NICOLE HENRY (w/ The Eddie Higgins Trio): Teach me tonight

NICOLE HENRY
Minha querida amiga NICOLE HENRY era, até poucos anos, um segredo muito bem guardado entre os amigos de Miami, entre os quais eu me incluía. Através de suas temporadas no "Van Dyke´s", acompanhada alternativamente pelos trios de Mike Orta ou Eddie Higgins (*), Nicole foi se mostrando e a revelação do segredo era mera questão de tempo. Aos poucos, expandiu suas atuações por outras cidades da Flórida, chegou até New York, onde se apresentou no "Iridium" e causou um "frisson" na comunidade jazzística da "big Apple". Hoje existe pouco espaço disponível em sua agenda, pois Nicole é presença constante em importantes eventos de jazz tanto nos USA quanto fora dele (Japão, México, Inglaterra, França etc). Nicole merece: além de seu uma cantora notável, também é uma mulher belíssima e sensual, com extraordinária presença no palco. Ademais: é simpática, comunicativa, afável, educada, carinhosa, talentosa, inteligente e culta. Desnecessário dizer que sou seu "fan de carteirinha".

(*) O grande pianista (e meu prezado amigo de longas conversas no fim de noite do "Van Dyke´s) EDDIE HIGGINS faleceu em agosto de 2009. Além de extraordinário pianista, era um "gentleman", na acepção da palavra. Uma noite me contou que, quando viu pela primeira vez o TAMBA QUATRO, em Chicago, ficou alucinado com a performance do grupo, que ele não conhecia: pegou o telefone e convocou todos os músicos que encontrou, para irem correndo assistir ao formidável conjunto brasileiro, que se apresentava no club onde Eddie tocava. Fez amizade (ou pelo menos ele pensou assim) com Luizinho Eça e se transformou num dos seus maiores admiradores. Quando foi ao Rio de Janeiro pela primeira vez, realizando um velho sonho, Eddie teve uma enorme decepção: assim que chegou, telefonou para o seu "amigo" [sic] Luiz Eça, se identificou, deu o endereço do Hotel, telefone, etc. e marcaram um encontro ao qual o pianista brasileiro não compareceu. Eddie telefonou novamente, achando que poderia ter havido alguma confusão mas, para seu desencanto, Luiz Eça - com o proverbial "esnobismo" (eu ia dizer, falta de educação) que era uma de suas marcas registradas nem mesmo atendeu ou retornou a ligação, para frustração do pobre Eddie que, ainda assim continuou a considerar Luizinho como um dos maiores pianistas que já havia visto tocar - e olha que ele viu muitos...
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NICOLE HENRY
Fresh from her recent tours of Russia and Mexico, jazz vocalist Nicole Henry has been called “…one of the most impressive live performers to personalize the great American songbook.” by the Japan Times. With style, grace and a stellar list of international jazz performances and awards, vocalist Nicole Henry sings powerfully to inspire and touch the heart. With three TOP 10 CDs released in the last four years, Nicole brings back elegance and class to jazz. She continues to win awards and accolades, though now performing internationally at clubs and festivals in Japan, Spain, London, Jamaica, Korea, China and Mexico, where she presented her tribute to Billie Holiday. Her performance at the Jazz á Juan les Pins Festival in the south
of France won her the Prix du Jury 2007 award as part of their international Révélations vocal jazz competition. Raised in the arts haven of Bucks County, PA with a mom who always played classical piano in the house, Nicole and her sister studied music and dance. With a full academic scholarship to the University of Miami, she studied architecture for two years before changing majors to advertising and theater. It wasn’t until she recorded for a dance music DJ/producer named Noel Sanger, went on the road performing at jazz and blues clubs and heard her song on Billboard’s Dance Music Charts for eight weeks that she believed she could make a living as a performer. “I knew I wanted to use art to affect people’s lives. And that’s what I can accomplish through my singing…help people relate to their feelings, and then celebrate that feeling.” Nicole is now a full-time performer and songwriter. She has also tapped her acting background by winning roles in national television commercial campaigns for Verizon Wireless, Amtrak, McDonald's (with Venus and Serena Williams), Air Jamaica, Rite Aid Pharmacies, Hershey's Swoops, Sears Optical and others. She was the lead actress in the feature-length, independent films, In Plain
Sight and Chapter and Verse, and starred in a four-part pilot of a children's television series, The Lemonade Stand, aired on select US stations. She also starred in the independent short film Miami Chronicles sponsored by the Independent Film Channel. All three of these films feature original songs by Nicole.
(Posted by: Jazz Blues Florida)
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EDDIE HIGGINS
Born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts EDDIE HIGGINS was an elegant and sophisticated pianist. His encyclopedic harmonic approach and wide range of his repertory made him one of the most distinctive jazz pianists to come out of Chicago, gaining the respect of local and visiting musicians for his notable mastery of the instrument. Higgins also had the unusual ability to sound equally persuasive in a broad span of music, whether he was playing traditional swing, exciting bebop or reflexive ballads, providing the tone and stylistic flavor of each styles, as both a soloist and as accompanist. For more than two decades Higgins worked at some of Chicago's most prestigious jazz clubs. During his stay in Chicago, Higgins also recorded a significant number of albums under his auspices and many more as a sideman with a wide variety of musicians, ranging in style from tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins to Wayne Shorter; trumpeters Bobby Lewis to Freddie Hubbard, and trombonists Jack Teagarden to Al Grey. His versatility was captured on stage and records, backing up singers and leading his own projects as both pianist and orchestrator, working in every jazz circle from dixieland to modal styles. In 1970, Higgins moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and began spending winters in Florida and summers on Cape Cod, where he player in local clubs. Since the early 1980s, he traveled widely on the jazz festival circuit and has performed frequently in Europe and Japan. His releases on the Japanese Venus label earned him number one in jazz sales on more than one album. In 1988, Higgins and jazz singer and pianist Meredith d'Ambrosio were married and became a popular team at clubs and festivals, as well as recording for Sunnyside Records. In 2009, dates in Japan and Korea were on his calendar of upcoming concerts, which were suspended due to a long illness. Higgins died in Fort Lauderdale at the age of 77.
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ALBUM REVIEW
I first heard Nicole Henry sing at my church in Hollywood, FL. Her voice gave me chills as it was angelic and powerful. Since then I have been following her music and although I did not think she could get any better than the first time I heard her perform, to my amazement she does. Anyone who loves to be inspired by a pure vocalist with talent beyond ones imagination should at the very least listen to this amazing vocalist sing one song and after that I am sure you will want all of her albums.
By Tina M. Burns (Hollywood, FL USA)
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MINHA OPINIÃO: em seu primeiro álbum, "The nearness of you", (a cuja sessão de gravação eu estive presente) NICOLE foi acompanhada pelo trio do notável pianista MIKE ORTA. A produção daquele CD foi modestíssima, quase caseira: a sessão foi ta inteiramente gravada, direto, numa tarde, no "Van Dyke´s", em Miami - onde ela se apresentava todas as noites. Mas foi esse CD que abriu as portas do sucesso para Nicole que, neste segundo álbum, é acompanhada pelo trio do não menos notável pianista EDDIE HIGGINS (também "figurinha carimbada" do Van Dyke´s). O comentário aí em cima diz tudo a respeito de Nicole. Para mim, resta apenas acrescentar: [1] que o repertório é um colar de pérolas, a exemplo dos outros álbuns por ela gravados: somente "standards" e nada de novidades passageiras ou músicas descartáveis; [2] que Nicole (ao contrário de tantas cantoras que pensam que "cantar jazz" é sinônimo de enfiar "scats" a torto e direito) não estraga suas performances com "shabada-ba-da-bliú-bops" e "perfumarias" do gênero. Simplesmente canta o tema como ele é , limitando-se a acrescentar algumas variações da linha melódica original, sempre corretas, contidas e de bom gosto; [3] que essa menina é UM LUXO!

(*) Nicole gravou um terceiro álbum, intitulado "The very thought of you". Todos, aos poucos, serão postados.
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NICOLE HENRY (w/ The Eddie Higgins Trio): Teach me tonight

PERSONNEL:
Nicole Henry (vocals)
Eddie Higgins (piano)
Jay Leonhart (bass)
Joe Ascione (drums)

TRACKS
1. Lover Come Back to Me
2. Blue Skies
3. Teach Me Tonight
4. Blame It on My Youth
5. I've Got You Under My Skin
6. Angel Eyes
7. Summer Wind
8. Cry Me River
9. Night and Day
10. You Don't Know What Love Is
11. 'S Wonderful
12. Young at Heart