It's a Good Day

Vocalist Cyrille Aimee came by her love of Gypsy music early in life, sneaking out of her parents\' house in France to hang out in the nearby Gypsy camp that popped up during the local Django Reinhardt festival. She went on to busk her way across Europe, sing on France’s version of *American Idol*, and win both the Sarah Vaughan and Montreux Jazz Festival’s vocal competitions. While her voice has a nasal purr, her phrasing, tonal color, and texture stands out most (particularly when she scats). One minute she’s as light as a summer day (“When or Where”); the next she’s racing deftly around a remarkably original arrangement of “Caravan” or embracing a modern pop style for the title cut. This is to say nothing of her French vocals on the gently lilting originals “Pourtant” and “Nuit Blanche,” or her cover of Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall.” She’s well supported throughout by a quintet that counts three (!) guitarists, which has a string sound that recalls those Gypsy camps even as they gracefully follow the talented singer wherever direction she goes.

Cyrille Aimée's sixth solo album and debut for the Mack Avenue label, 2014's It's a Good Day, showcases her lithe vocal prowess and eclectic, expressive jazz style.