Singer and composer Dominique Fils-Aimé thinks everyone should explore the power of music.
"You want to sing? Please don't be shy. And if someone says you're off key, you say no, I'm jazz. It's a joke, obviously, but it's half-true. You know, it's just the freedom of enjoying music and letting your emotions drive you and your curiosity drive you," Fils-Aimé said.
Fils-Aimé explores that freedom with a remarkable voice. The JUNO award-winning vocalist visited the KNKX studios last fall and was joined by Etienne Miousse on guitar, David Osei on bass and keyboards, Danny Trudeau on bass and keyboards, and Harvey Bien-Aimée on drums.
Fils-Aimé's music is a hypnotic blend of modern jazz, soul, and blues—the roots of modern American music. Fils-Aimé is the daughter of Haitian immigrants in Montreal, Canada, and she grew up in love with the music of America, specifically Black America.
"B.B. King to Ella Fitzgerald, even Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu—so many powerful and vibrant sounds that were all rooted in emotions," Fils-Aimé said.
Fils-Amié identified with the emotions she heard in American roots music, and it led her to investigate the context of jazz and blues artists who struggled against racism and discrimination.
"We have the history books to tell us about what happened where, with who, but then the music is that place where you get to understand the emotional impact that those historical moments had, and the resilience, and the fact that it was one of the tools for different types of revolution, or even for survival, in a way," Fils-Aimé said.
As she found her own voice as an artist, Fils-Aimé said the power of music is about more than one person's journey, but also, "how it unites people and how it can allow us to feel less alone."
Fils-Aimé brought a vibe to the KNKX studios. She burned incense before the studio session and sat cross-legged for the performance and the interview. She said creating this music requires a peaceful space to feel those emotions and connect them to music. The cozier, the better.
"It begins on my couch, very comfortably, and it's often just a moment where I have some kind of melody in my head, and maybe some lyrics come up eventually. So, it's a very meditative place, but also a very free and playful space as well. I like to think it's where the universe and my inner child meet and just have fun," she said.
In February, Fils-Aimé released My World Is The Sun, the follow-up to her JUNO Award-winning 2023 album Our Roots Run Deep.
Songs heard in this episode:
- "Love Takes Over"
- "Birds"
- "Cheers to New Beginnings"
