Isabelle Antena

Isabella Powaga (* 1962 in Paris ), known as Isabelle Antena , is a French jazz , blue-eyed soul , bossa nova and lounge pop singer. She became known in the late 1980s with jazzy soul and acid jazz tracks in the style of Sade .

biography

According to her own statements, Isabella Powaga discovered her joy in singing and composing pieces as a child. As a ten year old she learned the clarinet . She got her first guitar when she was twelve, and her first electric guitar when she was seventeen . At 19, she went to London to work as an au pair for Rick Wakeman , the keyboardist of the progressive rock group Yes . When she returned to Paris, she had brought two things with her: a good command of English and the will to make a living from making music.

Inspired by a piece by the German Krautrock and electronic band Kraftwerk , Isabella Powaga founded her first band: Antena. Signed to the Belgian label Les Disques du Crepuscule, the group released their first single in 1982, called Boy From Ipanema - an early showpiece of the electric samba . The label liked the debut and the band moved to an apartment in Brussels . The first mini-LP, Camino del sol, was produced on a budget. However, commercial expectations were not met. Isabella Powaga modified the concept, took the previous band name as the new surname and called herself Isabelle Antena from then on.

Isabelle Antena moved to London again to record her first solo album En Cavale for the American major label Mercury Records . The collaboration with Mercury turned out to be short-term; The musical balancing act between electronic, lounge, soul and jazz was too demanding for broader commercial success. Antena returned to her old label in Brussels. Hoping For Love, their third album, was created in close collaboration with Belgian jazz musicians such as Michel Hatzigeorgiou and Johnny Dover as well as the Dutch pianist Diederik Wissels. Further albums and single releases followed, including Romancia del amor, one of her most famous pieces. In 1986 and 1987, Isabelle Antena became a mother twice; Son and daughter were named Achilles and Penelope. Isabelle Antena published seven albums and half a dozen single releases by the early 1990s .

In 1991 Antena became involved with Vaya-Con-Dios bassist Dirk Schoufs . Together with Schoufs, who died in May 1991 as a result of an HIV infection, she produced two further albums - Les derniers guerriers romantiques and Carpe Diem . The latter appeared after Schouf's death and contained the song Corto, a memorial to the close collaboration. By 2008, six more albums followed at longer intervals. As on the previous albums, the tracks were sung partly in French and partly in English . Isabelle Antena continued to lead the way in the area of ​​electronic music that is developing ever more widely - especially the varieties of electro jazz and bossa. The list of musicians she worked with included established jazz luminaries such as Barney Wilen and Jacques Pelzer , as well as new artists coming from electronic music such as Thievery Corporation , Nicola Conte and Tracey Thorn . In 2005 two compilations with best-of-compilations appeared: Easy Does It and L'alphabet du plaisir - Best of (1982-2005). A year earlier, the retro label The Numero Group published a compilation of early titles: Antena: Camino Del Sol. In 2007 the German label Permanent Vacation released an album entitled Versions Spéciales - Camino Del Sol with remixes by u. a. Todd Terje , Joakim , Nouvelle Vague , Lexx and Chromatics .

Outside of her music, the singer produces few headlines. Motto, listed on a second, additional artist website: "I'm a free spirit going my way". Isabelle Antena now lives in Montpellier , France.

Reviews

Although most of Isabelle Antena's releases date from the 1980s and 1990s, she is considered an important musical reference in electronic jazz, bossa, and nu jazz . In a detailed review of Les derniers guerriers romantiques , the music blog author and audio sound specialist Heinz Gelking praised the successful overall combination of jazz and electronic elements: "But the instruments are real: the sound of the winds, the thick double bass strings, the dazzling cymbals of the drums. And isn't that where it actually comes from, jazz, from the bars and dance halls, from the funky little stages that turn into glamorous places under a couple of decrepit spotlights if only the right people enter them? Here, first-class musicians knit Isabelle's music full of sensuality and atmosphere. "

Discography

Albums

• Camino del sol (1982, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• En Cavale (1986, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Hoping For Love (1987, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Tous mes caprices (1988, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Jouez le cinq (1989, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Fire (1989, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Intemporelle (1990, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Les derniers guerriers romantiques (1991, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Carpe Diem (1992, Vicvtor Musical Industries)
• Mediterranean Songs (1997, Victor Entertainment Japan)
• Take Me To Paradise (2001, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Issy Does It (2005, Les Temps Modernes)
• French Riviera (2006, Gate Records)
• Bahama Soul Club (2008, Buyú Records)

Compilations

• Antena: Camino Del Sol (2004, The Numero Group)
• Easy Does It (2005, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• L'alphabet du plaisir - Best of (1982-2005) (2005, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)

Singles

• Boy From Ipanema (1982, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Laying On The Sofa (1987, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Le Poisson Des Mers Du Sud (1987, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• De l'amour et des hommes (1988, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Romancia del amor (1988, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Domine-toi (1989, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
• Sur ton Ile (1991, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Isabelle Antena's website, accessed February 16, 2011 
2. ^ Antena - Versions Spéciales - Camino Del Sol at discogs.com, accessed February 21, 2011
3. ^ Antena, section “About me” , Isabelle Antena weblog, accessed on February 16, 2011
4. ↑ German review on "Les derniers guerriers romantique" , Heinz Gelking, page by Isabelle Antena on MySpace (originally: Musik-Weblog Platte11), December 15, 2006

Web links

• Official website of Isabelle Antena
• Isabelle Antena at Discogs (English)
• Isabelle Antena on MySpace
• Info page about Isabelle Antena