Vocalist Dr. Kim Nalley
April 14th
Doors at 2 pm
Concert starts at 3 pm
Open Seating
Tickets available at the door
Awarded "Most Influential African American in the Bay Area" in 2005 and "Best Jazz Group" in 2013, vocalist Dr. Kim Nalley is already being called "legendary" and "San Francisco institution. Nalley was discovered by Michael Tilson Thomas singing to packed audiences live with no amplification. MTT recorded her singing live with no amplification and invited her to sing with the San Francisco Symphony. Subsequently she became a Rounder Records recording artist and went on a worldwide tour gracing concert halls from Moscow to Lincoln Center and festivals from Umbria Jazz to Monterey Jazz garnering effusive international press, awards and ranking high on the Jazz charts and Gavin Report for her many albums. Nalley had a solid background in classical music before switching to Jazz for the freedom it provided. A true Renaissance woman, Kim Nalley has been a featured writer for JazzWest and SF Chronicle's City Brights, shortlisted for a Grammy nomination, a produced playwright, an avid Lindy Hop & blues dancer. and the former jazz club owner of Jazz at Pearl’s. She earned her Ph.D. in history at UC Berkeley and is a published scholar. She was shortlisted by Downbeat Critics Poll in 2017 as a "Rising Star" (Deserving Wider Recognition). Nalley's many philanthropic endeavors include founding the Kim Nalley Black Youth Jazz Scholarship, fundraising for Richmond-Ermet Aids Foundation, BLM, Next Village, SF-Marin Food Bank, and Department of Economic and Covid relief sponsored in part by Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts as part of their 2020 Artists Respond grant program.
In 2022 She was commissioned by San Jose Jazz for a new work. Nalley composed and wrote a five movement jazz operatta "To 'Joy My Freedom" based on the African American washerwomen strike in 1881 which was the first successful African American strike. The title of Nalley's work is from historian Tera Hunter's award winning book To 'Joy My Freedom.
In looks, Kim Nalley exudes the aura of a diva from a by-gone era. According to San Francisco Chronicle, "she has pipes to burn" packing 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. "She has been compared to all the greats, but in the end, it's Kim Nalley and no one else - an unforced instrument with clarity and jazzy musicality, effortlessly delivered, and a sense of humor to boot."