Performing Arts
Clarisse Sisters: How Mauritian trio built their dream career over 36 years
Friday June 30 2023
The Clarisse Sisters made up of (L to R) Annick, Dominique and Veronique performing during an SBM-sponsored Kenya and Mauritius partnership event at Sarova Serena Hotel, Nairobi on June 26, 2023. PHOTO | THOMAS RAJULA | NMG
Life has been a dream come true for three sisters from a tiny Indian Ocean Island who in the last three decades have been part of spectacular world music tours and rubbed shoulders with global stars like Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, and Lionel Richie.
“We got trained in singing since childhood so harmonising came naturally to us,” says Annick Clarisse, who along with her twin Veronique and older sister Dominique are The Clarisse Sisters.
“I have never heard three people sing in harmony the way I heard them,” remarks saxophonist Edward Parseen about the Mauritian sisters.
He and singer Anto Neosoul were performing with the visiting trio during the Kenya-Mauritius business partnership dinner and concert in Nairobi last Saturday night.
“Music can do a lot for business,” remarks Jean-Luc Willequet, a French businessman and frequent business traveller to Kenya who organised the event. “We have business, art, and culture all under one roof.”
The Clarisse Sisters performed with Anto Neosoul in Mauritius a month ago and chose to do a similar show in Kenya. “He is energetic, so much to give on stage, just a ball of fire,” says Veronique amid laughter.
A few minutes later they are together on stage singing a rendition of Malaika in Kiswahili, French and Creole as the opening song of their set which includes highlights like Butterflies in June and Guardians in June and a rendition of 1980s classic Sweetest Taboo by Sade.
The sisters started singing professionally in 1986 but their big break came when British singer Andy Bell of the group Erasure heard them singing at his hotel in Mauritius in 1991.
“Bell who was accompanied by his manager introduced himself and told us that they were preparing for a World Tour,” recalls Annick.
“Three months later we were on a plane to the UK and we didn’t have a clue how big they were until we saw the size of the tour comprising 30 to 35 singers, dancers, chefs and other staff, a two-and-a-half-hour set with seven costume changes. We did gruelling 107 shows in five months.”
When they made an appearance with Erasure on the popular UK music chart show Top of Pops, their dressing room was located opposite Lionel Richie’s.
“We asked the security guard if he was really there and he just opened the door and Lionel Richie stood up and said ‘Hello girls, where are you from?’ He even came into our dressing room and helped Annick wear her jacket”
In 2001 Whitney Houston who was on holiday in Mauritius with then-husband Bobby Brown stayed at the hotel where Dominique was entertaining guests.
“I didn’t know she was there and the manager said “Sing I Will Always Love You” and it turns out Whitney was there and she could not believe I hit those high notes. She jammed with us,” she recalls.
Just then Annick whips out her phone to scroll through pictures of her with Stevie Wonder at his studio and the late Al Jarreau meeting the group.
While touring with Polish jazz-pop singer Basia in 2013 the group did two shows in a row in Japan and then she lost her voice before the third show.
‘They asked us, “Girls, can you fill in for Basia, she can’t sing?’ And we just did it. We had no time to be scared,” recalls Veronique.
When Jean-Luc heard about that experience, he told the girls that it was time they did something on their own.
Their debut album Kaleidoscope in 2015 was a mix of the traditional Mauritian sega and jazz sang in French, Creole and a little English.
The follow-up Fire & Ice in 2021 has an international flavour with a blend of soul, pop, jazz and R&B all sang in English.
“We wanted to get out of Mauritius, out of the island vibe, and out of the Indian Ocean,” explains Annick.
They were initially stuck on five songs for the album due to their packed schedule in the hotels, which left little time to complete the album.
Then the pandemic struck creating an opportunity to work on the remaining songs remotely with British saxophonist, arranger and producer, Paul Booth.
“Thankfully the album has been played around the world and on major radio stations,” says Annick.
Meanwhile, Jean-Luc Willequet who was on a trip to Kenya was having a drink at Ole Sereni Hotel when the DJ played a song that caught his attention.
It turned out to be a song by Anto Neosoul and the two met for the first time last year. Eventually, he connected the singer to the Clarisse Sisters leading up to the joint show in Mauritius in May this year.
Tonight, the Clarisse Sisters will combine forces with Anto Neosoul, Edward Parseen and Different Faces band for a concert at the Shamba Café, Loresho Ridge, Nairobi.
Each of the acts will perform their own set before collaborating on some pieces.
