Cyrille Aimee
and Diego Figueiredo
and
Hot Club of Detroit

Cyrille Aimée (pronounced Surreal M – A ) has proven herself to be an unstoppable, undeniable talent in the modern age of jazz and pop music. Internationally renowned and praised for her unparalleled abilities, Cyrille’s vocal stylings are synonymous with musical genius. Her culturally rich background has supplied her with the driving force of Dominican rhythm and the incredible swing of the French Gypsies. 

Cyrille Aimée was a finalist in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition of 2010, performing in front of a jury of Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater. In 2007, Cyrille won both the first and public prize in the Montreux Jazz Festival Competition. Cyrille Aimée (pronounced Surreal M – A) has proven herself to be an unstoppable, undeniable talent in the modern age of jazz and pop music. Internationally renowned and praised for her unparalleled abilities, Cyrille’s vocal stylings are synonymous with musical genius. Her culturally rich background has supplied her with the driving force of Dominican rhythm and the incredible swing of the French Gypsies. Taking these natural abilities with her across the world, she has done nothing short of receiving rave reviews and a loyal following in each country she graces with her voice.

Cyrille’s discography and musical history is an impressive list for any musician, jazz or otherwise. At the young age of 26, she has already released four CDs internationally, including “Cyrille Aimée & The Surreal Band” and “Smile” with Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo. The Japanese label Venus Records has just released Cyrille and Diego’s latest duo album “Just the Two of us” this past November, 2010.

Cyrille Aimée has been featured on compilations, feature film soundtracks across the globe and on the albums of Denis Chang and David Reinhardt. She fronted France’s latest worldwide sensation ‘Caravan Palace’ on their European tour and performed in front of crowds that number over 10,000 people.

Her latest record “Cyrille Aimée & friends Live at Smalls” features Roy Hargrove and Joel Frahm and is released under the label SmallsLIVE.

Diego Figueiredo was born in Franca, Brazil, in 1980, and at the age of 4, he used to strike poses carrying his small guitar. At six, he got a mandolin, which was kept in a very special place in his house. Diego played many instruments before choosing the electric guitar when he was twelve, playing in theaters and local pubs, revealing the great art of improvising and harmonizing. At 15, he conquered theaters and nightclubs in many different Brazilian states, playing solo or with renowned musicians.

He has studied classical guitar, Brazilian Popular Music and jazz in conservatories in Franca, Ribeirão Preto and Tatuí.  In 1999, he won first place in a contest in South America ,  he was awarded a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music.

He has played and shared the stage with , Hermeto Paschoal, Geraldo Azevedo, Sebastião Tapajós, Demônios da Garoa, Vanusa, Renato Borghetti, Osvaldo Montenegro, Jair Rodrigues, Elomar, Toquinho, Tunai, Paulinho da Viola, Nando Cordel,  Moraes Moreira, Fafá de Belém, Amelinha, Los Hermanos,   Zeca Baleiro, Miyazawa and others.

Hot Club of Detroit Seventy years after Django Reinhardt's Quintette du Hot Club de France fused Gypsy guitar with the jazz of the day, a new "Hot Club" has emerged in the Motor City. The Hot Club of Detroit puts a modern spin on the Gypsy-jazz tradition, with Evan Perri on lead guitar, Julien Labro on accordion, Carl Cafagna on soprano and tenor sax, Paul Brady on rhythm guitar and Andrew Kratzat on bass.

Excerpted from M Charters review:

"There were five musicians responsible for this table of delights. The leader was Perri, with his remarkable ability to coax the most beautiful sounds out of his guitar at a very fast tempo, often sounding much like what we know of Django Reinhardt, whose music the group both plays and emulates.

Then there was Julian Labro on the chromatic button accordion, a version of the accordion that uses buttons for only single notes, not chords, in both hands, giving the instrument a very widerange. In Labro's hands it also appeared easy to play given the wealth of materials that poured forth with that sweet melancholy sound we often associate with French music.

Carl Cafagna performed alternatively on the clarinet, and the soprano and tenor saxophones, sometimes matching the tone of Labro's accordion and sometimes giving that sexier sax tone we have come to expect from jazz saxophone, all with great elan.

Andrew Kratzat has been the group's bass player for some years, and his rapport with the ensemble was obvious. But his extraordinarily long, complex and beautiful solo as the bridge between Miles Davis's It's About That Time and Charles Mingus's Nostalgia in Times Square had even his fellow band members looking on with awe. (His excuse to me afterwards was that he'd been "practicing a lot lately." No kidding.)

The steady hand on the rhythm guitar was Paul Brady's, and while he didn't get the spotlight of a solo chorus, his constant support was essential to the full effect. In fact the open secret of the Hot Club of Detroit is that they lay down a groove which, ably sustained by Brady and Kratzat, allows the others to go just as crazy as their very musical imaginations will take them."