In Phases … From Poet to Performer
Amabel Fran Artist Biography
New
York City has always been a “Melting Pot” of ethnicities, cultures and
the arts. Thus, it is the perfect setting for a singer, songwriter and
poet such as Amabel Fran to both reside and thrive. Fran’s stylistic
recipe of R&B, jazz and hip-hop is simmering over within her own
“Melting Pot of Muse.” She has absorbed this mix of genres over a
lifetime - evolving in phases - from poet to performer.
Although
Amabel now calls Long Island home, she spent her formative years on the
main island of Puerto Rico. She gives insight, “I came of age in the
suburbs of San Juan, surrounded by passionate urban art and
working-class decadence.” The hard-knock settings and struggles of her
tropical environment provided her with the grit, inspiration, and
dedication that it would take to not only be successful in life, but to
make it in the world of music, as well.
As
a child and teenager, Amabel found herself allured by the vocal
harmonies of salsa as well as the slow-tempo melodies of the Latin dance
genre of bolero. Her musical influences were diverse and included
artists across many different generations, such as the various musical
acts of Fania Records. In addition, she often listened to bands such as
Café Tacuba, Counting Crows and The Dave Matthews Band.
As
early as 2002, Amabel was working within the performance art of spoken
word poetry. She co-founded a traveling poetic troupe that brought
musical accompaniment into their performances. In addition, they had
integrated traditional Afro-Caribbean drums and other ethnic sounds into
their shows. Eventually, Amabel moved from Puerto Rico to New York
City. In 2007, she had joined a three-part harmony band that began
touring throughout Brooklyn. She was both a vocalist and an
instrumentalist, performing on guitar, djembe and the maracas. After
three years, Amabel knew it was time to begin another phase of her
musical life, but this time it would be as a solo artist.
“By
2010, my new goal was to weave an intricate tapestry of thought and
rhythm into my own original music,” explains Fran. In early 2014, she
had prepared her debut solo release, which contained ten all-original,
self-penned tracks. The project, entitled A New Life,
reflected the influence of her past spoken word poetry. The album also
retained Fran’s distinct and passionate Latin flavor - as well, her
intermingling of jazz, R&B and hip-hop now featured powerful
sections of brass and bass lines. In the spring of 2014, she began
releasing singles from A New Life to U.S. radio.
Looking
beyond 2014, Amabel has an assortment of musical scores and musings
awaiting completion and release. She plans to continue to harness her
inimitable ability to meld introspective and emotive elements and tap
into human emotions using semantics and soundscapes. As a poet,
composer, storyteller, instrumentalist and vocalist, there is no other
artist with such a recipe as the one stirring within Amabel Fran’s
“Melting Pot of Muse.”
