Photo by Juris Mardwig.

Biography

 Songwriter, lyricist and vocalist Ondine Darcyl was  born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a French and Romanian family. Her artistic  sensibility was influenced as a child by visits to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where  her parents, television pioneers, traveled frequently on business.

“In keeping with the bossa nova tradition, reminiscent  of an early Astrud Gilberto, Ondine’s CD opens with the music of the great Tom Jobim... Ondine has a special quality that allows her to revisit Brazilian,  Latin, French and American standards and make them her own... “ writes critic  Judith King. “When Ondine sings, her phrasing reminds me of Joao Gilberto...”  says mentor and jazz great Sheila Jordan.

“Since moving to the United States at age 18, the  singer and award-winning visual artist has also completed an unusual trifecta by becoming an attorney. Ondine Darcyl  (Darcyl Records) is her debut CD (released in Japan by Polystar/Jazzbank and  titled Flor Nova), a series of duets with guitarist/keyboardist Hernan  Romero (known for his work with guitarist Al Di Meola). Featuring standards from  bossa nova (Antonio Carlos Jobim's ‘Wave’) to George & Ira Gershwin's ‘Summertime’ and Johnny Mercer's ‘Autumn Leaves’ (sung by Darcyl in French), the  disc also showcases a compelling rendition of the Edith Piaf hit ‘La Vie En  Rose’" says Jazziz Magazine.

Best-selling novelist Eric Jerome Dickey wrote about  Ondine Darcyl at length in his novel  Between Lovers: “ ...we  ordered room service, lit candles, put my Ondine Darcyl CD in the  player, listened to her soothing rendition of Autumn Leaves, La Vie en  Rose....all jazzy and beautiful. Savored those sounds as we...” also, “...love  her voice. That music takes me back to Paris....” Leslie Gourse, the noted jazz writer, mentioned Ondine in her book Louis’ Children, American Jazz Singers.

Ondine Darcyl performs all over the world, from The  North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland to the Spanish Jazz festivals of Boadilla del  Monte and Fuenlabrada as a featured guest of jazz vocalist Miles Griffith best  known for recording with Wynton Marsalis.) to Le Divan du Monde in Paris with  Kristo Numpuby (songwriter from Cameroon living in Paris). Ondine played at the  legendary Bimhuis in Amsterdam, at numerous clubs in New York such as Sweet  Rhythm and Makor, at Le Club in Moscow,  Notorious in Buenos Aires and at The  Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Ondine Darcyl works with world class musicians:
percussionists Cafe, Valtinho and Mauro Refosco; guitarists Ron Affif,  John  Hart and Freddie Bryant; bassist Sergio Brandao and multi- instrumentalist  Hernan Romero, to name a few.

The singer/songwriter is about to release her second  album entitled  Happy Birthday, a collection of traditional and  original children songs in Spanish, French and English. The recording took place  in New York with, Gregoire Maret, Hernan Romero, David Pleasant and Miles Griffith. Darcyl is now writing songs for a future release which will also  include “Oblivion”, a tango by Astor Piazzolla.