Nicolas Bearde will bring his warmth, soul and personality to the famous " Brownstone" concert hall in Paterson, New Jersey this fall, with his memorable tribute to one of the great vocalists of the past few decades, Mr. Lou Rawls.


"GOT A RIGHT TO SING THE BLUES"

The Brownstone
351 W Broadway
Paterson, NJ 07522
800-831-9801
Sept. 29, 30, 31, Oct 1, 2 - lunch at 1130a, show begins at 130p

http://aceshows.com/artists.html

Price: $42.50

"Bearde captures the essence of the honoree and the zeitgeist of the musical era in which he flourished," says Chris Loudon of the Jazz Times. And... he effectively channels the younger Rawls' ability to blur the lines between jazz, soul and blues.

Along with his stellar group of New York musicians, Nicolas will be performing songs from all three of his albums, but most particularly his latest CD, "Live at Yoshi's - A Salute to Lou". "Audiences have listened and truly appreciated his performances, which he delivers with gusto and verve," says Field Produces, Bud Spangler.
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Nicolas Bearde salutes the music of Lou Rawls with the release of his new CD - "Live at Yoshi's - A Salute to Lou" on May 20th, 2008.

A charter member of Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra ensemble as well as the innovative Bay Area vocal sextet SoVoSo, Nicolas Bearde has long been recognized as an adept and fearless vocal improviser.
But... Bearde is a down-to-earth soul stylist as well. On his new CD, "Live at Yoshi's: A Salute to Lou," which is due for release on May 20 by his own Right Groove Records label, Bearde delivers a vibrant set of Lou Rawls-associated material before a full house at Oakland's premier jazz club.

"Live at Yoshi's: A Salute to Lou" contains Bearde's distinctive interpretations of five songs that were part of Lou Rawls Live! ("The Girl from Ipanema," "The Shadow of Your Smile," "World of Trouble," "Tobacco Road," "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water") as well as other numbers closely associated with Rawls, including "Lady Love," "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing," "This Song Will Last Forever," and "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine."

The album's lead track is a non-Rawls tune with a special significance for Bearde: Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln's "Living Room." "Jazz vocalist Buddy Conner was the first person I heard do that song, back in the '80s," says the vocalist. "It's been in my repertoire ever since.

"Since Bill Withers is another favorite singer of mine, and his song " Can We Pretend" off my first CD, "Crossing the Line" garnered the most attention, I just had to include another of his songs on this album as well. Track 6, "Hello Like Before" seemed to fit the feeling of what I was trying to convey", says Bearde, "so I hope you like this one too."

On the new CD, Bearde is backed by four of his favorite instrumentalists: saxophonist Charles McNeal, pianist Glenn Pearson, bassist Nelson Braxton, and drummer Jason Lewis.

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"Voicestra" is nearing the end of our 2008 East Coast tour, and the group's performance, yesterday, March 4, 2008 at Carnegie Hall in New York City was the most amazing event.

Yours truly and other "Stras" , (that is what we, the members of Bobby McFerrin's "Voicestra" call ourselves), performed to a sold out audience of New Yorkers, students of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and fans that have followed us around the country during our current East Coast tour. Y'all brought the house down last nite at Carnegie Hall.

One member of the audience was asked on stage to conduct the group in a "Circle Song", which is what Voicestra is so well known for, much to the joy of the crowd, and to us as well.

We ended the evening with all 13 of us sitting at the end of the stage and fielding questions from the audience, Bobby singing a few requests, and each member providing a mini bio of themselves.

We really appreciated the enthusiastic welcome from all attendees!

We are on to Bedford, Mass. - Denver, Colo and Houston, Texas. and hope to see many of you along the way.

Nicolas
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A HUGE thanks to all of you who attended the Yoshi's concert this past week, and thank you so much for bringing new friends.

WOW!!! - what a reception !!!

Everyone looked maaaavelous, and your level of enthusiasm and energy was beyond compare. You all make it so easy for me to do what I do.

I want to especially thank those of you who took the time to drop me a note -

Joanne said - "Smooth and Engaging"
Susan said - " Absolutely fabulous concert, you had the crowd in your hands"
Karen said - " Incredible show, very tight, fabulous"
Elia said- "Energizing and exciting"
Liz said - "You looked great, and your voice is over the top - you totally charmed your "audi"
Tom said- "Set list was impeccable, musicians were a pure joy to listen to, very, very impressive show. Wow, Wow and Wow!!"

NEW NEWS -

New CD called "On Lakeside Drive" was recorded at the Kaiser Center this past summer and is now exclusively available at my live performances. Selections include "Sugar", "Down Home Blues", "Compared to What", Girl from Ipanema", and more.

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I had a wonderful run of shows this summer, from Santa Rosa to the Kaiser rooftop in Oakland, from Santana Row in San Jose and now on to Yoshi's Jazz House in October.

We recorded the Kaiser Jazz series in August and now have a new CD called "On Lakeside Drive" available to purchase. Drop us a note at nicolas@nicolasbearde.com, and for $18 including postage, we will gladly mail you out your very owned signed copy.

I feel really blessed to have the opportunity to share my music with such diverse audiences. Thanks to all of who came out to support.... you are deeply appreciated.

A big thanks to my crew, Nelson Braxton - bass, Glen Pearson - keyboards, Charles McNeal - saxophone and Jason Lewis on drums - THEY rocked!

Speaking of support, we invite all of you out to Yoshi's on Tuesday, October 16th for our LIVE recording of that concert. It will be a very special event, and I hope to see you there.
Tickets are selling fast so don't procrastinate. www.yoshis.com.

Yours in music
Nicolas
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Another wonderful experience was had by all "Stras" (which is short for members of "Voicestra") on our recent jaunt to Europe. All members participated in vocal workshops at the Stimmen Festival in Basel, Switzerland that included 120 students from Switzerland and Germany of all ages, with very diverse musical backgrounds. It was also such a pleasure to see many of these students come to Munich, Stuttgart and Mainz to watch our performances. Europeons are certainly keepin' a finger on the pulse of Jazz.

Beginning this month, I am putting together musicians and arrangers to begin work on my next album. We hope that you will all become partners in this next project.

Don't miss the next Nic Nac News letter that will talk about the new music, a wonderful way to help young jazz musicians, and raise money for your worthy causes.

I love all my fans and friends and appreciate your ongoing support and friendship.

Stay tuned......

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The News/Updates page has just been added to my website, and I look forward to keeping in touch with my fans worldwide thru this format. I invite you to check in often for breaking news and upcoming events in your part of the world.

After sending out my recent Nic Nac News letter, it was such a pleasure to receive so many notes. I love hearing from you, so I invite you to leave comments, feedback or just drop me an email at nicolas@nicolasbearde.com, and I promise to respond to all.

I will be travelling in Europe over the next couple of weeks, as a member of Bobby McFerrin's renowned a cappella group, "Voicestra", and while on tour will be working on the material for my upcoming album. I plan to begin recording in the Fall, and will invite all of you to help get this new and exciting music out into the world.

Once I get a little more into the music, I will be looking to name the album,(thoughts from fans will be welcome), and with some luck, I will be able to have a few special guests on some of the tracks.

Stay tuned.....

Nicolas