Laïka Fatien is a French singer aka Laika.

Personal life

She was born in Paris in 1968. Her mother is Moroccan, and her father is from

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. She studied at ARIAL

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

, CIM and IACP (jazz music schools).

Music career

Laïka is the first French artist to be signed by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. Here she recorded ''"Nebula"'' produced by

Meshell Ndegeocello Meshell Ndegeocello ( ; born Michelle Lynn Johnson on August 29, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. ...

, and ''"Come a Little Closer"'' featuring

Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved critical acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

Ambrose Akinmusire Ambrose Olusiji Akinmusire ( born May 1, 1982) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and trumpeter. Biography Born and raised in Oakland, California, Akinmusire was a member of the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble, where he caught the atten ...

Graham Haynes Graham Haynes (born September 16, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cornetist, trumpeter and composer. The son of jazz drummer Roy Haynes, Graham is known for his work in nu jazz, fusing jazz with elements of hip hop and electronic music. ...

Rufus Reid Rufus Reid (born February 10, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American jazz bassist, educator, and composer. Biography Reid was raised in Sacramento, California, where he played the trumpet through junior high and high school. Upon graduation ...

, produced by Jay Newland & Jean-Philippe Allard and arranged by

Gil Goldstein Gil Goldstein (born November 6, 1950, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American jazz pianist and accordionist. He has won 5 Grammy Awards and he was nominated 8 times. Biography He began studying accordion at age 5 after noticing it in The Lawrence ...

. The album artwork for "Come a Little Closer" was created by Sylvia Plachy the photographer. With her talent deeply rooted in Paris, Laika was often called on to accompany various artists such as:

Vanessa Paradis Vanessa Chantal Paradis (; born 22 December 1972) is a French singer, model and actress. Paradis became a star at the age of 14 with the international success of her single " Joe le taxi" (1987). At age 18, she was awarded France's highest ho ...

and

Rockin' Squat Rockin' Squat ( Mathias Crochon (); born 7 September 1969), also known as Mathias Cassel, is a French rapper, producer and director. He is the founder of Assassin, and co-founder of the Franco-Brazilian film festival Planeta Ginga. He has colla ...

and was featured on pianist

Ran Blake Ran Blake (born April 20, 1935) is an American pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for his unique style that combines blues, gospel, classical, and film noir influences into an innovative and dark jazz sound. His career spans over 40 rec ...

's recording of ''"Cocktails at Dusk"''. In 2016, Laika featured on Disney's homage recording entitled ''"Jazz Loves Disney"'' alongside

Gregory Porter Gregory Porter (born November 4, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for '' Liquid Spirit'' and then again in 2017 for '' Take Me to the Alley''. Ear ...

Melody Gardot Melody Gardot (; born February 2, 1985) is an American jazz singer. At the age of 19, Gardot was hit by an SUV and sustained a head injury. Music played a critical role in her recovery. She became an advocate of music therapy, visiting hospita ...

and

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

Issey Miyake was a Japanese fashion designer. He was known for his technology-driven clothing designs, exhibitions and fragrances, such as '' L'eau d'Issey'', which became his best-known product. Early life and education Miyake was born on 22 April 1938 i ...

, the Japanese designer selected Laïka as his ''"European Muse"'' for the Tokyo Universal Exhibition in Japan She performed at the Luminato Festival in the 70th Birthday Concert for

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

at Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada In 2016, she created with her husband, Christopher Thomas, the band Laïka & The Unit.

Acting

After a workshop with

Jack Garfein Jakob Garfein (July 2, 1930 – December 30, 2019) was an American film and theatre director, acting teacher, and a key figure of the Actors Studio. Growing up in Bardejov, Czechoslovakia during the rise of Nazism, Garfein was deported to Ausch ...

(Actors Studio) in 1998, her interest in theater started to grow. She has worked on and performed in a variety of television and theater productions such as: ''The Six Companions and The Black Princess'' as The Black Princess (TV series, TF1, France) ''A Drum is a Woman'' as Madame Zajj, directed by

Jérôme Savary Jérôme Savary (27 June 1942 – 4 March 2013) was an Argentine-French theater director and actor. His work has democratized and widened the appeal of musical theater in France, drawing together and blending such genres as opera, operetta, and mus ...

with music by

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

(National Theater of Chaillot, France) ''Los Sobrinos del Capitan Grant'' as Princess Maori, directed by Paco Mir

Tricicle Tricicle () is a physical-comedy group composed of three actors: Joan Gràcia, Francesc (Paco) Mir, and Carles Sans. They founded the company in 1979 to perform brief sketches in streets and alternative venues. At that time, the three members ...

(La Zarzuela Theater, Madrid, Spain) ''Celestina Del Sol'', title role in a play by José Rivera with Opera-Jazz Directed by François Rancillac. This was performed at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris and the Anger-Nantes Opéra.

Sources

* Philippe Carles, André Clergeat,

Jean-Louis Comolli Jean-Louis Comolli (30 July 1941 – 19 May 2022) was a French writer, editor, and film director. Career Comolli was editor in chief of '' Cahiers du cinéma'' from 1966 to 1978, during which period he wrote the influential essays "Machines of ...

: ''Le nouveau dictionnaire du jazz''. R. Laffont: Paris 2011

References

External links

Biography

FBReview of Look at Me Now, ''Jazz Times'', December 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatien, Laika 1968 births Living people Black French musicians French people of Ivorian descent French women singers French people of Italian descent