ONE NIGHT ONLY - SEPT 16th, 2010 - KIM NALLEY Live at The 9:20 Special
The 9:20 Special is pleased to present nationally acclaimed chanteuse Kim Nalley as a part of San Francisco's pre-SFLX Kickoff Party!
After doing such a fantastic job of kicking of the 2009 SFLX, we knew we had to get Kim to come back and be a part of celebrating the Lindy scene in her home town, and The 9:20 Special is greatful to have that honor.
Tickets to this evening are $15 ($13 for students with valid ID) in order to support the band and extra sound equipment needed for the night. Students enrolled in a month of classes will pay an extra $5 fee to support the band.
If you've purchased your ticket as part of your SFLX registration, please check in with the SFLX table before entering the dance.
Recently named one of the "Ten Most Influential African Americans in the Bay Area," Kim Nalley has an international reputation as one of world's best jazz & blues vocalists. Known for her ability to turn a chattering cocktail-sipping crowd into a rapt audience of lifelong fans in minutes with a beguiling combination sass, soul and smarts, no trip to San Francisco is complete without hearing Kim Nalley perform.
Kim Nalley, in looks and presence is often compared to Billie Holiday, but vocally she packs a 3 1/2 octave range that can go from operatic to gritty blues on a dime, projection that can whisper a ballad yet is capable of filling a room with no microphone, and the ability to scat blistering solos without ever losing the crowd's interest or the intense swing. Her singing is most reminiscent of the former Basie Singers Helen Humes & Joe Williams with a dash of Dinah Washington and occasional nods to Ella, Sarah and Nina Simone.
A born singer, as a child Nalley was taught piano by her great-grandmother and studied opera and theatre at the Educational Center of the Arts in New Haven, CT, before relocating to San Francisco in the footsteps of the Grateful Dead. Working her way through college by singing in small dives and jam sessions, Nalley learned all of the intricacies of jazz the old fashioned way. Music critic Phil Elwood and SF Symphony director Michael Tilson Thomas quickly discovered Kim Nalley and brought her to national attention after they noticed her singing nightly at the Alta Plaza to packed audiences - without amplification.
Since then, Kim Nalley has performed globally, including most of the major jazz festivals in United States, Europe, Japan and Canada such as Monterey, Umbria Jazz and Lincoln Center and lived in Europe for several years before returning to San Francisco to re-open the jazz club Jazz at Pearl's. During her tenure from 2003 to 2008, Nalley raised the club to iconic international acclaim as the owner and artistic director.
She frequently collaborates and performs with artists such as Rhoda Scott, David "Fathead" Newman, Houston Person, James Williams, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. She has recorded several critically-acclaimed CDs on labels distributed worldwide, including her latest release, She Put A Spell On Me, which was short-listed for a 2006 Grammy Award, and Million Dollar Secret, which charted in the Jazz Top 40.
Kim holds a degree in history from UC Berkeley and often combines music and history to create historiographical concerts with great success, including her award-winning "Ladies Sing the Blues*," "She Put a Spell on Me: Tribute to Nina Simone," the multimedia presentation Black History Month Concert Series and "The Heart of Lady Day," a Billie Holiday biopic. As an actress she recently starred as Billie Holiday in the dramatic play "Lady Day in Love," Blues Speak woman in Zora Neale Hurston's "Spunk" and has starred in Teatro Zinzanni as Madame Zinzanni, a role subsequently filled by Joan Baez and Sandra Reeves-Phillipes.
