Amel Larrieux

1973(?)—

Singer, songwriter, music producer

Growing up in New York's Greenwich Village during the 1970s, Amel Larrieux lived in an atmosphere of creativity, diversity, and acceptance. The child of a dynamic and creative mother, she was encouraged to develop her own creativity and to guard her independence. As an adult, Larrieux built a career as a successful singer songwriter and, with her husband Laru Larrieux, started her own record company. By holding on to the lessons of independence and artistic integrity she learned as a girl, she has managed the almost impossible feat of achieving commercial success without commercializing her sound, her image, or her life.

Born Amel Gottschild during the early 1970s, Larrieux grew up in the cultural and artistic center of New York City. Her mother, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, was a dancer, performance artist, poet, and critic, and young Amel grew up in an artists' apartment building in the bohemian neighborhood of Greenwich Village. Her home was filled with music, dance, books, and ideas, and she was surrounded by friends of all races and classes.

Growing up in this fertile atmosphere, Larrieux felt free to explore her own artistic talents. She danced, painted, wrote poetry, and read voraciously, developing a lifelong love of learning. The Gottschild home was also full of music, and Larrieux grew especially to love the work of singer-songwriters, such as John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, and Jimi Hendrix. It seemed to her there was great power in writing a song that could move others the way her favorite songwriters moved her.

Along with the knowledge she gained from books and the understanding she learned from her diverse neighbors, Larrieux gained strength from the example of the strong women in her family. Her grandmother had been a single parent who raised five children during the 1950s, and her mother had always been an independent career woman. With such women as her role models, Larrieux never doubted that she could accomplish great things.

When Larrieux was 12, her mother took a job teaching performance studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. They lived in Philadelphia for several years, and Larrieux attended a performing arts high school there. When she was 19, she moved back to New York and began working at a publishing company. However, music was still her first love, and she made a demonstration tape of a song she wrote in hopes of getting work as a singer. She soon met musician and rapper Bryce Wilson, who had formerly been part of the group Mantronix. She and Wilson began to perform together under the name Groove Theory. In 1995, Groove Theory released a self-titled album. One of the most successful tracks, "Tell Me," reached Billboard Magazine's top ten.

Larrieux performed with Wilson until 1999, when she signed a contract with Sony Records to produce her first solo album. The title of that album, Infinite Possibilities, reflects the sense of empowerment that Larrieux got from her own childhood and which she felt was vitally important for all children. Fulfilling her desire to be a songwriter, Larrieux wrote many of the songs on her debut album, including "Get Up," an anthem dedicated to working people, and "Even If," a touching love song to her baby daughter.

Though Infinite Possibilities was well-received, and Larrieux's music career was beginning to take off, she began to feel that her low-key style and her vision of making music that could create change in the world did not fit with a large commercial record companies like Sony. Larrieux also wanted to be part of all phases of the production of her albums, not only writing and performing the songs, but choosing the musical arrangements and engineering the sound. Though it was risky, she and her husband Laru Larrieux decided to form their own record company. They named it Bliss Life and set out to produce her next album.

Bravebird, Larrieux's second solo album, was released in 2004. Like Infinite Possibilities, Bravebird is a fusion of a wide range of genres, from rhythm and blues and soul to jazz, Middle Eastern, African, and Indian sounds. The album continues to demonstrate Larrieux's commitment to social issues. The title track tells the story of an African woman fleeing female genital mutilation, a cultural and religious rite practiced in many African and Middle Eastern countries and opposed by many human rights activists.

Larrieux wrote all of the songs on her third album Morning, released in 2006. Continuing in the rich fusion style that some critics have called "neo-soul," the album includes a tribute to working single parents like the singer's own grandmother and mother, the tender and jazzy "Weary." Morning was followed in 2007 by Lovely Standards, a reworking of classic jazz songs and show tunes.

Larrieux has worked hard to build a solid music career while remaining separate from the often artificial world of the music industry. Though she has received criticism for not fitting into either the celebrity image or the most commercially popular sound, she has gained respect both among her increasing number of fans and in the entertainment industry. Her songs have been included in the soundtracks of such films as Love Jones (1997), Down to Earth (2001), and Barbershop (2002), and she has collaborated on albums with other groups, such as Sweetback and The Roots. In 2003 she received a Grammy nomination for Best R and B Performance by a Duo or Group for a duet of "Where Is the Love" with Stanley Clarke.

However, though her albums have been both popular and highly praised by critics, Larrieux does not especially enjoy the artificial atmosphere of the recording studio. She is happiest when performing in concert, where she can experience the exchange of energy between audience and performer. Larrieux is far more interested in touching other people with her music than in projecting a cool and stylish celebrity image, and her most important goal is translating and communicating feelings through her music.

Selected works

Albums

Infinite Possibilities, Sony Records, 2000.

Bravebird, Bliss Life, 2004.

Morning, Bliss Life, 2006.

Lovely Standards, Bliss Life, 2006.

At a Glance …

Born March 8, 1973(?) in New York, NY; married Laru Larrieux; children: Sky and Sanji-Rei.

Career: Groove Theory (musical group with Bryce Wilson), singer, 1991-99; solo performing artist, 2000-.

Addresses: Office—118A Fulton Street, Suite 332, New York, New York 10038.

Sources

Periodicals

Billboard, January 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. 30.

People Weekly, May 15, 2006, p. 51.

Time, December 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 Fueling Stimulus,www.onefortytwo.com/MUSIC/hiphop/Interviews/AmelLarrieux.html (July 17, 2007).

"R & B and Hip-Hop: Back In The Groove: Brave Bird Amel Larrieux Soars with Another Eclectic Set," Barnes and Noble, http://music.barnesandnoble.com/features/interview.asp?NID=768182&z=y (July 17, 2007).