NICOLEYVETTE

SAY YES

Bright Fame, LLC

NicoleYvette, vocals; Dawn Clement & Paul Cornish, piano; Jermaine Paul, bass; Christian Euman, drums; Terri Lyne Carrington, drums/percussion; Andrew Renfroe, guitar; Larry Goldings, organ; Joel Ross, vibraphone; J. Ivy, Spoken Word; Lenard Simpson, saxophone; Keyon Harrold, trumpet. SPECIAL GUEST: Kurt Elling, vocals.

Singer, songwriter, NicoleYvette, has composed musically and lyrically ten out of a dozen songs on her premier album.  She incorporates R&B, Hip Hop and spoken-word into a production that is tied together with a string of jazzy arrangements. For example, on her song “Come Close” she features Hip Hop artist, J. Ivy with spoken-word. Keyon Harrold’s bold trumpet solo puts the “J” in jazz, adding to the soulful arrangement of her original song.

This album is produced by three-time GRAMMY winner, Sara Gazarek. NicoleYvette met her at a 2023 Jazz Camp West in La Honda, California.

“I was in Sara’s vocal intensive workshop where she planted seeds in me that changed what I thought was possible, I wrote “Say Yes” when I was in a musical crisis. I grew up in a very conservative Christian household where Gospel and hymns were the soundtrack of my life. But when my heart began to lead me somewhere else, I stepped away from sacred music and found that jazz met my spiritual need,” NicoleYvette shares in her press package.

On this titled tune she features Joel Ross on vibraphone. Shawn Schiogel is my co-writer.

“My songwriting process looks like this: I hear melody, lyrics, and often arrangements fully formed in my head as songs emerge. These songs don’t exist without first living in my head. I typically take that “song” to a musician, usually Shawn Schlogel, who is credited as co-writer on the original song, Say Yes. I sing the melody and lyrics to him to figure out what chords best support what I’m hearing in my head. Together we work out what best represents the song that’s trying to be born. Then he creates a chart, so other musicians can play what began in my head,” NicoleYvette told me.

She invites special guest and the legendary Kurt Elling to join her on the original song called “Such is the Love.”  This is a soulful blues duet between Elling, the jazz artist, and the fledgling artist, NicoleYvette.

A song she wrote for her father, NicoleYvette performs with Terri Lyne Carrington on drums and percussion.  It’s a beautiful arrangement. The singer’s vocals are purposeful and provocative. Carrington’s imaginative accompaniment and improvised solo is impressive.

The exciting arrangement of “Night and Day” gives her an opportunity to show her jazzier side. Geoffrey Keezer is the arranger and it’s one of NicoleYvette’s favorite Ella songs to perform. Dawn Clement moves from piano to play an inspired solo on the Moog that adds fusion sensibilities to this production.

Here is a blossoming artist, not necessarily a jazz artist, but one whose vocals, songwriting, and style crisscrosses genres.  Although she asserts her love and respect for the Mother of Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald, she is more gospel influenced than embracing the bar set high by Ella, or Billie Holiday or Carmen McRae. She has a lovely voice. However, there is more growth necessary to embrace the title of jazz singer, including the exploration of improvisation and NicoleYvette’s emotional transition of song lyrics to the listening audience ears. Make us believe every word, every story.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

Subscribe to Our Newsletter