The recording of “I Remember You.” by Nicolas Bearde narrated by producer and arranger Josh Nelson
Nicolas Bearde re-imagines Nat King Cole’s classic songs strongly influenced by the beautiful phrasing of Nat King Cole’s daughter, Natalie Cole. Make sure you catch him live at the Vibrato Grill, LA for his Ella and Joe tribute September 20; House Concert in Highland Park, Los Angeles, September 21; KCSM-FM San Mateo – LIVE w/Alisa Clancey, San Mateo, CA, October 3rd; Yoshi’s Oakland – CD Release Celebration, October 8th; Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, October 24; Sequoia Room, Nicolas Bearde’s own Quintet, Fort Bragg, CA, October 26; For details more dates and tickets visit: Nicolas Bearde Calendar
I Remember You, CD Release by Nicolas Bearde
If I had to choose just one day To last my whole life through It would surely be that Sunday
The day that I met you Newborn whippoorwills were calling from the hills Summer was a-coming in but fast Lots of daffodils were showing off their skills Nodding all together, I could almost hear them whisper Go on, kiss her, go on and kiss her
And if I had to choose one moment To live within my heart It would be that tender moment Recalling how we started Darling, it would be when you smiled at me That way, that Sunday, that summer
Newborn whippoorwills were calling from the hills Summer was a-comin’ in but fast Lots of daffodils were showin’ off their skills Nodding all together, I could almost hear them whisper Go on, kiss her, go on and kiss her
If I had to choose one moment To live within my heart It would be that tender moment Recalling how we started Darling, it would be when you smiled at me That way, that Sunday, that summer
Nicolas Bearde’s 6th solo CD, is produced and arranged by Josh Nelson. Nicolas Bearde recreates the timeless songs of one of his earliest influences, Nat “King” Cole in his very own style like classic jazz with a pleasant old Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald style pop influence. His passionate performance brings back youthful memories as though they were new and in the presents. The fresh arrangements by the amazing Josh Nelson the long-time pianist for the late and beloved Natalie Cole bring her Jazz influence on her dad’s song alive. The sultry saxophone created by special guest Eric Alexander, Tenor Saxophonist adds a lot of texture to the album.
Nicolas Bearde’s new album “I Remember You” is played on most Jazz Music Platforms and will be performed around the world. Today ranks at 21st on the Jazz Week Chart.
In case you don’t know Nicolas Bearde you will enjoy the summary by Kumbwaa Jazz who describe his new album and performances as: Jazz vocalist Nicolas Bearde has won accolades from critics and jazz audiences worldwide for his velvet tone and engaging performances. His music has been critically acclaimed by Jazziz, JazzTimes, Jazz Week, and All About Jazz and Beard’s fifth solo album, Invitation, rose quickly to the Top 20 on the Jazz Week charts. Bearde first made his mark in jazz as part of Bobby McFerrins’ revolutionary a cappella group Voicestra, all while carving out his own solo career. His silky baritone invites comparisons to Jon Lucien, Lou Rawls, and Joe Williams, and his new album re-imagines the timeless songs of one of his earliest influences, Nat King Cole. With supple phrasing, passionate delivery, and fresh arrangements by Josh Nelson (long-time pianist for the late Natalie Cole), Bearde breathes new life into Cole’s trove of enduring classics which include “Sweet Lorraine”, “L-O-V-E”, “Straighten up and Fly Right”, and “Tenderly”.
Bearde breathes new life into Nat’s trove of enduring classics which include “Tenderly”, “Straighten up and Fly Right”, “Sweet Lorraine” and “Funny.” Join Nicolas Bearde international fan club by following him via.
Nicolas Bearde enchants audiences all around the world. Don’t miss this rare local show!
Nicolas Bearde returns to Oakland’s famed Yoshi’s Jazz Club on October 8th, 2019 where he will be performing music from his latest CD, ” I Remember You” the music of Nat “King” Cole..
Joining him for this performance will be a stellar group of musicians featuring Glen Pearson on piano, Ruth Davies on bass, Lorca Hart on drums, and Charles McNeal on sax.
Nicolas’ shows sell out quickly – so be sure to get your tickets early, and while they last.
As a bonus feature for this performance Yoshi’s has set up a MEET & GREET beginning at 7pm, where you can hang with Nicolas and choose a premier seat in advance in the first 2 rows. Showtime is 8pm
John Handy is a performer and composer who continues to sweep audiences into ecstasy with his vast range of creative, emotional, and technical inventiveness. With a superb knowledge and practical experience with music of several cultures, he fuses, with each selection, a musical genre that is coherent, provocative, logical, and enjoyable. As a singer, he brings a kind of storytelling narrative to the blues that is entertaining, educational, and moving; while his up tempo scat vocals could be compared to the best scat singers anywhere. He sings ballads with inventiveness that is rare among singers.
John Handy has written a number of highly acclaimed, original compositions. “Spanish Lady” and “If Only We Knew” both earned Grammy nominations for performance and composition. The popular jazz/blues/funk vocal crossover hit, “Hard Work“, brought him fame in another realm; while “Blues for Louis Jordan” displayed his talents in rhythm and blues. He has written many compositions of various sizes for both instrumental and vocal groups. His more extensive works include Concerto for Jazz Soloist and Orchestra which was premiered by the Parnassus Symphony Orchestra; and Scheme Number One which was lauded as a fine example of fixed and improvised music by the great composer, Igor Stravinsky.
John Handy at Lincoln Center in 2016
John Handy has performed in the world great concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Berlin Philharmonic Auditorium, San Francisco Opera House, Davies Hall; the major performance venues including Tanglewood, Saratoga (NY), and Wolf Trap; and the pre-eminent jazz festivals including the Monterey Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Pacific Coast Jazz Festival; and international jazz festivals at Montreaux (Switzerland), Antibe (France), Berlin (Germany), Cannes (France), Yubari (Japan), Miyasaki (Japan), among others. His album and CD covers read like a who’s who of record labels – Columbia, ABC Impulse, Warner Brothers, Milestone, Roulette, Boulevard, Quartet (Harbor), MPS Records and many others.
His most recent recordings are “John Handy Live at Yoshi’s” and “John Handy’s Musical Dreamland” (available only on Boulevard Records, Stuttgart, Germany), “Centerpiece“, and “Excursion in Blue“. Some of his earlier works have been reissued on CD – “John Handy: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival“, “The Second John Handy Album“, “New View“, and “Projections“. He recorded with Sonny Stitt, and recorded nine albums with Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop.
His album and CD covers read like a who’s who of record labels – Columbia, ABC Impulse, Warner Brothers, Milestone, Roulette, Boulevard, Quartet (Harbor), MPS Records and many others.
For the best and most updated information visit John Handy’s website: www.johnhandy.com
“Music comes out of her. When she walks down the street, she leaves notes.” — Jimmy Rowles
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald is considered one of the very best singer in the world. She is admired by her fans, young and old alike and she inspires her fellow artists and musicians. She performed at top venues all over the world. Her audiences were as diverse as her vocal range. They were rich and poor, made up of all races, all religions and all nationalities. In fact, many of them had just one binding factor in common – they all loved her.
Dubbed The First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.
Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman.
Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald sing Cole Porter
She toured all over the world, sometimes performing two shows a day in cities hundreds of miles apart. In 1974, Ella spent a legendary two weeks performing in New York with Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. She was inducted into the Down Beat magazine Hall of Fame, and received Kennedy Center Honors for her continuing contributions to the arts. 1958 the first Grammy awards were held and Ella Fitzgerald won Best Female Vocal Performance for The Irving Berlin Songbook (album) and Best Individual Jazz Performance for The Duke Ellington Songbook (album) 1959 Grammy awards, Best Female Vocal Performance for But Not For Me and Best Individual Jazz Performance for Ella Swings Lightly.
Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Va. on April 25, 1917. Her father, William, and mother, Temperance (Tempie), parted ways shortly after her birth. Together, Tempie and Ella went to Yonkers, N.Y, where they eventually moved in with Tempie’s longtime boyfriend Joseph Da Silva. Ella’s half-sister, Frances, was born in 1923 and soon she began referring to Joe as her stepfather. Their apartment was in a mixed neighborhood, where Ella made friends easily. She considered herself more of a tomboy, and often joined in the neighborhood games of baseball. Sports aside, she enjoyed dancing and singing with her friends, and some evenings they would take the train into Harlem and watch various acts at the Apollo Theater.
In 1934 Ella’s name was pulled in a weekly drawing at the Apollo and she won the opportunity to compete in Amateur Night. Ella went to the theater that night planning to dance, but when the frenzied Edwards Sisters closed the main show, Ella changed her mind. “They were the dancingest sisters around,” Ella said, and she felt her act would not compare. Once on stage, faced with boos and murmurs of “What’s she going to do?” from the rowdy crowd, a scared and disheveled Ella made the last minute decision to sing. She asked the band to play Hoagy Carmichael’s Judy, a song she knew well because Connee Boswell’s rendition of it was among Tempie’s favorites. Ella quickly quieted the audience, and by the song’s end they were demanding an encore. She obliged and sang the flip side of the Boswell Sister’s record, The Object of My Affections. Off stage, and away from people she knew well, Ella was shy and reserved. She was self-conscious about her appearance, and for a while even doubted the extent of her abilities. On stage, however, Ella was surprised to find she had no fear. She felt at home in the spotlight. “Once up there, I felt the acceptance and love from my audience,” Ella said. “I knew I wanted to sing before people the rest of my life.” In the band that night was saxophonist and arranger Benny Carter. Impressed with her natural talent, he began introducing Ella to people who could help launch her career. In the process he and Ella became lifelong friends, often working together.
In January 1935 she won the chance to perform for a week with the Tiny Bradshaw band at the Harlem Opera House. It was there that Ella first met drummer and bandleader Chick Webb. Although her voice impressed him, Chick had already hired male singer Charlie Linton for the band. He offered Ella the opportunity to test with his band when they played a dance at Yale University. If the kids like her she can stay, Chick announced.
Shortly afterward, Ella began singing a rendition of the song, (If You Can’t Sing It) You Have to Swing It. During this time, the era of big swing bands was shifting, and the focus was turning more toward bebop. Ella played with the new style, often using her voice to take on the role of another horn in the band. You Have to Swing It was one of the first times she began experimenting with scat singing, and her improvisation and vocalization thrilled fans. Throughout her career, Ella would master scat singing, turning it into a form of art. In 1938, at the age of 21, Ella recorded a playful version of the nursery rhyme, A-Tisket, A-Tasket. The album sold 1 million copies, hit number one, and stayed on the pop charts for 17 weeks. On June 16, 1939, Ella mourned the loss of her mentor Chick Webb. In his absence the band was renamed Ella Fitzgerald and Her Famous Band, and she took on the overwhelming task of bandleader.
Ella Fitzgerald sings April in Paris with her husband Ray Brown on bass
While on tour with Dizzy Gillespie’s band in 1946, Ella fell in love with bassist Ray Brown. The two were married and eventually adopted a son, whom they named Ray, Jr. At the time, Ray was working for producer and manager Norman Granz on the “Jazz at the Philharmonic” tour. Norman saw that Ella had what it took to be an international star, and he convinced Ella to sign with him. It was the beginning of a lifelong business relationship and friendship.
Under Norman’s management, Ella joined the Philharmonic tour, worked with Louis Armstrong on several albums and began producing her infamous songbook series. From 1956-1964, she recorded covers of other musicians’ albums, including those by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, the Gershwins, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, and Rodgers and Hart. The series was wildly popular, both with Ella’s fans and the artists she covered.
“I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them,” Ira Gershwin
Ella Fitzgerald on the Dean Martin Show
Ella also began appearing on television variety shows. She quickly became a favorite and frequent guest on numerous programs, including “The Bing Crosby Show,” “The Dinah Shore Show,” “The Frank Sinatra Show,” “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Tonight Show,” “The Nat King Cole Show,” “The Andy Willams Show” and “The Dean Martin Show.”
Ella Fitzgerald received so many awards that they are too numerous to mention in this article, some of the highlights which included:
• 13 Grammy awards • A-Tisket, A-Tasket entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame • Kennedy Center for Performing Arts’ Medal of Honor Award • The Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award • Pied Piper Award • American Society of Composers • Women at Work organization’s Bicentennial Woman • Authors and Publishers’ highest honor • George And Ira Gershwin Award for Outstanding Achievement • National Medal of Art • Honorary chairmanship of the Martin Luther King Foundation • Received first ASCAP award in recognition of an artist • Honorary doctorate degrees from Dartmouth, Talladega, Howard and Yale Universities • Peabody Award for Outstanding Contributions in Music • The first Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award, named “Ella” in her honor • NAACP Award for lifetime achievement
Ella continued to work as hard as she had early on in her career, despite the ill effects on her health. She toured all over the world, sometimes performing two shows a day in cities hundreds of miles apart. In 1974, Ella spent a legendary two weeks performing in New York with Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. Still going strong five years later, she was inducted into the Down Beat magazine Hall of Fame, and received Kennedy Center Honors for her continuing contributions to the arts.
Outside of the arts, Ella had a deep concern for child welfare. Though this aspect of her life was rarely publicized, she frequently made generous donations to organizations for disadvantaged youths, and the continuation of these contributions was part of the driving force that prevented her from slowing down.
To learn more or to watch a few videos about Ella Fitzgerald major performances visit: www.ellafitzgerald.com
