Sunday, September 19, 2010

RAVE - Les Nubians, at Yoshi's Oakland

I wasn't expecting much from the food element of the evening.

When we last visited Yoshi's in Oakland, we marveled at the performance space, and how Dwele used it, but were under-whelmed by the sushi space, and how the chef and staff wasted it.

But while the food was a little better last night (aided by our choices of the Toro Toro tuna,  spicy dragon roll, and much more), the overall organization lets them down - the farting around over where you actually sit for the show (they're supposed to organize that while you're having your dinner, but never do it swiftly or without a reminder or two), the fact that a 10pm show never starts until closer to 11. That's OK and you expect it with other live music events, but at Yoshi's it's hard to pace yourself dinner-wise - people end up eating too early and standing around in a long line waiting to get into the performance space, or end up eating too late and bringing their plates of sushi or whatever into the show.

Wikipedia tells me (and I know this is lazy of me to just quote Le Wiki): Les Nubians is an R'nB Grammy-nominated duo composed of sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart from Paris*. In 1985 the sisters moved with their parents to Chad. (Last night, the local announcer introduced them as hailing from Senegal, but I didn't think everyone wanted to hear me stand up and challenge that with a wikipedia entry). Seven years later, they returned to Bordeaux* and began singing a cappella, producing poetry slams in Bordeaux and Paris, and singing background vocals for various artists worldwide. Their debut album Princesses Nubiennes was released in 1998.

They have become one of the most successful French-language musical groups in the US. Best known for their Billboard R'nB Top Ten Single "Makeda" and Grammy nominated song "Je Veux D'la Musique" from their second album One Step Forward. Les Nubians were the 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award winners for Best New Artist, Group or Duo and received two NAACP Image Awards nominations in 2000.

I need to edit that Wiki entry to add "and they got 4 thumbs up from Pavey and Philip last night".



* In typically western-Atlantic style, the Wikipedia entry lists their homes as "Paris, France" (gimme a break, as if anything this sophisticated would come out of Paris, Texas) and "Bordeaux, France" (again, where else on earth do they end their city names with 'eaux')

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