Jaimee Paul, whose album, At Last, hit No. 1 on the iTunes jazz charts in August, will sing at The Cotton Room’s V-Day party.

 Check out this video of her here:

I love how Paul’s mass of curly hair somehow matches the drama of her voice, which is a little Aretha and a little Madeleine Peyroux.

John Pelphrey, at LabourLove Art Gallery, gets the credit for bringing this musician, who has performed with Lyle Lovett and Wynonna Judd, to Durham. He tells me that he and Paul attended Belmont University in Nashville together, where they were both music business majors. Paul grew up in southern Illinois.

The two recently reconnected on Facebook, and John convinced Paul to add Durham to the list of places she’s performing this month, which includes The CBS Early Show in Manhattan, and several gigs in London, Ontario.

“It’s a great opportunity for people in the city to get exposure to some of the young talent that’s happening nationally,” Pelphrey says. “She’s definitely worth coming to watch.”

The 7 p.m. Cotton Room party costs between $65 and $80 per person and also includes a solo trumpet performance from Paul’s husband Leif Shires, a three-course tapas menu and a bottle of champagne per couple. Visit here to get tickets.

 Got any ideas for stories that should be featured in this space? This is Music Monday’s, and I like to write about Durham music stuff. E-mail me at lisarossi@durhammag.com.