Review: CYRILLE AIMEE at Birdland by Guest Reviewer Andrew Poretz

Cyrille Aimee

Birdland Jazz Club

April 19, 2022

By Andrew Poretz

There are a handful of female singers who fall into the category of "otherworldly" in their sound and abilities. There was, of course, the young Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn. The Grammy-nominated French singer Cyrille Aimée joins the ranks of such talent with a most unique and distinctive sound, incomparable vocal chops, and jazz instincts. Though the 37-year-old performer has been a fixture on the jazz scene, particularly Birdland, for many years, she first came to this reviewer's attention via radio personality Jonathan Schwartz who routinely introduced her records with a simple, exuberant "Cyrille Aimée!!!" as if the exclamation marks were part of her name. Ms. Aimée returned to Birdland tonight for a five-night stand, with two shows a night.

The star exudes unbridled pleasure when she sings, with the kind of confidence honed by years of training and experience. One senses a beautiful, radiant soul that is captivating to the listener. Ms. Aimée, dressed in a floral print white skirt over matching shorts, and a great shock of curly hair, opened her first of two sets with a vintage jazz standard, "You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)," written by Teddy Powell and Larry Stock. She humorously faux cried during the song. Pianist Dave Torkanowsky played a wild stride break in a style reminiscent of the late Roger Kellaway.

For the Isley Brothers' "For the Love of You," Ms. Aimée introduced the Tucker brothers, with Wayne on cornet and trumpet, and Miles on tenor sax. The brothers, both sporting large Afros, are only 15 months apart. The singer became animated at their playing, dancing to their solos.

In a slow, bluesy "I'm Beginning to See the Light," the star let herself get lost in the dreamy music, often closing her eyes and seemingly pulling the notes out of the ether. This is something Ms. Aimée did several times during the set and adds to that otherworldly quality.

"Petite Fleur" (Sidney Bechet/Fernand Bonifay) was one of several songs sung in French, Portuguese or Spanish by the polyglot singer, whose father is French, while her mother is from the Dominican Republic, which makes for an interesting mix of cultural influences. At first, she sang only to Pedro Segundo's percussion, with a Latin rhythm. Without any reference note, she was perfectly in key when the rest of the band joined in. Throughout the set, Ms. Aimée had these sort of one-on-one musical "conversations" with several other members of the band. She had such a chat with Lex Warshawsky's pulsating bass to begin "If I Knew Then What I Know Now" (Robert Byrne/Richard Butler). On this song, the brilliant singer let loose and scatted for the first time in the set. Scat singing is an art form unto itself. Many singers use it far too liberally, often to showcase their ability to do so. Ms. Aimée, like Ella, Sarah, and more recent singers like Veronica Swift, uses it as pure extensions of the voice as an instrument, elevating the art form. She seems to use her entire body to create these wordless pieces of improvisational music.

During the pandemic, Ms. Aimée built a home in Costa Rica. She wrote a song about it, in Spanish, called "Casita de Piedras" ("house of stones"). For this song, she picked up a baritone ukulele to play simple but effective chords while guitarist Michael Valeanu, who switched from playing a gorgeous Gibson archtop to a Fender Telecaster for the rest of the set, provided a lovely accompaniment before the other musicians joined him.

Later, Ms. Aimée sent the band to "take five" and performed a sumptuous duet with Mr. Valeanu on "La Javanaise" (Serge Gainsbourg), a song previously unknown to this reviewer, but instantly recognizable to my French companion. There was much playful repartee between the singer and Mr. Valeanu, and his complex, virtuoso guitar solo captured the mood of the song,

If you're familiar with the pop star Ed Sheeran, you may know that he creates many of his songs right on the spot using his guitar and a digital device called a "looper." Ms. Aimée, who has only her voice as an instrument ("I only learned to play that one song on the ukulele," she claimed), explained how loopers work with a short demonstration. The star then proceeded to record short loops of improvised melodies, harmonies, and rhythms, including vocalized bass and percussion sounds, and instantly created a wordless song around it. It was truly a spectacular thing to witness.

Ms. Aimée finished the set with perhaps the most famous French song, Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose," but as a jazz song, uptempo, with solo turns given to most of the players. The Tucker brothers turned around to jam with bass and drums, and Ms. Aimée ended the song with a scat finish. Brava!

Cyrille Aimée is a jazz alchemist who can create new sounds and songs on the spot, and wordlessly direct her musicians to produce the magic she's conjured. She expresses a tremendous, visceral joy when she is singing and even when she is watching her band play, and this energy was infectious to the Birdland audience. There was no title for this show, but it could well have been called "The Joy of Jazz Singing."

Cyrille Aimée - vocals, loop machine

Lex Warshawsky - bass

Pedro Segundo - drums, percussion

Dave Torkanowsky - piano, keys

Michael Valeanu - guitar

Wayne Tucker - Trumpet, cornet

Miles Tucker - tenor saxophone

Cyrille Aimée will appear twice nightly at Birdland through Saturday, April 22. Learn more about her at cyrillemusic.com. For more great Birdland shows, visit birdlandjazz.com.

Andrew Poretz, "The Boulevardier of Broadway," is an entertainer (singer, guitarist, ukulele player and storyteller), producer, and a reviewer of jazz and cabaret shows, primarily for Theater Pizzazz. An early podcaster, his "Coaches' Corner on BlogTalkRadio" segments are still available on iTunes. Andrew has performed in prominent venues throughout New York and the Bay Area. Andrew is also a board member of The American Popular Song Society. His blog, "The Boulevardier," can be found at www.andrewporetz.com

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