LA Weekly: " Her songs and voice are delightful, as pure an instrument channeled through lovely evocations of love and love lost as you'll ever hear. The French-chanson tradition is alive and well."
San Francisco Chronicle: "L.A. chanteuse Jessica Fichot performs her polyglot repertoire in a soft, crystalline voice as alluring as her crimson gowns. (.) Her sound is a cosmic cabaret, a delicious blend of acoustic styles delivered with syncopated verve by her quartet."
Pasadena Weekly: "Jessica Fichot melds childlike sweetness
and grown-up savoir faire."
Monterey County Weekly: "Jessica Fichot (.) has built a gorgeous globe-spanning repertoire."
Flavorpill: "Her jazzy mezzo-soprano, indie-style accordion, and relaxed backing band light up a program ranging from heartbreaking torch songs to European supper-club standards. "
CA Tour and Travel: "like a fine pastry, light, tantilizing
and irresistable"
Real Talk L.A.: "a musical excursion"
Santa Barbara Newspress.: "a unique sound that blends vintage French chanteuse style music with modern singer-songwriter notions."
L.A. Jazz Scene: "French jazz that is celebratory and full of verve."
Chanteuse and songwriter Jessica Fichot is a lot like her hometown of Paris: French at heart, but with a soul that's truly international. Her multi-ethnic French / Chinese / American upbringing colors the songs on her debut album. It's called Le Chemin, "The Path," and for good reason: Jessica takes the listener on a twisting journey out of the French chanson tradition, into the lands of gypsy jazz, Chinese and Latin American folk music, through the classic American repertoire, and off into the wilderness of her imagination.
For her, the journey has been a natural one. Born in the U.S. to a French father and a Chinese mother, Jessica was raised in France in a multicultural environment. A youth spent playing music in Parisian coffeehouses and concert halls led her first to graduate from the School of Audio Engineering in Paris and then from Berklee College of Music in Boston. School was followed by a stint writing children's music for educational programs - her work includes over a hundred songs published in over a dozen countries - and later, for television. When Jessica moved to California, she began writing the songs that would eventually form the backbone of her new album.
The album's center lies with her sophisticated writing and pure, beautiful vocals - sung mostly in French and English, along with some Chinese and Spanish - as well as her piano and accordion playing. She also enlisted over 20 musicians to give each of her songs just the right mood.sometimes intimate, sometimes epic.
"Le Grenier" and "Je Sais Qu'Tu M'aimes" combine energetic Django-esque swing with the kind of sardonic lyrics that were the stock in trade of legendary singers like Serge Gainsbourg and Georges Brassens. "1, 2, 3" and "Le Chemin" echo with the sounds of the musette dance hall and sparkle with Jessica's inventive and dreamy arrangements. "Le Velours et la Soie" is a playful and sexy linguistics lesson, with Chinese and French lyrics describing an interracial tryst. "Si." hints at a new direction for Jessica by fusing programmed drums with haunting French lyrics.like Portishead for the Montmartre café set. An English translation of Michel Legrand and Jacques Demy's composition "I Will Wait for You" and an English/French hybrid of the classic "Dream a Little Dream of Me" cross the language barrier effortlessly and stylishly. And for sheer excitement, it's hard to match Jessica's rendition of the Spanish-language folk song "Los Peces en el Rio." It's like Le Chemin as a whole: entreating, seductive, and ultimately thrilling
Following her recent success in Los Angeles, Jessica Fichot is also bringing the songs of Le Chemin to audiences everywhere, backed by an amazing quartet of clarinet/sax/flute, upright bass, drums and guitar. Regular performances across theWest Coast, and upcoming performances in Canada, China and France are just the beginning of her travels. Jessica's live act is a great way to see a new side of her debut album.
