Bravebird is the second studio album by American R&B-soul singer-songwriter Amel Larrieux, released in the United States on January 20, 2004 by her independent label Blisslife Records. The album features the single "For Real", which reached number forty-five on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming Larrieux's second highest-charting solo single on the chart after 1999's "Get Up".

Album information

On the significance of the album title and song "Bravebird", Larrieux told Barnes & Noble:

"I read a story in a magazine and wrote about it. I guess it was a gift to her to extol her bravery. became appropriate also because true supporters of my music found ways to hear the song before it got on the album. It had been floating around to DJs two years ago. And I do shows and perform the song, so everybody knew it. So I started referring to as brave birds when I write messages to them on my web site."

Personnel

Musicians

*Amel Larrieux – vocals

Production

*Amel Larrieux – producer, art direction

*Laru Larrieux – producer, engineer, art direction, mixing

*Eric "Ebo" Butler – engineer, mixing

*Basho Ink – producer

*Herb Powers – mastering

*Andy Schlesinger – engineer, mixing

*Threadhead – producer

Charts

Release history

References

Category:2004 albums

Category:Amel Larrieux albums

Artist/Band Information

Amel Larrieux (born March 8, 1973) is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter and keyboardist. Larrieux rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a founding member of the duo Groove Theory along with Bryce Wilson. After leaving the group in 1999, she released her debut solo album Infinite Possibilities the following year on Epic Records. In late 2003, Larrieux founded her own independent label, Blisslife Records, on which she has released three albums so far. Larrieux cites Ella Fitzgerald, Prince, Rickie Lee Jones, Stevie Wonder, Shawn Colvin, Chaka Khan, John Lennon, Patrice Rushen, Jimi Hendrix, and Joni Mitchell as her musical influences.

Biography

Larrieux was born and raised an only child in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, New York City, New York. Her African American - Sub-Saharan mother, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, is a dance critic, author, and college instructor. Her father is of French, English, and Scottish descent. Larrieux was raised in a very artistic environment and was surrounded by talented and inspirational artists. Many of her influences are drawn from R&B, soul, jazz, folk, hip hop, and gospel with flashes of Middle Eastern, West African, and Indian ethnic styles. She has often been documented for describing her music as "Amel's music". Larrieux currently resides in New York City with her husband, Laru, and their two daughters, Sanji Rei and Sky. Her forename Amel means "hope" in Arabic.

Career

Groove Theory

In 1991 Larrieux met Mantronix member Bryce Wilson at Rondor Music. Wilson, who wanted to begin his solo career as producer and musician, was looking for a vocalist to work with. Wilson and Larrieux began to produce demos together and subsequently formed R&B/hip hop duo Groove Theory. Their debut release, Groove Theory, spawned several radio hits such as "Tell Me", "Keep Tryin'", and "Baby Luv". The duo were also featured in successful motion picture soundtracks such as 1996's Sunset Park and 1997's Love Jones. Larrieux, pursuing a solo career, would not be involved in the duo's eventually-shelved second album The Answer. Makeda Davis would step in as lead singer in 1999 until Groove Theory officially disbanded in 2001. Larrieux said of leaving the group, "You have to make a bunch of compromises and .. you know, I just couldn’t go on forever. We wanted different things and a combination of that and the label wanting different things from us just made me decide that it was time to move on."

Early Solo Career

In 1996, Larrieux guested on the self-titled debut album of Sade's backing band Sweetback, yielding the top forty-five R&B entry "You Will Rise".

Larrieux co-wrote and co-produced her debut solo album Infinite Possibilities, released in early 2000 on Epic Records, along with husband Laru Larrieux; the album reached number seventy-nine on the Billboard 200 and number twenty-one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and produced the hit "Get Up", her highest charting solo hit to date. Some tracks from the album, such as the eighth track "Down", could be described as acid jazz, a musical genre which combines elements of jazz with soul and funk.

Larrieux was released from Epic Records after this CD. She says of the release "I was asked to tone it down as a solo artist, which is one of the reasons why I was really glad to leave the major label where I was signed."http Husband Laru Larrieux, who had been co-writing and producing most of Amel's material, started the independent label BlissLife Records with her to distribute her music.

In 2001, Larrieux recorded "Sophisticated Lady" with artist Clark Terry for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.

On November 10 in 2010, Larrieux spoke about going independent, saying "This is the right time . People are more hip to the internet. People are more open to what independant means." She went on to say that Black independent artists are too under the radar.http

Independent Releases

Bravebird

Her second album Bravebird was released under Larrieux's indie label Blisslife Records label on January 20, 2004. While it underperformed on the Billboard 200, it peaked at number twenty-eight on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number five on Independent Albums. It spawned the midtempo radio single "For Real", which showcases her ability to utilize the whistle register and inspired Ebony magazine to rave about her "ethereal high-octave vocals that bring to mind Minnie Riperton. A portion of the album's seventh track, "Giving Something Up", could be heard in the commercial for BET's HIV/AIDS awareness campaign Rap-It-Up, in which Larrieux participated in September 2003.

Larrieux's collaboration with Stanley Clarke and Glenn Lewis, a cover of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway's 1972 song "Where Is the Love" from Clarke's 2003 album 1, 2, To the Bass, received a nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 2004 Grammy Awards.

Morning

Larrieux's third effort Morning was released in April 2006 and features the single "Weary", which reached number twenty-nine on the Billboard Hot Adult R&B Airplay chart in mid-2006. Morning is her highest-charting album to date, peaking at number seventy-four. Follow-up single "No One Else", written for Mike Shaunessy was featured on the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's 2007 film Why Did I Get Married?. The song Gills and Tails also received radio airplay.

Lovely Standards

In May 2007, Larrieux released a jazz standard cover album entitled Lovely Standards. It broke into the top five of the Top Jazz Albums and sold 3,700 units in its first week on store shelves.

Larrieux was featured on 2Pac's 2007 greatest hits album Best of 2Pac Part 1: Thug, on the previously unreleased song "Resist the Temptation".

Recent career

On February 4, 2010, SoulSummer.com announced that Larrieux is currently in the studio with Bryce Wilson working on Groove Theory's second official album.http The duo had their first live show together in years on Oct 7, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan.http Larrieux said of the show, "Tokyo was too fly, as usual. The audiences just got better and better." Larrieux said in a November 2010 interview that she and Wilson are currently looking for a label they feel comfortable with.http

In March 2009, Larrieux released the songs "Orange Glow" and "Don't Let Me Down" from her forth coming album, Ice Cream Every Day, to iTunes and other online music stores.http Larrieux said on Oct 19 that she was "dutifully" trying new things for her fifth studio album.http Larrieux also contributed "Don't Let Me Down" to the Enough Project. Proceeds from the compilation fund efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo’s women a priority, as well as inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in Congo.http

Discography

Albums

Singles

Album appearances

Soundtracks

Videos

*1996: "You Will Rise" (Sweetback featuring Amel Larrieux) — directed by Michael Krantz

*1999: "Get Up" — directed by Floria Sigismondi

*2000: "Sweet Misery" — directed by Earle Sebastian

*2001: "Glitches (The Skin You're In)" (The Roots featuring Amel Larrieux) — directed by Nzingha Stewart

*2004: "For Real" — directed by Sanaa Hamri

*2006: "Weary" — directed by Jon Menefee and 8 Hertz

References