Les Nubians bring jazzy Afro-pop to Kimmel

Long before there was a Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) and its celebration of all things Parisian, Les Nubians were preaching the gospel of modern French music with a twist.

Since their 1998 debut album, Princesses Nubiennes, sisters Helene and Celia Faussart have presented a slick, sophisticated brand of French and English R&B. While their music was laced with Afro-pop, hip-hop, dancehall and jazz influences, their lyrics embraced a pro-feminist perspective, with an emphasis on universality. Attribute that to the fact that the pair was French-born to a Cameroonian mother and French father, and spent a good part of their childhood living in Chad before returning to their homeland.

It was that sort of populist one-world swirl that Les Nubians presented to a sold-out PIFA audience at the Kimmel Center on Thursday.

Les Nubians know how to put on a show. Their ensemble entered to the noise of sirens. The face-painted sisters strolled out casually with a "bonsoir," and sauntered suavely into the gently acid-jazzy "Les Gens" and "Fraicheur Souhaitée," off their album Nü Revolution, which was released Tuesday.

While their vocals were sharp and honey-voiced, the soft, funky arrangements would've done Roberta Flack proud. That those acid-jazzers were followed by the similar-sounding "Liberté" (dedicated to Barack Obama's victory) and the breathy "Makeda" (dedicated to the Queen of Sheba), bogged the show down for a minute. It nearly felt as if Les Nubians wouldn't break away from the doldrums.

That's when the sisters changed the game up and brought some much needed energy to the stage. They took on the honking "Nü Soul Makossa" - approved by legendary Afro-beat star Manu Dibango - and woke up the crowd with its rap of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité," clipped from the French national motto. The pair adapted Sade's "Sweetest Taboo" into the hotly syncopated "Tabou." Finally, the duo brought out Philly wailer Carol Riddick, who helped turn the wine-bar jazzy title track of Nü Revolution into something grand and howling.