Edith Lefel

Edith Lefel (November 1963, in Cayenne, French Guiana - 20 January 2003, in Dreux, France) was a French-based singer

Lefel's mother was from French Guiana and her father from the island of Martinique. She moved with her parents to Martinique when she was three. It was there that she was exposed to the rich musical traditions of the Caribbean. During the 1970s, Lefel grew up in a compas or cadence music environment. Compas bands such as Les Frères Déjean, Le Ska Shah Number One and Tabou Combo featured their rich modern meringue compas style, which constitutes the basic music of the French Antilles, Dominica, Cabo verde and several places in Africa, South and North America, etc.

In her 14th year, Lefel and her mother left for France, settling in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris. There she continued her studies in law, occasionally singing with her brother's folk rock group, and, in 1984, launched her career as a professional singer. The turning point in her career came when she met the Maffia band leader Jean-Michel Cambrimol. He invited her to accompany the band on a tour of the French Antilles, and recorded the hit single "My doudou" with her. Lefel's success on that tour led to more offers, including one from Jean-Luc Lazair of Lazair, with whom she recorded the single "Ich Maman". In 1987, she accepted an offer from the famous Martinican group Malavoi, appearing as a chorus singer on their album La case à Lucie. She earned her nickname "la sirène" by singing a song of that title on Malavoi's 1993 album Matebis. During the same period she met the arranger and producer Ronald Rubinel, whom she later married and with whom she had twin sons.

The year after Lefel first appeared with Malavoi she recorded her first solo album, La klé (The Key), which won the Prix de la SACEM for its producer, Georges Debs, in 1988. The album included a duet between Lefel and "Latin Crooner" Ralph Thamar - one of many collaborations Lefel recorded during her career with famous musicians, including Gilles Voyer, Dominique Zorobabel, Jean-Philippe Marthély, Sylviane Cédia and Mario Canonge. She explained to an interviewer for the RFI Musique website that when she hosted a house party she invited the people she loved the most, and she felt there was no reason why a recording session should be any different.

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