Improvisation is not just a technique for Grammy Nominated artist Cyrille Aimée, it’s a way of life. That adventure began in the small town of Samois-sur-Seine in France, where the young Cyrille Aimée (Sur-real M-A) was introduced to a wealth of diverse music by her French father and Dominican mother: everything from Michael Jackson to French chanson, Flamenco to country-western.
She spent her teen years performing in the cafés and clubs of Paris, then attended the American School of Modern Music there. Cyrille was soon drawn to the U.S., where she attended SUNY Purchase on scholarship, while honing her skills through weekly gigs at a Soho restaurant, Birdland Jazz Club and Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village.
In 2014, Cyrille made her major label debut with the release of It’s A Good Day on Mack Avenue Records. At about the same time, Stephen Sondheim recognized that Cyrille’s captivating gift for storytelling through song would translate to the theatrical stage. Alongside the legendary Bernadette Peters, Cyrille starred in an Encores Special Presentation tribute to Sondheim at New York’s City Center, backed by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Hailed by the New York Daily News as “a revelation.”
Now residing in New Orleans, Cyrille has continued to plot her own course, following her own dreams and being very successful at every turn. Cyrille has performed on several sailings of The Jazz Cruise and the most recent edition of Blue Note at Sea.