ENZO ENZO
In the space of just three albums Enzo Enzo has made her mark on the French music scene, establishing herself as one of the most interesting figures to have emerged from the up-and-coming generation of female French singers.
The story of Enzo Enzo began in 1960 when Korin Ternovtzeff was born in Paris. Brought up by her Russian father, a civil servant, and her mother, a French saleswoman, Korin experienced a happy childhood and grew into a calm, easy-going teenager who was a passionate bookworm.
In the late 70’s Korin’s calm teenage years gave way to the wild frenzy of punk and she abandoned the library to become a roadie for a French group. After meeting Olivier, a young musician who taught her to play bass in 1978, Korin progressed from shifting stage equipment around to actually performing herself. Teaming up with a young drummer by the name of Violaine, Korin and Olivier went on to form their own group Lili Drop. The group did extremely well in the early 80’s and their first singles "Banal" and "T'oublier" did relatively well in the charts. In spite of this early success, however, the trio decided to split, going their separate ways in 1981.
Korin went on to launch a solo career, abandoning rock music and her bass guitar to concentrate on singing. In 1982 she brought out a début single, "Je veux jouer à tout" (on the Virgin label) under the name of Korin Noviz. Korin then took a short break from the music scene to give birth to her daughter, Lou, but she returned to the studio in 1984 to record a second single, "Blanche Neige" (this time on the CBS label). It was at this point that Korin Noviz metamorphosed into Enzo Enzo.
Enzo Enzo’s first solo singles met with only moderate success, so she decided to team up with Franco-Spanish singer Roé. The pair formed a successful male/female double act between 1985 and 1987, creating an exciting flamenco-rock sound and they even went on to compose a number of scores to accompany modern dance and ballet. But, eventually, Enzo Enzo found herself longing to return to her solo career so the following year she split from Roé and went into the studio to record a new solo single entitled "Pacifico".
Dream a Little Dream
In 1989, while pregnant with her son Elliot, Enzo Enzo devoted all her time and energy to working on her début solo album. "Enzo Enzo", which was released in 1990 on the BMG label, proved an instant hit with the French public. Indeed, the first single "Les Yeux ouverts" (Enzo Enzo’s French adaptation of the American classic "Dream a Little Dream") went rocketing straight to the n°10 spot in the French Top 50. The second single, "Deux minutes de soleil en plus", soon did equally well. Enzo Enzo’s jazzy melodies infused with a hint of Latino rhythms proved immensely popular with the French public and the critics were soon writing rave reviews of the album. Enzo Enzo also proved to be a talented songwriter, co-writing most of her hits with two loyal accomplices - lyricist and musical arranger François Bréant, and the singer Kent (who, like Enzo Enzo, had once been a member of the leading 70’s French rock band Starshooter).
In 1991 Enzo Enzo began a series of successful collaborations, writing and performing the theme song for Eric Duret’s film "L'homme au masque d'or". The singer also went into the studio with Kent to record the duet "Ni plus ni moins", which appeared on Kent’s album "Tous les hommes". (This duet was to be the beginning of a long period of collaboration which ended with Enzo Enzo and Kent performing on tour together in 1995). Later that year Enzo Enzo performed one of her very first concerts in Paris, singing at the Passage du Nord Ouest (a concert venue which has sadly disappeared since). Enzo Enzo was also invited to perform at the Francofolies Festival in la Rochelle on July 15. She went on to perform a hugely successful tour of Japan, becoming a veritable superstar in the land of the Rising Sun.
In 1992 Enzo Enzo was much in demand. After recording another duet, this time with the singer Jacques Haurogné ("Où en sont ils dehors?"), Enzo Enzo kicked off an extensive European tour. Then in August the singer flew out to Canada to appear at the Quebec version of the Francofolies Festival in Montreal. The following year Enzo Enzo performed an immensely popular concert in Berlin, then flew back to France to write the theme song to Elie Chouraqui’s film "Les Marmottes". Her catchy lyrics were the perfect complement to Gabriel Yared’s jazzy melody.
In 1994 Enzo Enzo returned to the studio to record her second album "Deux", which consolidated the singer’s earlier success. (Enzo Enzo’s début album sold a respectable 100,000 copies but sales of "Deux" soon topped the 300,000 mark). Working with her loyal songwriting team (François Bréant and Kent), Enzo Enzo was also joined in the studio by the renowned musical arranger Jean Claude Vannier and a host of stars from the French jazz scene, including the famous accordion-player Richard Galliano, drummer André Ceccarelli and guitarist Jean Michel Kajdan.
Number one
"Juste quelqu'un de bien", the first single release from the album "Deux" proved to be an enormous hit. The song, written by Kent, rocketed to the top of the charts and dominated French airwaves for several months. On October 17 and 19 1994 Enzo Enzo performed at the Bataclan in Paris, attracting a huge audience of fans.
1995 proved to be Enzo Enzo’s year of triumph. After being hailed as Best Singer of the Year at the "Victoires de la Musique" awards in February, she went on to create an innovative double act with her old friend and songwriting partner Kent. The pair invented a show which alternated duets and solos of their own hits with covers of classic French and German chanson (such as "Tu t'laisses aller" made famous by Charles Aznavour and "Bilbao" written by Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht). Interrupting the singing every now and then to perform short comic sketches, Enzo Enzo and Kent took evident pleasure in performing the show together. Audiences were equally delighted with the pair’s energetic performance and critics showered the double act with rave reviews. After two hugely successful performances at the Casino de Paris (on March 12 and 13), Enzo Enzo and Kent embarked upon an extensive tour of the provinces.
In the autumn of 95 Enzo Enzo re-concentrated her efforts on her solo career, touring alone throughout France in September and October and playing two dates at the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris (on October 16 and 17). Later that year she starred in French director Jacques Rivette’s film "Haut Bas Fragile", where she made an appearance singing several of her best-known songs. Despite her excellent performance in the film, Enzo Enzo was not at all tempted to pursue an acting career.
Enzo Enzo devoted almost the whole of 96 to writing new material for her next album, "Les idées bizarres". The album, released in February 97, featured contributions from Enzo Enzo’s usual songwriters François Bréant and Kent, but also included tracks written by Jean Claude Vannier ("Paris bretelle"), the English lyricist Peter Lorne (who co-wrote "A nos chagrins d'amour" with Enzo Enzo) and Gabriel Yared ("Le p'tit vélo qui couine"). The title track, "Les idées bizarres", was released as the first single. After the simultaneous release of the album and the first single, Enzo Enzo returned to her Slavic roots, performing a successful concert in Warsaw in February 97. After this triumph the singer embarked upon an extensive international tour which took her all the way from Eastern Europe to China and Vietnam. Enzo Enzo rounded off her world tour with a superb concert in Paris, thousands of fans flocking to Paris to watch her perform at the Olympia on April 9 1998.
In the autumn of '98 (October 1 to be precise) Enzo Enzo teamed up with Kent once again and the duo created a new show in collaboration with French musician François Bréant, kicking off a new tour in Mâcon in the French provinces. Enzo Enzo and Kent's energetic new show, which featured some neat choreography and an impressive tap-dance number, has proved a huge hit with audiences up and down the country. The duo also brought the house down when they presented their show at the Théâtre des Abbesses in Paris in May '99.
After keeping away from the spotlight for a while, the singer re-emerged on October 16th 2001, releasing a new album, "Jour d'à côté", four years after her last one. For this subtly-arranged album, Enzo, who is usually fond of penning the lyrics herself, invited the likes of Allain Leprest (who contributed five tracks), Jacques Duvall, Bertrand Pierre—from Pow Wow—and Kent.
Jacques Bastello wrote a number of compositions and arrangements, too. The first single release from the album, "Ils s'adorent," was a duet with Rolando (the Brazilian singer from the group Les Etoiles).
Trip to Asia
In May 2002, the singer set off upon an extensive tour of Asia, performing in Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Burma. Supported by the "Association Française d'Action Artistique," Enzo Enzo won over Asian audiences, giving them a foretaste of the show she would present to French fans a little later that year.
After taking a few months' break from her artistic activities, Enzo Enzo hit the road again, refreshed, at the end of 2003. Taking things back to musical basics, the 'chanteuse' performed a minimalist piano-and-vocals set, accompanied on stage by Angelo Zurzolo. In October 2004, she went on to release a new album entitled "Paroli" featuring arrangements by François Bréant and songs written by a crack team of composers (Romain Didier, Daniel Lavoie and Daniel Mille) and songwriters (Kent, Serge Lama, Brice Homs, Allain Leprest, Brazilian star Chico Buarque and French novelist Marie Nimier). This moody acoustic masterpiece showed off Enzo Enzo's light, airy and haunting vocals at their very best.
*
Enzo Enzo, always full of great warmth and humour at her live shows, has become an immensely popular star. Enzo Enzo’s jazzy upbeat melodies and her instantly catchy lyrics have not only attracted a huge following of fans, they have also injected a zestful breath of fresh air into the French music scene.
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