ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THE YOUNGER SINGERS, CYRILLE AIMEE, IS CHANGING DIRECTIONS.
HER FIRST ALBUMS AS A VOCALIST HAD HER CAPTURE THE GYPSY SPIRIT OF DJANGO REINHARDT, COMPLETE WITH A HOT JAZZ GUITAR COMBO IN SUPPORT.
THIS PAST YEAR, MS AIMEE HAS JETTISONED THAT BAND (CAPTURED IN A WONDERFUL CONCERT ALBUM) AND HAS MOVED TO NEW ORLEANS, EXPLORING NEW SOUNDS AND NEW WORLDS. HER MOST RECENT ALBUM HAS HER EXPLORING THE STEPHEN SONDHEIM SONGBOOK.
WHILE LONG TIME FANS MAY AT FIRST RAISE AN EYEBROW, THE PROGRESSION MAKES SENSE, AS AIMEE’S MATURITY GLISTENS ON EACH SONG.
WE HAD A CHANCE TO ASK HER ABOUT HER PAST AS WELL AS RECENT VENTURE.
WHAT WERE THE FIRST RECORDS THAT GOT YOU INTERESTED IN SINGING?
Ella Fitzgerald. I grew up in a town where there were a lot of gypsies, so I first got exposed to the music of Django Reinhardt. I first wanted to sing his music, but there were not a lot of his songs with lyrics. So someone gave me a 4 cd set of Ella Fitzgerald, so that was my introduction, and I fell in love with the American Songbook.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN SINGING AND HANGING WITH THE GYPSIES THAT IS MOST ADVANTAGEOUS TO YOUR SINGING CAREER AND STYLE?
Being in the moment. That’s a big one for me. That’s how I live my life and how I make music.
YOU HAD AN EPISODE WHERE YOU WALKED AWAY FROM THE STAR ACADEMY. WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?
The Star Academy is like American Idol. I had done many auditions with them, and at the end they choose sixteen people for “The Castle.” Each week one person is eliminated.
I was 18, and the prospect of being a famous pop star was very appealing. But, I had just discovered jazz, and I knew that they were not going to let me do jazz on TV. So I left and had no regrets
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“I’m opening up myself to the audience and letting them know what the song is all about. I take the performance of each song very personally”
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YOU CAME TO AMERICA AND JOINED UP WITH JOEL FRAHM AND SPIKE AT SMALLS IN NEW YORK. WHAT WAS YOUR INITIAL IMPRESSION OF THE AMERICAN JAZZ SCENE?
I loved it; I loved the energy. That’s why I stayed. There was so much to see, so much talent. It was exactly what I came for.
DID THE MUSICIANS GIVE YOU ANY MUSICAL OR CAREER ADVICE?
I always look up to musicians that have more experience than I, and I learned a lot being surrounded by Joel and Spike and grew a lot during that time.
Spike was a mentor, for sure. To this day he remains one of my best friends and I call him when I need advice on “life stuff.” Jan, the owner from Birdland helped me a lot about stage presence.
I remember that when I would come to sing at the club she would always tell me “Look at the people at the right, at the left and the people in the very back” and to acknowledge them all when I sing.
YOU WERE WITH ONE GROUP FOR A LONG TIME. DID IT JUST NATURALLY EVOLVE OR WAS IT A SINGLE VISION OF YOURS?
I had a specific goal; I knew exactly what I wanted and who I wanted. It was my vision, and once I had the band together to make my vision come true.
I knew that I wanted to do a record with guitars, as it’s my favorite instrument. However, I didn’t know which guitar to choose as I loved both jazz guitar, gypsy guitar and Brazilian guitar, so I finally figured “Why not have all of them?”. (laughs)
That’s how I got the band together as a team. Michael, the jazz guitarist, and I did the arranging and made sure that it worked for all of the types of guitar.
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“I knew that I wanted strings because for this record my vision was cinematographic in its ambiance; very dramatic, and so I thought strings would be a great way to achieve that”
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YOUR “LIVE” ALBUM MIXED STANDARDS WITH YOUR OWN SONGS. IS THERE A DIFFERENCE IN PRESENTATION?
Your own songs are a bit more personal, but the standards that I choose are picked because they are still personal to me so there’s not that big of a difference in interpreting them. I’m opening up myself to the *****audience and letting them know what the song is all about. I take the performance of each song very personally.
YOU ALSO DID SOME SIDE PROJECTS WITH BRAZILIAN GUITARIST DIEGO FIGUEROA. HOW DID THEY COME ABOUT?
Diego and I have toured for many years, and we’ve recorded two albums together. It’s been a wonderful long term relationship.
His setting is different from any other kind of setting. In a duet setting, you’re really feeding off the *****energy of the other person. It’s just like a conversation with the energy going back and forth, so it’s much different than a trio or quartet. I don’t prefer one or the other, as being with a band is so powerful in volume and energy. Both sides are good.
WHEN YOU DID THE “LIVE” ALBUM, DID YOU KNOW IT WAS GOING TO BE YOUR LAST TOUR?
We knew it was going to be our last gig, but we didn’t know that it was going to be an album. It’s probably a good thing that we didn’t know as we probably would have been nervous.
We had talked about it for sometime. It’s not like I fired them or anything. It had been five years, and I had started getting into the Stephen Sondheim material with two of them, and it was just feeling like it was time.
Adrian, the guitarist, wanted to spend more time in Paris and less in the US, so it was good for everyone to take a break. It doesn’t mean that we’re never going to play together again. In fact I just played with Adrian since then, and Michael feels there will be a reunion concert someday.
WHAT WAS THE MOTIVATION BEHIND GOING FROM REINHARDT TO STEPHEN SONDHEIM, WHO’S BEST KNOWN FOR SOUNDTRACKS?
I discovered Sondheim a couple of years ago when I was performing for the New York City Center with Wynton Marsalis and Bernadette Peters. That was an amazing way to first hear him as Bernadette is one of his muses. My heart completely melted with his songs.
The first one I ever recorded of his was the one that I sang on that show. When I got deeper and deeper into his repertoire, I didn’t expect there to be so many songs that I would fall in love with. Knowing that I had another recording coming up, I knew that I didn’t want to do jazz standards again ( I felt that I was kind of over that) so I thought it would be a good idea to do Sondheim as I was discovering that there were so many lovely songs of his.
WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO HIS MATERIAL?
I’m in love with everything; the lyrics, the harmony, the melody. His harmonies are so rich and there is so much to work with. The melodies are intricate, and the lyrics that go along it are so modern.
The American Songbook can start getting old after awhile with the repetitiveness. Sondheim’s lyrics felt like a fresh and new door opening.
THIS ALBUM HAS YOU WITH STRINGS. HAD YOU EVER DONE THIS BEFORE?
Yes, I recorded an album with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra and it has a few songs with strings. That was Bursting Out.
The way that you record strings in general is that you don’t record at the same time, as it requires a really big studio. With the Chicago Jazz Orchestra we recorded at the same time, but with this latest album the strings were recorded after I sang the track with the quintet.
It was my idea to do the strings. Seth wrote the string arrangements.
I knew that I wanted strings because for this record my vision was cinematographic in its ambiance; very dramatic, and so I thought strings would be a great way to achieve that.
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“Whatever I felt for each song I wanted each song to portray a different picture; completely the opposite of my previous records which was always focused on the “band” sound”
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YOU ALSO INCLUDED ELECTRONICS THIS TIME AROUND
That’s something that I do with my machine. I also do it on the “Live” album, and the audience enjoys it. ****For this latest album there are two songs with electric guitar and electronics, as I’m closing a chapter on my previous band so I’m now working with a white canvas and seeing what’s possible.
Whatever I felt for each song I wanted each song to portray a different picture; completely the opposite of my previous records which was always focused on the “band” sound. I wanted this record to be more focused on the repertoire itself and have a different color, a different vibe and ambiance for each piece.
WHAT KIND OF BAND ARE YOU PRESENTLY PERFORMING WITH?
We started at Birdland with piano, bass, drum, guitar, trumpet and saxophone. We’re really trying to take these songs into make them into jazz standards, really open them up and have fun with them.
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“New Orleans is having a big impact on my musical influences and I’m opening myself up to it and taking as much in that I can from this musical culture and see where it takes me”
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YOU LIKE LIVING IN THE MOMENT, BUT DO YOU HAVE ANY LONG-TERM MUSICAL OR LIFE GOALS?
Right now, I’m completely in love with New Orleans, where I’m living. This was one of my life goals; discovering this city. It’s a musical goal as well because my whole life my music has been painted with my cultural experience and moods. New Orleans is having a big impact on my musical influences and I’m opening myself up to it and taking as much in that I can from this musical culture and see where it takes me.
DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES OR SIDE INTERESTS?
I like bicycling, as it helps my brain go on pause. I love dancing; that might be my first love.
I like going to movies. I don’t like French movies (laughs). They are so boring!
IS THERE A BOOK, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION OR PERSON THAT GIVES YOU INSPIRATION OR GUIDANCE?
The latest book is The Power of Now. That was really inspiring. It was an important reminder of things that we already know but through the hustling of life we can forget. I read Wild about the girl that travelled alone.
YOU STILL HAVE THE GYPSY SPIRIT!
Of course! I don’t think it will ever go away!
My parents taught me this. My mother is from the Dominican Republic and my father is French. He met her over there and brought her to his country, which was a big move for my mom. It’s been that way for ****my whole life; by the time I was 20 my sister and I had lived in four different continents. Packing up and moving is not something that I’m afraid of; in fact it’s something that I need.
CAN YOU EVEN ENVISION WHERE YOU MIGHT BE TEN YEARS FROM NOW?
No. I live in the moment. I moved to New Orleans without even knowing much about it. I just bought a house because I love it so much and want to stay here.
WHILE CYRILLE AIMEE MAY HAVE MOVED ON FROM THE DJANGO REINHARDT MUSICAL SOUND, SHE CLEARLY SHOWS THAT SHE STILL KEEPS THE GYPSY SPIRIT ALIVE. CHECK OUT HER LATEST ALBUM AND LOOK FOR HER TOURING EARLY THIS YEAR.