Ever since Cyrille Aim\u00e9e won the inaugural Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2012 with a quietly devastating ballad interpretation of \u201cI\u2019m Through With Love\u201d she\u2019s been a regular, incandescent presence on Bay Area stages.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not working,\u201d said Aim\u00e9e, 42, who performs Oct. 1-3 at SFJAZZ\u2019s Joe Henderson Lab, and Oct. 4 at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society in Half Moon Bay.<\/p>\n
In a candid conversation from New Orleans, she wrestled with the stark reality of increased expenses in the face of less work.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really difficult and I\u2019m wondering what I\u2019m going to do next,\u201d she said. \u201cThese are the only dates I\u2019m doing, and they were rescheduled from when I was pregnant. I\u2019m not adding any new ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aim\u00e9e didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been unconsciously building this community around music,\u201d she said. \u201cBut day to day I\u2019m 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\u2019s scary and sad to think of not doing this anymore. This is my world, my community and purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
When not in New Orleans or France, Aim\u00e9e spends a good part of the year Costa Rica, where she established a homestead in the rain forest. For the past two years she\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an incredible experience for music and the teachers,\u201d she said. \u201cWe talk about the relationship between music and nature, how all the songs already exist in nature, we just have to catch them. It\u2019s a workshop on music and on life.\u201d<\/p>\n
One faculty member at Jazz en al Jungla\u00a0is Mathis Picard, the New York-based pianist accompanying Aim\u00e9e 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.<\/p>\n
Picard\u2019s been back numerous times since with Aim\u00e9e, trumpeter and vocalist Benny Benack, and as a leader, frequenting Oakland\u2019s Piedmont Piano Company and the Tenderloin jazz spot Black Cat.<\/p>\n
\u201cSan Francisco is the city I\u2019ve played in most after New York,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A precociously gifted improviser who at age 17 moved to New York City in 2012 to study at Juilliard, he shares deep connections with Aim\u00e9e. 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.<\/p>\n
Their families are similarly blended, with French fathers and mothers hailing from islands (Picard\u2019s from Madagascar and Aim\u00e9e\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Decades later they knew of each other in New York, but didn\u2019t start playing together until she hired him for a private gig in 2022. They bonded almost immediately on and off the bandstand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you get to speak French, it\u2019s really fun to reconnect with that part,\u201d said Picard, who celebrates the release of his new album \u201cThe Sound Orchestra\u201d with trio gigs Oct. 16 at SFJAZZ\u2019s Joe Henderson Lab and Oct. 15 at Meyhouse in Palo Alto.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s featured on her most recent album, 2025\u2019s self-produced \u201c4.24,\u201d a live sextet session recorded at New York\u2019s Birdland. And the two recently recorded a duo album that\u2019s slated for release early next year (with cover art by fellow Francophone C\u00e9cille McLorin Salvant).<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an accompanist, the way she tells stories and brings in a lot of different emotions is a great joy,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re focusing on the French songs, but we explore a lot of different songs and cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a child totally dependent on her, Aim\u00e9e\u2019s story seems constricted, but the same artist who built a jazz mecca in the jungle will likely find her way back to the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing on stage is precious, but I have my mom hat on until I perform,\u201d \u00a0she said. \u201cI\u2019ve been on this 24\/7 for 15 months now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com.<\/p>\n
Cyrille Aim\u00e9e Duo: 7 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 1-3, at SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco; $39-$44; www.sfjazz.org; \u00a04:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay; $40-$50 (livestream $12); www.bachddsoc.org<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ever since Cyrille Aim\u00e9e won the inaugural Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2012 with a quietly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[184,7,2644,967,3313,12853,330,100,195,395,101,396,103,102,397,198,104,106,105,200,420],"class_list":["post-481600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-concerts","tag-entertainment","tag-half-moon-bay","tag-jazz","tag-music","tag-news","tag-palo-alto","tag-peninsula","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-county","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-san-mateo-county","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-south-bay","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}