Available For The First Time Digitally, (2) Original Albums On Sussex Records And The RCA Anthology By Singer/Songwriter Zulema
A truly talented ‘unsung’ artist of the ’70s and early ’80s, Tampa, Florida-born Zulema Cusseaux (formerly a member of the group, Faith, Hope & Charity, began her solo career in 1971 at Sussex Records, recording two albums, “Zulema” and “Ms. Z.” Her self-titled solo album included the song “American Fruit, African Roots” and a cover of “If This World Were Mine” and she started touring as opening act for Bill Withers among others.
She signed with RCA Records in 1975 where she cut three LPs, Zulema, R.S.V.P. and Suddenly There Was You; in 1978, she released the album Z-Licious on Le Joint Records, which featured a duet with long-term collaborator Van McCoy. In 1980, Zulema had a starring role in the New York musical, Jazzbo Brown. In 1982, she formed a duo called Zalmac with Al Macdowell. Their album “Whatcha Gonna Do” on TSOB included the songs “Friends”, “I Get Down” and “What’s In It For Me”. Zulema had recorded at least one single on the same label, “A Mother Cries”, the year before. After returning to live in Tampa, she became lead musician at the First Baptist Church of West Tampa. She died after a short illness on September 30, 2013 at the age of 66.
Her first (2) albums for Sussex and an anthology of her RCA recordings, compiled by David Nathan, are now all available digitally for the first time, either as full albums or individual MP3s.