By Nou Dadoun
Dominique Fils-Aimé first came across my radar when she unexpectedly won the Vocal Jazz Album of the Year JUNO Award in 2020 for her album Stay Tuned over better known nominees like Bria Skonberg and Elizabeth Shepherd. In digging into her background, I was intrigued to discover that the winning album was the second part of a planned trilogy devoted to the history of African-American music. The first, Nameless from 2018, focused on influences from the Blues. The follow up, Stay Tuned drew on political consciousness and the civil rights movement with personal takes on pieces like Strange Fruit, and the third, Three Little Words drew on the legacy of Soul and R&B in a closing statement in 2021.
Although drawing on various aspects of Black Music, these are no hollow reproductions. They’re all delivered in a consistent personal style which emphasizes her voice and rhythm. And that personal style continues undeterred in her most recent release from 2023 Our Roots Run Deep, also nominated for this year’s JUNO Awards.
Born and raised in Montreal in a family originally from Haiti, I would draw a parallel to another acclaimed North American vocalist with Haitian roots – Cecile McLoren Salvant, both with exceedingly clear voices and a passionate unadorned delivery. Both draw on the history of the music for inspiration, neither are afraid to showcase their voices with stark unaccompanied or single instrument pairings or draw on more elaborate production when it’s in support of the music.
Her scheduled show at the Fortune Sound Club on February 22nd will be her second performance in the Vancouver area (Coastal Jazz presented her in 2019), and there’s obviously a buzz going because it had to be moved from a smaller venue. Dominique Fils-Aimé is a master of economy. I have yet to see any of her recorded pieces that run longer than four minutes but particularly with her voice and drum pieces. I see how they could easily be extended and explored, and look forward to hearing how she’ll be reworking things for this live performance.
Tickets for the show are available here.
