Cyrille Aimée Quartet

Improvisation is not just a technique for Grammy Nominated artist Cyrille Aimée, it’s a way of life, one that has not only allowed her to share her engaging voice and sparkling creativity with the world but has led her on an unexpected journey. Aimée has been hailed by The Wall Street Journal as "one of the most promising jazz singers of her generation" and called a “rising star in the galaxy of jazz singers” by the New York Times. Among countless accolades, Aimée won the Montreux Jazz Festival Vocal Competition and the Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Vocal Competition.

Cyrille Aimée has ventured from singing on street corners in Europe to dazzling audiences at some of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals; from sneaking out to sing in gypsy encampments in her native France to acting on Broadway; from braving the notoriously tough audiences at New York’s Apollo Theatre.  She attended SUNY Purchase on scholarship – in large part due to its proximity to the jazz hub of Manhattan. She honed her skills through weekly gigs at a Soho restaurant and at the Birdland Jazz Club.  During that time she also became a regular at Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, where pianist/co-owner Spike Wilner and saxophonist Joel Frahm took her under their wings.

During her early years in NYC, Aimée returned to Europe regularly, organizing backpacking tours of the continent with a group of musician friends, performing at jazz festivals to pay their way. At the famed Montreux Jazz Festival in 2007, she entered and won the vocal competition, recording her debut album with the prize money. It was the first of many such accolades to come, including winning the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and becoming a finalist in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition as well as the TV5MONDE series Talent Acoustic.

In 2018, she released Cyrille Aimée Live on Mack Avenue Records which received widespread critical acclaim from The New York Times and Wall Street Journal.  Always looking for the next adventure, Aimée quickly shifted to her 2019 release Move On: A Sondheim Adventure, Just You, Just Me (2020), Petite Fleur (2021) and I’ll Be Seeing You (2021).  cyrillemusic.com