Les Nubians
2008-06-20
So many iPods, party mixes and CDs made for hip hotels and eateries have music by Les Nubians on rotation that its hard to believe it’s been ten years since their first album, Princesses Nubiennes, made them the biggest selling French language act in the US as well as the default “Hey, let me turn you on to this” music of hipsters across all cultures.
To this day the success of an album with only one song in English, particularly among urban listeners, is an amazing achievement suggesting that both in style and sensibility, they were on the leading edge of Black America’s desire to expand their minds globally.
The group’s less successful but more musically sophisticated follow up album, One Step Forward, showed the influence of the many collaborations (The Roots, Talib Kweli) and opportunities that resulted from their first effort. Even so, one gets a sense that their success in America took them by surprise and they were unaware that a loyal fan base was hungry to hear and see more.
Launch Gallery!
As a testament, last week Les Nubians played to a standing room only crowd at Chicago’s House of Blues, and delivered an energetic and nuanced performance that was honed over the last year in much smaller, more intimate venues like the performing arts space, Hot House.
HELENE:
“Hot House was about changing locations. It’s been four years since the second album and ten since the first. We wanted to tour for a while only in clubs so we could reconnect with the audience. In some sense the grassroots of our audience were demanding that kind of close connection to remind them that we are still here making music.
I was talking to a friend in New York who is a music writer and he told us about the fan base and how strong it was. That was beautiful to hear. Not very many artists have that blessing.”
Their tour manager’s surprise and appreciation when I mentioned offhand that I had actually purchased tickets for the show instead of pushing to get on the guest list suggests that their relative time off has been spent learning lessons about the dark side of the industry.
HELENE:
We have the music business to thank for the longer time between projects. In the last few years we’ve been adjusting to the changes in the business, watching the shifts in how things are promoted, how music is sold. There is no more artist development. The labels are more into money.
We do music for music lovers.
Time off hasn’t made the group gun shy about performing. At the House of Blues with a simple four-piece band, both sisters showed a confidence in voice and range that isn’t present on the recorded work. Their reworked versions of the Fela tune Upside Down and a surprising twist on U2’s With or Without You also showed a new willingness to shape classic influences into a new mold. Both songs may or may not make it onto a new album that’s in production now for a release in February.
HELENE:
I hate to talk about the music and influences on an album we’re working on until it’s done. As you know, in the creative process influences are subject to fluctuation.
On the last two albums we really wanted to showcase our Afro-European side working with people we knew in Europe. This time we wanted to explore what was going on globally and work with some of the producers and artists we’ve met in America. We also wanted to explore new beats, new arrangements, and especially different languages – French, Spanish, English, Portuguese.
Politics may creep its way into the new music as well. In live performances the group has been openly critical of French president Nicolas Sarkozy and have expressed regret that they can only support but not vote for Barack Obama.
CELIA:
[Politics] … It’s a part of us. We’re living in an interesting moment. The creative energy in the wind is positive. I think Obama is having an impact around the world, people want things to change.
We don’t see politics as something outside of the people, but something that is a part of the people and should guide people on how to live together.
We are citizens of the world. We live in a democracy. If we let them (the people in power) do all the politics they will do it their way instead of our way. So we have to be involved.
Upcoming performances.
August 29. Chicago African Arts Festival.
