MATT MITCHELL - guitar stud
MARIANNE DISSARD - french chanteuse
+
MARCO ROSANO - melodica, clarinet
NAIM AMOR - extraordinaire guitar
THØGER LUND - upright bass
+ at times
SEAN ROGERS - upright bass
VICKI BROWN - violin
ADRIANNE DENIKE - backup vocals
CHRIS BLACK - violin
FRENCH TOURIST - samples, theremin, percussives
ROSE TODARO - violin
MICHAEL FAN - violin
IAN STAPP - upright bass
ARTHUR VINT - drums
MATT MITCHELL played in some rock and pop bands in his teenage years in Phoenix, Arizona. Bitten by the jazz bug while studying classical guitar in college, he went on to make a living playing mostly jazz guitar in Tucson, Arizona. He's been in around 100 bands you’ve probably never heard of and played over 200 gigs a year for 15 years, garnering awards and critical praise along the way.
MARIANNE DISSARD was writing poetry from an early age. She did not study music in college but documentary filmmaking. She wrote lyrics for others until Joey Burns of Tucson band Calexico cornered her one night in 2006 and told her she had to start singing, and that he'd write the songs. They've done a couple of albums since.
JUNE 2007. Matt Mitchell and Marianne Dissard figure they should start playing together. A week later, they have their first show.
JULY 2007. They record some tracks in Marianne's living room. One of them lands on a Dutch compilation. Matt and Marianne are thrilled someone is listening overseas.
AUGUST 2007. Matt and Marianne record a track for a wacky compilation called Christmas in Tucson, featuring the crème de la Tucson music scene. That track, a cover of Jona Lewie's "Stop The Cavalry", lands on a couple of blogs overseas.
SEPTEMBER 2007. Matt and Marianne keep playing restaurants, dives, clubs, rooms of all sizes, colors and denominations in Tucson, Arizona.
OCTOBER 2007. Marco Rosano and Naïm Amor join Matt and Marianne ever more frequently.
NOVEMBER 2007. Thøger Lund (Giant Sand) shows up on upright and kicks ass!
DECEMBER 2007. Learning some Edith Piaf songs for the Great Cover Up event at Club Congress, Matt and Marianne team up with the fabulous string players Rose Todaro, Michael Fan and Vicki Brown, leading to the opening slot for Calexico at the annual KXCI benefit concert, with Matt and Marianne being backed by a big-bandesque 10 musicians, including John and Joey from Calexico.
JANUARY 2008. Matt and Marianne open for Faun Fables and Matt starts writing some original songs for their first collaborative album. They record live tracks on local radio KXCI.
FEBRUARY 2008. Recording at Waterworks Studio, sharing stage with Pieta Brown, learning some Jacques Brel songs.
MARCH 2008. Opening for Slim Cessna's Auto Club! More studio with French DJ/musician French Tourist on samples and theremin. APRIL-MAY 2008More shows.
B/W photo was photoshopped from both Burke Heffner's & Steven Meckler's. Thanks!
Influences
SIDE 1: Tom Jobim, Django Reinhardt, Jean Sablon, Joao Gilberto, Lucienne Boyer, Charles Trenet, Nick Drake, Léo Ferré.
SIDE 2: Dalida, Leo Marjane, Cole Porter, Billie Holiday, Elis Regina, Yves Montand, Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel.
Sounds Like
"Jazzy goodness!" - TucsonScene.com
"Equally impressive was closing femme fatale Marianne Dissard, who has grown vastly from her previous half-sung, half-spoken smoky-lounge routine. Since teaming up with guitar virtuoso Matt Mitchell, Dissard has found her voice, fronting a Gypsy jazz juggernaut that could easily have been pulled right out of the Oscar-winning Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose." - Tucson Weekly
"Her work has a lovely, mournful lilt, a sort of Parisian blues. Even those of us who don't speak French cannot help but be touched by the stark beauty of her phrasing. Pick of the Week" - LA Weekly
"Tender boudoir music to the max!" - Filles Sourires, Netherlands
"Dissard's vocals are beautiful: sultry, dark and earthy, not too far from the styles of such singers as Nina Simone, Brigitte Bardot, Edith Piaf and Josephine Baker" - Tucson Weekly
"Dissard's vocals hark back to a bygone era. The singer's vocal range is not unlike Edith Piaf's, with the French to match" - AZ Daily Star
"Among her most accessible and enjoyable collaborations" - TucsonScene.com
Thrilled to announce we've been included in the "Christmas In Tucson" CD, compiled by Elizabeth Cherry and Olivier Mosset! Release date: Dec 14th, 2007. CD includes tracks by Bob Log III, Al Foul, Naïm Amor, Cathy Rivers...
Thrilled to announce we've been included in the "Filles Fragiles" CD compiled for Dutch label Essential Music by Guuzbourg! Release date: Nov 26th, 2007 through webstores worldwide. CD includes tracks by Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin, Françoiz Breut, Holden...
Matt Mitchell + Marianne Dissard's Friend Space (Top 16)
____________________________________________ de Vie will perform original songs of voice & piano on January 31st, Thursday, from 7 pm until 9 pm at Shot in the Dark Cafe, 121 E. Broadway, Tucson. ____________________________________________ anytime voicemail 520 495 2005 myspace.com/yourdeVie ____________________________________________
Merci beaucoup pour la demande que j’accepte avec plaisir me permetant de vous glisser dans mes amis pour me faufiler dans les votres afin de partager votre espace Joyeuses fêtes de fin d’année pour une belle année 2008
Hi Matt & Marianne, Welcome new friends! BEAUTIFUL VOICE AND SONGS... Especially, "Caminhos Cruzados". Also the guitar background is LOVELY. Thanks for finding me and share with me your musics. It's my pleasure to have you both on my page. Cheers from New York. Rhonya
Matt, thank you so much for your very special performance with Marco at El Rio . It really did mean so much to so many! A blessed and beautiful holiday to you and yours,
