group.

"The energy of the drums fuels us, and our energy fuels them and the energy of the crowd. It's just an amazing phenomenon, very collective and inclusive," said Meares, Matawan.

"Our Tuesday night rehearsal/parties are an example of this. Because it's summertime, people are out and they hear us and the next thing you know, they are regulars," she said. "It's the best antidepressant I've ever found."

Audience members need not worry about being able to replicate some of the more virtuosic dance moves, according to Stone.

"It's not important that they are doing the steps," she explained, "it's important that they are moving and enjoying it.

"Movement can be such a release, so freeing. It allows us to move past those places in our life where we often get stuck," she observed. "The dance and the drum give people the opportunity to express themselves. It's just a beautiful, wondrous thing."

The members of M'Zum believe that their music serves a higher purpose than mere entertainment.

"I know that many of us feel that music and dancing on an international level, we broaden cultural horizons - that's very important in the world today," Fuchs said. "I read a quote that said the reason people fight is that they don't know music. This is a way we can come together joyfully, all cultures, all ages, all colors. We all go home better for us and the planet. We do it because we love it and because we know it is making a difference."

In addition to their Tuesday evening events, M'Zum will be participating in the Caribbean Festival on the Asbury Park Boardwalk on Saturday, Aug. 19, from 1 to 5 p.m. For additional information on the group and a list of upcoming events, visit www.mzume.com.