The band Fleur Seule (“single flower” in French) has several weekly residencies this month: The Knickerbocker Hotel, the SoHo Grand Hotel, the New York Marriott Marquis at Times Square, and Tavern on the Green. The stylishly retro group suits these classic New York venues; lead vocalist Allyson Briggs, a vision from the pages of a 1940s glamour magazine, sings traditional pop and jazz standards in several languages unerringly. Her usual rhythm section—pianist Jason Yeager, bassist Michael O’Brien, and drummer Paul Francis—can play just about anything, too. Listening to their take on “Sabor a Mí”, “’S Wonderful” and “Zou Bisou Bisou,” arranged by trumpeter Andy Warren, it’s easy to imagine you’re in another era (probably with a martini in hand).
These are a few of the songs on their fifth album, Standards and Sweet Things (s/p), which they unveiled officially last month at Feinstein’s/54 Below. This month they cull the Latin tunes from their repertoire—songs from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Brazil—for a concert at Birdland Theater on Nov. 4. This concert kicks off a string of Latin gigs for the group, in and around their residencies: Briggs will front the 13-piece Fleur Seule Big Band at two salsa shows this month—SOBs on Nov. 10 and The Django at The Roxy Hotel on Nov. 20—before debuting with the Fleur Seule Quintet at the newly opened Special Club on Nov. 23.
The sheer number of Fleur Seule’s regular gigs might leave fans a little breathless—rightly so. Almost nightly gigs is a rarity for jazz singers in New York these days. But in this, too, Fleur Seule recalls an earlier time—when hotels had house bands, jazz ruled the airwaves and romance flourished nightly in dimly lit boîtes.
Margot Sergent was enjoying a successful career in Paris as a harpist and singer in a variety of settings—classical ensembles, jazz groups, cultural events—when she decided to relocate to the U.S. In 2011, while at Berklee College of Music in Boston, she conceived of the So French Cabaret, a gypsy jazz-like ensemble with guitar, bass and harp. The group—now based in New York City—re-creates the hot jazz numbers that were unique to the U.S.-France cultural exchange of the Prohibition years. The So French Cabaret presents several clearly themed programs, all of them on offer at New York clubs this month: The Piaf Experience, Nov. 3 and 24 at Club Bonafide and Nov. 22-23 at Birdland Theater; and The Audrey Hepburn Daydream on Nov. 10 and From Paris with Love on Nov. 17, both at Club Bonafide.
French native Cyrille Aimée returns to Birdland for a run featuring her latest album, Move On: A Sondheim Adventure (Mack Avenue) Nov. 19-23. Move On marks a departure from the Django jazz material that pulled Aimée into the international spotlight as a jazz singer; on the strength of her whip-smart scatting she won several major vocal jazz competitions early in her career. Key among them was the Sarah Vaughan Competition in 2012, its inaugural year. She returned as a judge in 2015.
This was the same year this year’s Grammy-nominated singer Nicole Zuraitis placed in the Vaughan Competition finals. Zuraitis, too, plays Birdland this month, first under her own banner in the Birdland Theater on Nov. 2, then as the featured singer with the Birdland Big Band on Nov. 8. Also at Birdland Theater this month is NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan, who will celebrate her 91st birthday with a performance there on Nov. 18. Jordan also judged the Sarah Vaughan Competition, in 2016.
The five finalists for this year’s Vaughan Competition, just announced, hail from jazz rooms as close as the Bronx and as far away as Paris. On Nov. 24 jazz singers Vivian Sessoms, Viktorija Gečytė, Samara McLendon, Daniela Spalletta, and Christine Fawson will compete for prize money, a spot in the 2020 Newport Jazz Fest, and a chance at a singing career that garners acclaim, sells out New York clubs, and lasts a lifetime.
Endnote: Superstar drummer/producer Terri Lyne Carrington and her recently formed band Social Science use modern music to confront issues of social justice on Waiting Game (Motema), a two-disc album with soulful singers Debo Ray and Mark Kibble. The CD release concert is slated for Nov. 30 at le poisson rouge (“goldfish” in French).
(Reprinted from the November 2019 issue of The New York City Jazz Record.)