Aimée was born in Fontainebleau, France to a French father and Dominican mother. Her fascination with jazz was the result of her upbringing in the village Samois-sur-Seine—the same place where legendary gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt had lived. In her early years, Aimée would sing by the fire with Django’s descendents and began to fall in love with the gypsy way of life.
In 2006, Aimée organized a backpacking tour of Europe where she and her musician friends played and sang on street corners. In 2007, the group targeted jazz festivals, where they performed for food and lodging. On a whim, Aimée entered the Montreux Jazz Voice Competition and won; the prize included the financing of her first full-length recording, Cyrille Aimée & The Surreal Band. She’s since won the Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Vocal Competition and finished as a finalist in the Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition.
The New York Times recently referred to her major label release, It’s a Good Day, as “a bravura turn, presented with a smile.”
Aimée was born in Fontainebleau, France to a French father and Dominican mother. Her fascination with jazz was the result of her upbringing in the village Samois-sur-Seine—the same place where legendary gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt had lived. In her early years, Aimée would sing by the fire with Django’s descendents and began to fall in love with the gypsy way of life.
In 2006, Aimée organized a backpacking tour of Europe where she and her musician friends played and sang on street corners. In 2007, the group targeted jazz festivals, where they performed for food and lodging. On a whim, Aimée entered the Montreux Jazz Voice Competition and won; the prize included the financing of her first full-length recording, Cyrille Aimée & The Surreal Band. She’s since won the Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Vocal Competition and finished as a finalist in the Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition.
The New York Times recently referred to her major label release, It’s a Good Day, as “a bravura turn, presented with a smile.”
