Event
Nicolas Bearde - Buttery Baritone Sings Smooth Jazz and R&B
After honing his art and craft for many years with discipline and singular imagination, Bay Area-based vocalist Nicolas Bearde is due for broader recognition, and soon. A supremely gifted singer/entertainer who is fluent in soul, jazz and R&B stylings, Bearde has been compared to vocal icons like Lou Rawls, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, and Jon Lucien. But such comparisons fail to capture his vocal artistry or do justice to his musical accomplishments on record or in performance. "He's a breath of fresh air amidst a mass of polluted ozone-unfriendly pop," declared Blues and Soul magazine in the U.K., where Bearde's music has been accorded an especially enthusiastic reception and where he placed high on the list of Best Male Newcomers in the publication's 1998 poll.
In addition to his high-profile role with Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra â the innovative a cappella group of which Nicolas was a founding member â and SoVoSó, the artistic offshoot of Voicestra, with whom he's toured and recorded since the mid-1990s, Bearde has worked steadily with an array of artists from Patti Austin, Michael Bolton and Janis Siegel to McFerrin, John Handy, Chris Camozzi, and his own outstanding group, the Right Groove.
Looking ahead, Nicolas is working on his next recording. "In general I'm doing more jazz these days, but I can't seem to step away from R & B completely". The new album will be an outgrowth of a "Tribute to Lou Rawls" live show that he has been presenting, but the concept will be broadened to include other great male vocalist such as Joe Williams, Nat Cole and Ray Charles. "There are very few of them around now," says Bearde. "The tribute has to be done respectfully and authentically; I am not trying to imitate anyone. I want to honor their music."
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LocationJazz at Pearl's
256 Columbus Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94133
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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