Nikki's career began at age 12, when she sang in the Montreal International Jazz Festival -- the youngest headliner ever. She's Canadian, so she sang at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Two albums released (2008 and 2010), but so far she's getting way less attention in the States than in ol' Canada. I guess the music scene up there is slightly more jazz and talent than gangsta rap and Rebecca Black.
Speaking of Rebecca Black, if she's the sort of young artist the U.S. is producing, and Nikki is what Canada is producing...well, damn it all to hell, I need to learn French and move up-continent.
It's fun to find these in-studio recordings too; they feel so up-close and personal. The song itself was written in 1952 in reference to Charlie "Bird" Parker, and it charted in 1954 thanks to Ella Fitzgerald. Enjoy.
I am a devoted fan of Nikki Yanofsky, and closely follow all developments in her music and career. Your reaction to discovering Nikki is typical of persons with a sensibility to quality music. Unlike manufactured "talents" like Bieber, Black, Cyrus and Spears, this attractive young woman is true to the music as an uncompromising artist, without sideshows of personal drama, family dysfunction, drug rehab or sex-sell. This position makes it much more difficult to penetrate the American market. However, her talent is prodigious, and the young woman is a determined dynamo. She is also very popular in Europe and increasingly recognized in Asia. She is a known celebrity in France, aided by her french-speaking (and singing) ability as Canadian Quebecois. I continue to contemplate the way she somehow absorbed classic jazz at a young age. I recently met Nikki after a live performance where I sat mesmerized, and am still contemplating her improvised scatting during the performance when she suddenly ascended through multiple octaves to clearly hit stunning high notes only to return, always precisely on key. Her performance of jazz classics such as this "Lullaby of Broadway" session on You Tube are at a virtuoso level. Check out her presentation of the classic "Stompin at the Savoy" on You Tube, where her mid-song scatting always sends me to heaven. She is crucial to the future of Jazz and I agree that she may become a dominant figure. She is also determined to sing everything and be a crossover artist, bringing people back to jazz. There are repeated comments on You Tube about not liking jazz until hearing Nikki. There seem to be two strategies she has to break more into the U.S. market. One is to produce a top-ten pop hit on an album mixed-in with jazz and great classic songs. She has been working with top song writers for her next album, including Diane Warren, the most successful American writer of hits. Another angle is through television and movies. Nikki signed last fall with the most prominent TV and movie agency in Hollywood, and Nikki has tweeted that she did her first script reading. Phil Ramone has suggested that Nikki might follow Streisand into music and movies. I love music and have a modest musical background. I have never been this excited about an artist. Despite MANY replays, I still am astonished by this "Lullaby of Birdland" session.
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