I’m no jazz expert, but I do love the music. A couple of weeks ago, I had a great evening at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz At Lincoln Center, listening to The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, lead by Bobby Sanabria. They were fantastic, and near the end, NEA Jazz Master Candido Camero — he who introduced jazz to the conga drum and who played with Dizzy, among others — came out, climbed up on stage, and put his bandaged fingers to work for the audience. It roared in approval (not that it hadn’t already).
It was a wonderful evening made even more so because I was there on assignment, interviewing Nikki Yanofsky, the 16-year-old Canadian songstress, for New York Magazine.
I’ve written here about Yanofsky before, after hearing her on NBC Nightly News. NEA arts participation surveys show interest in jazz declining, especially among the young, and I hope Yanofsky can help reverse that. She’s got a big voice, and she wants to be a star. Her first U.S. album, “Nikki,” will be launched at Dizzy’s on May 4.
“Nikki” is a mix of standards like “Take The A Train” and “I Got Rhythm” with songs she co-wrote with Jesse Harris, Ron Sexsmith and others. She added vocalese to “A Train,” though — to make it her own. I predict that reviews from jazz journalists will be mixed (too tame for some, too retro, etc.), but you never know. And because I think she can create jazz followers among her generation, I’m hoping the album is a smash. (Jazz is getting some help from Michelle Obama, too, of course, which if sustained coule be a real plus.)
Here’s the link to my New York article.