Malika Zarra is a Moroccan singer, composer, and music producer, based in New York City.
Zarra was born in Ouled Teima, the eldest of five children[1] to a Berber mother from the High Atlas and a father from Tata.
Subsequently, she performed or recorded with John Zorn, Makoto Ozone, Tommy Campbell, Will Calhoun, Lonnie Plaxico, Michael Cain, Brad Jones, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, David Gilmore, and Gretchen Parlato, among others.
Specific personal influences include Haja El Hamdaouia, Rais Mohand, Farid al-Atrash, Um Kalthoum, Warda Al-Jazairia, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby McFerrin, Thelonious Monk, Stevie Wonder, and Aretha Franklin.
Her band includes Francis Jacob on acoustic and electric guitars, Brahim Fribgane on oud, cajón, bendir, tamtam, and darbuka, Michael Cain on piano, synthesizers, and Rhodes piano, Mamadou Ba on bass, Harvey Wirht on percussion, and Jasser Haj Youssef on viola and violin.