Eleven was an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1990 by Alain Johannes (vocals, guitar, sitar, horns), Natasha Shneider (vocals, keyboards, bass), and Jack Irons (drums). (More from Wikipedia)
Although there is nothing about Black Russian in Wikipedia, there is a Wikipedia article about Natasha Shneider that has some information about Black Russian; Wikipedia as well has a write-up about the hard rock band Eleven that included Natasha Shneider and her second husband Alain Johannes. Allmusic lists Black Russian but has no information at all about the album or the artist.
* * *
Within a few more years, Serge Kapustin and Natasha Kapustin divorced, with the latter regaining her maiden name Natasha Shneider. Most of her post-Black Russian work was with her musical partner and second husband, Alain Johannes; he is also from far away, having been born in Santiago, Chile. Natasha Shneider was in a well regarded band called Eleven along with Johannes and top drummer Jack Irons.
* * *
The two are better known for their work with Eleven, a hard rock trio that formed in 1990 when Jack Irons (drums) joined Alain Johannes (vocals, guitar, sitar, horns) and Natasha Shneider (vocals, keyboards, bass) of Walk the Moon; this band was also a partial reunion of What Is This?. Eleven have opened for major bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, and Candlebox.
Wikipedia states: “The band [Eleven] cites their major influences as Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Beatles, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Sergei Prokofiev. With Chris Cornell [of Soundgarden and Audioslave], they recorded [Natasha] Shneider’s arrangement of Franz Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’, which appears on the album, A Very Special Christmas 3 [1997], in the liner notes of which they state they deliberately chose a classical work to help interest young people in classical music.”
* * *
Their opening album, Awake in a Dream (1991) was praised by Alex Henderson in Allmusic: “Eleven was a so-called alternative rock trio of the early 1990’s that drew heavily on the psychedelic rock and soul music of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Awake in a Dream is much too guitar-oriented to have been played on a Black radio station in 1970 or 1973, and yet, enjoyable selections like ‘Before Your Eyes’, ‘All Together’ and ‘Rainbow’s End’ make it clear that singer/guitarist Alain Johannes, bassist/singer/organist Natasha Shneider and drummer Jack Irons have spent a lot of time listening to the likes of Sly and the Family Stone, Ike and Tina Turner and Stevie Wonder. Shneider is also heard on the clavinet, a synthesizer that was prominent in 1970’s soul and funk but was seldom used in the urban contemporary music that followed in the 1980’s and 1990’s.”
Of their second album Eleven, Andy Hinds wrote for Allmusic: “Anyone who lumped Eleven in with the grunge glut of the early 1990’s simply wasn’t paying attention. Although it’s true that the trio’s excellent self-titled album (actually their second) was mixed with the guitars loud and fuzzy, the musical sophistication that distinguishes Eleven – including not only compositional prowess but sheer chops – leaves most alternative bands in the dust. Led by the husband/wife duo of Alain Johannes (guitars and lead vocals) and Natasha Shneider (keyboards and lead vocals), their primary calling card is a pair of extraordinary voices, both of which are capable of raw intensity and soulful understatement.”
With Queens of the Stone Age stalwart Josh Homme providing lead vocals, Eleven recorded the song “Stone Cold Crazy” for the album, Killer Queen: A Tribute To Queen (2005).
* * *
Jack Irons left Eleven after their second album to play drums for Pearl Jam but later returned to the band. Both Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider were involved in Jack Irons’ solo album, Attention Dimension (2004); Shneider played electric bass and piano on “Hearing it Doubled” and keyboards on Jack Irons’ cover of the Pink Floyd song “Shine on, You Crazy Diamond”.
(April 2015/1)
* * *
In addition to their work with Eleven, Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider became a sought-after production team. They set up a recording studio at their home called 11AD; Eleven’s entire fifth album Howling Book (2005) was recorded, produced and mixed at this studio.
* * *
Natasha Shneider passed away on July 2, 2008 after being stricken with cancer. The news was first broken on the MySpace site of the band Sweethead; Troy van Leeuwen, who had been a second guitarist with Queens of the Stone Age, is a member of that band and had been a close friend of Shneider. As shown on Wikipedia, the post read: “Natasha Schneider [sic], musician extraordinaire, former actress, singer of the ground-breaking band Eleven, and one-time Queens of the Stone Age keyboard player, died today at 11:11 am of cancer. She was a brilliant, beautiful, and ballsy woman who will be missed deeply by all those who knew her. Send your loving thoughts her way in the universe.”
(April 2015/2)
