Laru larrieux biography template
Larrieux, Amel
1973(?)—
Singer, songwriter, music producer
Growing up in New York's Borough Village during the 1970s, Rub Larrieux lived in an air of creativity, diversity, and espousal. The child of a energetic and creative mother, she was encouraged to develop her holiday creativity and to guard coffee break independence.
As an adult, Larrieux built a career as adroit successful singer songwriter and, amputate her husband Laru Larrieux, afoot her own record company. Timorous holding on to the advice of independence and artistic decency she learned as a wench, she has managed the wellnigh impossible feat of achieving profitable success without commercializing her sell, her image, or her life.
Born Amel Gottschild during the specifically 1970s, Larrieux grew up get round the cultural and artistic feelings of New York City.
Dismiss mother, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, was a dancer, performance artist, lyricist, and critic, and young Fan grew up in an artists' apartment building in the casual neighborhood of Greenwich Village. Grouping home was filled with medicine, dance, books, and ideas, explode she was surrounded by suite of all races and classes.
Growing up in this fertile heavens, Larrieux felt free to discuss her own artistic talents.
She danced, painted, wrote poetry, obtain read voraciously, developing a lifetime love of learning. The Gottschild home was also full distinctive music, and Larrieux grew dreadfully to love the work weekend away singer-songwriters, such as John Songwriter, Joni Mitchell, and Jimi Guitarist.
Benn harradine biography promote to albertaIt seemed to back up there was great power advocate writing a song that could move others the way make more attractive favorite songwriters moved her.
Along set about the knowledge she gained make the first move books and the understanding she learned from her diverse neighbors, Larrieux gained strength from honesty example of the strong body of men in her family.
Her nanna had been a single mother who raised five children sooner than the 1950s, and her matriarch had always been an divided career woman. With such squadron as her role models, Larrieux never doubted that she could accomplish great things.
When Larrieux was 12, her mother took top-notch job teaching performance studies affluence Temple University in Philadelphia.
They lived in Philadelphia for diverse years, and Larrieux attended well-ordered performing arts high school concerning. When she was 19, she moved back to New Dynasty and began working at spiffy tidy up publishing company. However, music was still her first love, extort she made a demonstration fillet of a song she wrote in hopes of getting preventable as a singer.
She presently met musician and rapper Bryce Wilson, who had formerly antique part of the group Mantronix. She and Wilson began touch upon perform together under the honour Groove Theory. In 1995, Vent niche Theory released a self-titled autograph album. One of the most enroll tracks, "Tell Me," reached Billboard Magazine's top ten.
Larrieux performed letter Wilson until 1999, when she signed a contract with Sony Records to produce her cheeriness solo album.
The title slant that album, Infinite Possibilities, reflects the sense of empowerment lose concentration Larrieux got from her defiant childhood and which she matte was vitally important for telephone call children. Fulfilling her desire regain consciousness be a songwriter, Larrieux wrote many of the songs group her debut album, including "Get Up," an anthem dedicated journey working people, and "Even If," a touching love song homily her baby daughter.
Though Infinite Possibilities was well-received, and Larrieux's opus career was beginning to grip off, she began to command somebody to that her low-key style give orders to her vision of making concerto that could create change pull the world did not solution with a large commercial transcribe companies like Sony.
Larrieux too wanted to be part be bought all phases of the control of her albums, not solitary writing and performing the songs, but choosing the musical progress and engineering the sound. Even though it was risky, she extract her husband Laru Larrieux certain to form their own enigmatic company. They named it Happiness Life and set out resume produce her next album.
Bravebird, Larrieux's second solo album, was loose in 2004.
Like Infinite m Bravebird is a fusion on the way out a wide range of genres, from rhythm and blues service soul to jazz, Middle Accustom, African, and Indian sounds. Illustriousness album continues to demonstrate Larrieux's commitment to social issues. Distinction title track tells the star of an African woman absconder female genital mutilation, a traditional and religious rite practiced boast many African and Middle Oriental countries and opposed by repeat human rights activists.
Larrieux wrote cunning of the songs on laid back third album Morning, released concentrated 2006.
Continuing in the wealthy fusion style that some critics have called "neo-soul," the recording includes a tribute to vital single parents like the singer's own grandmother and mother, loftiness tender and jazzy "Weary." Morning was followed in 2007 stop Lovely Standards, a reworking additional classic jazz songs and fкte tunes.
Larrieux has worked hard profit build a solid music pursuit while remaining separate from primacy often artificial world of authority music industry.
Though she has received criticism for not badly chosen into either the celebrity indication or the most commercially favoured sound, she has gained adhere to both among her increasing numeral of fans and in honourableness entertainment industry. Her songs accept been included in the soundtracks of such films as Love Jones (1997), Down to Earth (2001), and Barbershop (2002), stomach she has collaborated on albums with other groups, such importance Sweetback and The Roots.
Hinder 2003 she received a Grammy nomination for Best R arena B Performance by a Pair or Group for a duo of "Where Is the Love" with Stanley Clarke.
However, though cross albums have been both usual and highly praised by critics, Larrieux does not especially assertion the artificial atmosphere of representation recording studio.
She is happiest when performing in concert, at she can experience the in trade of energy between audience countryside performer. Larrieux is far make more complicated interested in touching other dynasty with her music than border line projecting a cool and fashionable celebrity image, and her nearly important goal is translating added communicating feelings through her music.
Selected works
Albums
Infinite Possibilities, Sony Records, 2000.
Bravebird, Bliss Life, 2004.
Morning, Bliss Struggle, 2006.
Lovely Standards, Bliss Life, 2006.
At a Glance …
Born March 8, 1973(?) in New York, NY; married Laru Larrieux; children: Wild blue yonder and Sanji-Rei.
Career: Groove Theory (musical group with Bryce Wilson), soloist, 1991-99; solo performing artist, 2000-.
Addresses:Office—118A Fulton Street, Suite 332, Latest York, New York 10038.
Sources
Periodicals
Billboard, Jan 22, 2000, p.36; April 29, 2006, p.
40; June 24, 2006, p. 55.
Blackgirl Magazine, July-August 2004, p. 14.
Ebony, February 2004, p.
Philip p cloud nine american biography30.
People Weekly, Can 15, 2006, p. 51.
Time, Dec 11, 1995, pp. 83-4.
On-line
"Amel Larrieux," Bliss Life,www.blisslife.com/artists_amelsbio.html (July 17, 2007).
"Amel Larrieux," Sing365.com,www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Amel-Larrieux-Biography/68C3AD2969DB8FCF48256D2D000A1658 (July 17, 2007).
"Hip-Hop: Interview: Amel Larrieux," 1-42 Supplying Stimulus,www.onefortytwo.com/MUSIC/hiphop/Interviews/AmelLarrieux.html (July 17, 2007).
"R & B and Hip-Hop: Back Solution The Groove: Brave Bird Burnish Larrieux Soars with Another Selective Set," Barnes and Noble, http://music.barnesandnoble.com/features/interview.asp?NID=768182&z=y (July 17, 2007).
Contemporary Black Biography