Orange Blossom

Orange Blossom
Concert of Orange Blossom
Background information
Origin	France
Genres	Electronic, World, Trip hop
Years active	mid-1990s–present
Members	Carlos Robles Arenas Pierre-Jean Chabot Hend Elwary
Past members	Éric, Jay C., Leïla Bounous

Orange Blossom is a French band that plays a mix of electronic and world music.

The band was formed in Nantes in 1993 with Pierre-Jean Chabot (known as PJ Chabot) on violin and Jean-Christophe Waechter (known as Jay C.) on percussions and vocals. In 1994, Éric (organ) joined the band and a first audio tape was recorded in September. In 1995 the band stabilized with the arrival of Carlos Robles Arenas on drums, djembé, and sampler, and the departure of Éric.^[1] Their first disc, Orange Blossom, came out in 1997 on the Prikosnovénie label, selling 15,000 copies.

Before their second album came out, the group was influenced by ethnic and traditional music. They met and collaborated with several non-French artists, like Ivorian percussion group Yelemba D'Abidjan and Egyptian group Ganoub. They toured in Egypt, France, and Belgium. Vocalist Jay C. left the band in 2000 and created Prajña. In 2002, percussionist Mathias Vaguenez and vocalist Leïla Bounous joined the group. The album Everything Must Change came out in 2005 on the Bonsaï Music label.

Carlos Robles Arenas is Mexican. Leïla Bounous is part Algerian, part Breton.She later left and Hend Elwary from Egypt, joined the band in 2014.

Their third album, Under the Shade of Violets came out and they are presently touring throughout France and some dates are planned in the UK in the summer.

Discography

• Self-produced 6 title audio tape (1994)
  1. Prayer
  2. Child & Doll
  3. Speedman
  4. Welcome In My Brain
  5. Jesse's Grandfather
  6. Red Orange Blossom
• Self-produced 4 title audio tape (1996)
  1. Ray
  2. Die Stadt
  3. Bali
  4. My Village
• Orange Blossom (1997)
  1. Anaconda Girl
  2. Maria Del Sol
  3. Bata
  4. N.
  5. Die Stadt
  6. I'm Dying
  7. Trinity
• Everything Must Change (2005) (SNEP FRANCE: Peak #141)^[2]
  1. Maldito (Cursed)
  2. Habibi (My Darling)
  3. Cheft El Khof (I've Seen Fear)
  4. Desert Dub
  5. Nafsi (My Soul)
  6. Souffrance
  7. Blama
  8. Yazaman (A Long Time Ago)
  9. Denya (Life)
  10. Bendimina (My Heart Is Aching)
  11. Ayoub (hidden track)^[3]
• Under the Shade of Violets (2014) (SNEP FRANCE: Peak #84)^[2]
  1. Ommaty
  2. Lost
  3. Ya Sîdî
  4. Pitcha
  5. Jerusalem
  6. Maria
  7. Goodbye Kô
  8. Mexico
  9. The Nubian
  10. Black Box
  11. Pink Man
  12. Aqua

Notes

1. see Jay C. interview in August 1997 (in french)
2. Lescharts.com: Orange Blossom discography
3. The hidden track is given as an eleventh song named Ayoub on Bonsai Music's web site

External links

• Orange Blossom on Myspace
• Prikosnovénie (French, audio samples)
• Bonsaï Music (French, audio samples)
• Orange Blossom discography at MusicBrainz