Ever since Cyrille Aimée won the inaugural Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2012 with a quietly devastating ballad interpretation of “I’m Through With Love” she’s been a regular, incandescent presence on Bay Area stages.
In a scene boasting an abundance of sensational 21st-century singers, the French-born artist has distinguished herself with her lustrous tone, vivacious scatting, rhythmic acuity, and a vast, polyglot repertoire laced with her finely crafted originals.
But her upcoming run may well be her last Bay Area trip for the foreseeable future, as taking care of her 16-month-old toddler has made touring untenable, logistically and financially.
“It’s not working,” said Aimée, 42, who performs Oct. 1-3 at SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab, and Oct. 4 at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society in Half Moon Bay.
In a candid conversation from New Orleans, she wrestled with the stark reality of increased expenses in the face of less work.
“It’s really difficult and I’m wondering what I’m going to do next,” she said. “These are the only dates I’m doing, and they were rescheduled from when I was pregnant. I’m not adding any new ones.”
Aimée didn’t plan on being a single mom. She embraced motherhood even though her partner left. With less support from family than she had hoped for, the singer has found a lifeline from her colleagues and fans.
“I feel like I’ve been unconsciously building this community around music,” she said. “But day to day I’m alone, with zero space for music. But my fans are there. They helped me get a doula and my baby registry filled in two days. It’s scary and sad to think of not doing this anymore. This is my world, my community and purpose.”
When not in New Orleans or France, Aimée spends a good part of the year Costa Rica, where she established a homestead in the rain forest. For the past two years she’s produced Jazz en al Jungla, a music camp that brings top musicians to the Central American nation during its dry season. The program returns for two one-week sessions in February, 2027.
“It’s an incredible experience for music and the teachers,” she said. “We talk about the relationship between music and nature, how all the songs already exist in nature, we just have to catch them. It’s a workshop on music and on life.”
One faculty member at Jazz en al Jungla is Mathis Picard, the New York-based pianist accompanying Aimée on her California shows. He has likewise been a vivid presence on Bay Area stages in recent years, since he making his debut with trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg in 2017.
Picard’s been back numerous times since with Aimée, trumpeter and vocalist Benny Benack, and as a leader, frequenting Oakland’s Piedmont Piano Company and the Tenderloin jazz spot Black Cat.
“San Francisco is the city I’ve played in most after New York,” he said.
A precociously gifted improviser who at age 17 moved to New York City in 2012 to study at Juilliard, he shares deep connections with Aimée. Picard spent part of his childhood in Fontainebleau and she grew up one village over in Samois-Sur-Seine, a town indelibly associated with Manouche guitar great Django Reinhardt.
Their families are similarly blended, with French fathers and mothers hailing from islands (Picard’s from Madagascar and Aimée’s from the Dominican Republic). They actually attended the same school, but she was graduating when he was in first grade, and already attracting attention with his keyboard facility.
Decades later they knew of each other in New York, but didn’t start playing together until she hired him for a private gig in 2022. They bonded almost immediately on and off the bandstand.
“When you get to speak French, it’s really fun to reconnect with that part,” said Picard, who celebrates the release of his new album “The Sound Orchestra” with trio gigs Oct. 16 at SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab and Oct. 15 at Meyhouse in Palo Alto.
He’s featured on her most recent album, 2025’s self-produced “4.24,” a live sextet session recorded at New York’s Birdland. And the two recently recorded a duo album that’s slated for release early next year (with cover art by fellow Francophone Cécille McLorin Salvant).
“As an accompanist, the way she tells stories and brings in a lot of different emotions is a great joy,” he said. “We’re focusing on the French songs, but we explore a lot of different songs and cultures.”
With a child totally dependent on her, Aimée’s story seems constricted, but the same artist who built a jazz mecca in the jungle will likely find her way back to the road.
“Being on stage is precious, but I have my mom hat on until I perform,” she said. “I’ve been on this 24/7 for 15 months now.”
Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com.
Cyrille Aimée Duo: 7 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 1-3, at SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco; $39-$44; www.sfjazz.org; 4:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay; $40-$50 (livestream $12); www.bachddsoc.org
Mathis Picard Trio: 7 & 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15 at SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco; $34; www.sfjazz.org; 6:30 & 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16 at Meyhouse in Palo Alto; $38-$48; www.meyhousejazz.com/paloalto