| Sonny
Daye and Perley Rousseau
achieve a rare musical symbiosis. The husband and wife team have
spent the last several years developing and perfecting their unique
blend of Jazz, Brazilian Bossa Nove, and International Cabaret which
has become their musical signature. An eclectic repertoire including
Great American Songbook standards, French love songs and irresistible
Bossa Nova sounds of Jobim is part of the reason for their impressive
performance schedule, an average of 250 dates per year throughout
New York, New England and in Europe. The true test, however, is
in live performance where "they deliver the goods". (7
Days Magazine)
|
Perley
was raised on the jazz greats from day one (Ella's was the first
recorded voice she remembers hearing), and as a young girl she was
captivated by the Bossa Nova sounds of Sergio Mendez and Brazil
66. At the age of 22, while living in Chicago, she entered a talent
contest on a dare from a friend. Singing a capella "My
Funny Valentine" and "Lady is a Tramp", she won first
place, which gave her the impetus to study jazz vocals. While studying
in Chicago and sitting in as guest vocalist in many jazz clubs she
landed her first "real paying gig" and began persuing
a dream that had been brewing since childhood. Desiring pure tone
and a firm foundation, she continued her study of voice in New York
with 4 years of private study in classical technique with international
opera diva Sylvia Kutchukian, which Perley in turn teaches to her
own vocal students. Having a "beautifully rich voice, with
the emotional power, swing and improvisational feel of a true jazz
singer" (The Jazz Observer) brings a distinction to her captivating
effervescence and saucy stage presence in cabaret performance. Yet
it is her genuine warmth and love of the music graced by her "inimitable
style" (Paul Elisha, WAMC radio) which draws listeners into
her unpretentious and heartfelt interpretation of Great American
Standards, BrazilianBossa Nova, and French songs, many sung in the
original language. 
Sonny's
musical training began with the drums which he began playing at
7 years old. His inspiration came from his father, his aunt Marion
and his godfather who made sure he had a heavy dose of listening
to the jazz greats. Aunt Marion, a nun at the time, took it straight
to the top when she sat in on drums with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra
in full habit! His love of rhythm and improvisation were firmly
established as he immersed himself in jazz and began playing in
bands in his teens. He later went on to study music at North Texas
University where his foundation for piano work began. Some touring
and free lance work ensued in his 20's and early 30's including
a tour with the Ted Weems Orchestra. Sonny met Perley when he returned
to upstate NY and worked as a substitute drummer in her trio. It
was love at first sound. The two were soon married and began a lifelong
musical collaboration.Their performances are often sprinkled with
a spontaneous banter that only a 25 year marriage can enliven. Perhaps
that is why Chronicle Magazine declares them "harbingers of
aesthetic jazz...[and] romanticism". 