1981 In their first year Anaïd played around a hundred cabaret shows in Brittany and Northern France. The original members of the band were Emmanuelle Lionet (a quite remarkable vocalist, who uses her voice as a solo instrument) and Jean-Max Delva (percussion and composer). In the beginning they were a trio with a pianist who also wrote one of the songs that was used much later on their first album, the mysterious C. Devallé. In the summer they played a few festivals with Sugar Blue...
1982 They toured Belgium, played the Jazz de Vannes festival and the Festival des Tombées de la Nuit in Rennes.
1983 The group principals were joined by a guitarist, Patrice Meyer and Patrick Morgenthaler on keyboards. They appeared at the Vermenthon festival and toured Yonne and Brittany again. Later in the year they had a gig in a women's prison in Rennes! Also a festival with l'Orchestre Sympathique de Montreal.
1984 Worked with Didier Malherbe (GONG) amongst others, and were joined by the violinist Franck Cardon (ex-ART ZOYD) for a concert as a quintet in Lille.
1985 Anaïd quartet played small jazz clubs in and around Paris and made an appearance at the Festival l'Europe de la Musique with Phil Miller.
1986 March & April saw the recording of their first eponymous and self-produced cassette album with Sophia Domancich (who later joined PAZAPA) on piano. The bassist Hugh Hopper participated in the recordings and Patrick switched to synths. The original duo played over forty concerts with principally the amazing voice, and Jean-Max's percussion and backing tapes.
1987 The trio line-up was born when Hugh Hopper joined them for a festival in the south of France and tours in the north. The Anaïd trio then went on to tour in Holland and played at the Jazz Valley festival.
1988 More tours and jazz clubs etc, during the year they became a sextet with the addition of the ZEFF TRIO comprised of Pierre-Michel Bonafos on sax, Christian Hossaine on drums and a second bassist Jean-Marc Houssépian. This line-up went into the studio in Montigny to record demos for the next album.
1989 Hugh Hopper had to stop touring with the band and was replaced by another "Canterbury" musician Rick Biddulph. The new sextet supported OFFERING on their French tours and CHRISTIAN VANDER was always in the wings watching their set. They also played the Jazz Valley Festival with the TRIO VANDER. Hugh Hopper rejoined them in the late autumn to record 'BELLADONNA' which is a masterpiece of ZEUHL music with some of the most exquisite vocals, producing a vibrant music swirling with sound and colour. Then Jean-Luc Ditsch met them (he had previously worked with Patrick Tilleman on his 'Tillenco' album) and replaced Houssépian on drums.
1990
The 'BELLADONNA' album was well received in the new music press (Emmanuelle
was compared to STELLA VANDER and Kate Bush) and the band went on touring and
recording throughout the year. The best works from 1986 - 1989 were selected
and remixed for reissue as their next album.
1991 A new CD release entitled 'FOUR YEARS' was hailed in the press but not so easy to find in the shops. 'FOUR YEARS' has a fine clear production but personally I prefer to listen to the original 'BELLADONNA' recording, which seems to have an exceptional clarity, rarely found on vinyl. Perhaps it is just the different sequencing of the material, but the powerful Zeuhl influence on the music appears stronger as presented on their second album. The music this group have so carefully crafted is beautiful and almost unique. So if you cannot find the rare first release or the riveting 'BELLADONNA' you quite categorically must buy their CD.