Matt Mitchell + Marianne Dissard profile picture

Matt Mitchell + Marianne Dissard

About Me


Performing in Tucson and Southern Arizona, guitarist Matt Mitchell and French chanteuse Marianne Dissard have teamed up to bring you the best in Chanson and gypsy jazz. Whether as a duo or as a big band, with up to a dozen members, Matt Mitchell and Marianne Dissard are "jazzy goodness" (Tucson Weekly).

PRESS
Tucson's 2008 TAMMIES Jazz winner: Matt Mitchell
"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
RELEASES:
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...

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 08/06/2007
Band Website: right here, baby!
Band Members:
MATT MITCHELL - guitar stud
MARIANNE DISSARD - french chanteuse
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MARCO ROSANO - melodica, clarinet
TOMMY LARKINS - drums
THØGER LUND - upright bass
VICKI BROWN - violin

EVAN DAIN - upright bass
MICHAEL FAN - violin
IAN STAPP - upright bass
ARTHUR VINT - drums
SEAN ROGERS - upright bass
ADRIANNE DENIKE - backup vocals
CHRIS BLACK - violin
FRENCH TOURIST - samples, theremin, percussives
ROSE TODARO - violin
ROXANNA BAKER - accordion
SLY - tuba
DANTE ROSANO - trumpet
CLAY KOWEEK - guitar

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 at USC. She wrote lyrics for others until Joey Burns of Tucson über-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 and Marianne has been on tour a lot in Europe and America.

JUNE 2007. Matt Mitchell and Marianne Dissard figure they should start playing together. A week later, they have their first show in Tucson. 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 2008 More shows. SUMMER 2008 Matt & Marianne co-win a Tammies, Tucson Music Awards, for Best Jazz band. The band keeps getting larger. 8 people at Club Congress, 11 people at Plush in September, with the show recorded in multi-tracks by Noah Oliver. WINTER 2008/09 Marianne tours outside of Tucson with her album of Americana Chanson, Matt plays in Tucson and they reunite for a big show with the whole band at the Fox Theater in February. SPRING/SUMMER/FALL 2009 Marianne tours Europe and North America. Matt plays in Tucson. However, they do manage to play a few extremely-well received shows in Tucson.

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.
Record Label: Unsigned

My Blog

"Déshabillez-moi" - Juliette Gréco


Posted by on Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:46:00 GMT

"La Chanson D’Helene" - schneider/picoli


Posted by on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:24:00 GMT

"Ces Gens Là" - Jacques Brel


Posted by on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:20:00 GMT

"?" - Billy Collins


Posted by on Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:38:00 GMT

"Aguas de Marco" - Elis Regina


Posted by on Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:42:00 GMT

"Boum" - Charles Trenet - 1938


Posted by on Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:38:00 GMT

"C'est Lui" - Josephine Baker


Posted by on Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:34:00 GMT

"Diga" - Bebel & Joao Gilberto


Posted by on Sat, 07 Jul 2007 20:12:00 GMT

"J'attendrai" - Django Reinhardt


Posted by on Fri, 06 Jul 2007 16:56:00 GMT

"it hurts me too" - karen dalton


Posted by on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:15:00 GMT