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Cyrille Aimée

Cyrille Aimée has consistently proven herself to be an unstoppable, undeniable talent in the modern age of jazz. Internationally renowned and praised for her unparalleled abilities, Cyrille's vocal stylings are synonymous with musical genius. Her culturally rich background has supplied her with the driving force of Dominican rhythm and the incredible swing of the French Gypsies. Taking these natural abilities with her across the world, she has done nothing short of receiving rave reviews and a loyal following in each country she graces with her voice. Cyrille mastered the art of improvisation while studying at the well known conservatory of jazz at SUNY Purchase, with teachers such as Pete Malinverni, Jon Faddis and Jimmy Greene. Cyrille Aimée was a finalist in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition of 2010, performing in front of a jury of Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater... In 2007, Cyrille won both the first and public prize in the Montreux Jazz Festival Competition. Cyrille's discography and musical history is an impressive list for any musician, jazz or otherwise. At the young age of 26, she has already released three CDs internationally, including "Cyrille Aimée & The Surreal Band" and "Smile" with Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo currently on iTunes. The Japanese label Venus Records has just released Cyrille and Diego’s latest duo album “Just the Two of us” this past November. Cyrille Aimée has been featured on compilations, feature film soundtracks across the globe and on the albums of Denis Chang and David Reinhardt. She fronted France's latest worldwide sensation 'Caravan Palace' on their European tour and performed in front of crowds that number over 10,000 people. Cyrille currently lives in Brooklyn and regularly performs in Manhattan with legends of the East Coast jazz scene. She can be found any given day in the historic jazz clubs of NYC, including Joe’s Pub and Dizzy's Club, with musicians like Steve Davis, Spike Wilner, Tom Kennedy and Anat Cohen among many others. Her latest record “Cyrille Aimée & friends Live at Smalls” features Roy Hargrove and Joel Frahm and is released under the label SmallsLIVE.

Awards

October 2010: Finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Voice Competition. July 2007: Winner of the first prize and the special public prize in the Montreux Jazz Festival Voice Competition.


Tags

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Radio & Podcasts

Cyrille Aimée: Improvisation Is A Way Of Life

Read "Cyrille Aimée: Improvisation Is A Way Of Life" reviewed by Leo Sidran


Long before singer Cyrille Aimee spent any time on the road she was already a citizen of the world. She grew up in a small French town, Samois-sur-Seine, but says that she never felt fully French. She never felt fully any one thing. Her mother is Dominican, her father is French, and she says that “when you're a mixed culture, you're kind of your own thing."Samois-sur-Seine is very small but in the 1990s of Cyrille's childhood it did ...

3
Radio & Podcasts

Lightbulb Moments

Read "Lightbulb Moments" reviewed by H William Stine


They don't happen often and they don't happen to everyone. But if one does happen to you, it could change your life. Of course I'm talking about an IRS audit. Of course I'm not talking about an IRS audit. I'm talking about those out-of-the-blue, eye-opening moments of inspiration or maybe self-discovery. One thing: they're always moments of clarity. I don't know what you call them: Serendipity? Intuition? Divine Intervention? Years and years of therapy? I called them something else this ...

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Bailey's Bundles

Ten Artists: March 2019

Read "Ten Artists: March 2019" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Kristina Koller At The Poli Club Self Produced 2019 New York City vocalist Kristina Koller follows up her debut recording, Perception (Self Produced, 2017), with this four-song, extended play live recording. Koller is backed by Fima Chupakhin on piano, Ben Rubens on bass and Darrian Douglas on drums. Their support deepens the organic flavor of Koller's sturdy and expressive voice. After Koller and company deliver a solid “Save Your Love for Me," the group assembles ...

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Album Review

Cyrille Aimee: Move On - A Sondheim Adventure

Read "Move On - A Sondheim Adventure" reviewed by Chris Mosey


Cyrille Aimée's latest album may come as a shock to fans of the French vocalist. Gone is the light, bubbly approach that has been her hallmark. Aimée is now a “musical interpreter," no less, and is devoting a whole album to the late works of American composer Stephen Sondheim. Except for Adrien Moignard's acoustic guitar on “So Many People," she has discarded her marvelous manouche backing band, depriving her of the interplay that made her recent stint ...

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Album Review

Cyrille Aimée: Cyrille Aimee Live

Read "Cyrille Aimee Live" reviewed by Chris Mosey


As a little girl, Cyrille Aimée would climb out of the bedroom window of her home in Samois-sur-Seine, near Fontainbleau in northern France and run off to join local gypsies by their camp fires, playing jazz and singing just as they did with Django Reinhardt (who is buried nearby). Reinhardt never managed to acclimatize himself to the international stardom that eventually came his way as a guitarist. He was forever yearning back to those happy, carefree days ...

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Bailey's Bundles

Seven Women 2018 – Part VI

Read "Seven Women 2018 – Part VI" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Jazz vocals remains a vibrant and productive subgenre as evidenced by this spate of recent releases. Diane Marino Soul Serenade: The Gloria Lynne Project M&M Records 2018 Singer Gloria Lynne had a long and productive career, one that remained unjustly in the shade, deserving of the attention that it is getting now from singer Diane Marino on Soul Serenade: The Gloria Lynne Project. Marino began on piano, studies with Murray Perahia at ...

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Album Review

Cyrille Aimee: Let’s Get Lost

Read "Let’s Get Lost" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Vocalist Cyrille Aimee is the face of post-modernity. She is the eclectic intersection of French, Dominican, and Roma genes and cultures. The result is brilliantly polyglot, the beautiful blending of goodness. This whispering description could just as easily apply to Aimee's music. Let's Get Lost boasts the same eclectic origins as the singer. For this current recording, Aimee is backed by two guitars, bass and drums, accentuating a Gypsy element in the music chosen. Her repertoire is a dizzying array ...

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Interview

Interview: Cyrille Aimée

Interview: Cyrille Aimée

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Born and raised in France, Cyrille Aimée is a jazz singer who now lives in New Orleans. She won the Montreux Jazz Festival Competition in 2007, was a finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2010 and won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition in 2012. She has recorded 13 albums, including Move On, an album of songs by the late Stephen Sondheim recorded in 2019, and her newest, Petite Fleur (Storyville), recorded with Adonis Rose and the ...

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Recording

Adonis Rose, New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, & Vocalist Cyrille Aimee Explore New Orleans' French Connection On New CD 'Petite Fleur'

Adonis Rose, New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, & Vocalist Cyrille Aimee Explore New Orleans' French Connection On New CD 'Petite Fleur'

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

The celebrated New Orleans Jazz Orchestra examines and the profound relationship of its hometown to the nation of France with its fall release of Petite Fleur on Storyville Records (digital release September 24, physical release October 15). The second album under the artistic directorship of drummer Adonis Rose features ten songs, nine of them standards associated with French and jny: New Orleans musicians. The tenth tune is an original by Cyrille Aimée, the acclaimed jazz vocalist who was born and ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Cyrille Aimée, Gregory Porter, Branford Marsalis, Jeff Barnhart, and more

Jazz this week: Cyrille Aimée, Gregory Porter, Branford Marsalis, Jeff Barnhart, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Although the official celebrations during Mardi Gras week in St. Louis typically don't offer much for jazz fans, leaning heavily on rock cover/tribute bands and DJs, this year the concert calendar countdown to Fat Tuesday just happens to feature several noteworthy touring jazz headliners, plus an assortment of shows from local performers. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, February 3 Singer Cyrille Aimée makes her St. Louis debut in the first of four nights continuing through Saturday at Jazz at ...

Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Introducing Cyrille Aimée

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Introducing Cyrille Aimée

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Today's showcase features some videos starring Cyrille Aimée, who will be making her St. Louis debut with performances starting Wednesday, February 3 through Saturday, February 6 at Jazz at the Bistro Though Aimée is just now performing in St. Louis for the first time, the 31-year-old singer, whose name is pronounced SUR- real M-A, has been plying her trade professionally for almost a decade. The daughter of a French father and Dominican mother who grew up in the small town ...

Event

Jazz Arts Group Presents Hot Club Of Detroit Featuring Cyrille Aimee - Sat. Oct. 12

Jazz Arts Group Presents Hot Club Of Detroit Featuring Cyrille Aimee - Sat. Oct. 12

Source: Scott Vezdos

Columbus, OH: The Jazz Arts Group's Inside Track series continues to heat up the Lincoln Theatre stage on Saturday, October 12 with the gypsy jazz of Hot Club of Detroit featuring the unique vocal stylings of French artist Cyrille Aimée. More than seven decades after the innovations of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, featuring guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt, combos called Hot Clubs carry on the gypsy jazz sound around the globe – in Tokyo, San Francisco, Seattle, Sweden, ...

“She’s alert and thoroughly engaged in the logic of moving harmony when she improvises, one of those singers whom nonsinging musicians call “a musician”. “Her singing is focused and playful, full of feeling, space and light.” —The New York Times “Twenty-six-year-old Cyrille Aimée, with a voice like fine whiskey — oaky and smooth, with a hint of smokiness — sang in a kind of intimate communion with one raised hand, held before her face, in the stream of her singing, like a trumpet mute, as if to physically shape the sound.” —The Washington Post "She exudes self-confidence, individuality, great musicality, and a fresh, captivating voice

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Julie Benko
vocals
Kaitlyn Fay
vocals
Janet Evra
vocals
Song Dynasty
band / ensemble / orchestra

Photos

Concerts

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Move On - A Sondheim...

Mack Avenue Records
2019

buy

Cyrille Aimee Live

Mack Avenue Records
2018

buy

Let’s Get Lost

Mack Avenue Records
2016

buy

It's a Good Day

Mack Avenue Records
2014

buy

Burstin' Out!

Origin Records
2013

buy

Live at Birdland

Self Produced
2013

buy

Videos

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