Nicole Henry Returns to Dizzy's

Nicole Henry at Dizzy's

Last August, my friend Flo took me to Dizzy's Coca Cola Jazz Club at Lincoln Center to hear Nicole Henry perform. I was blown away by her, and was excited when Nicole mentioned that she was releasing a CD of 70's music in 2013.

Henry returned last night to Dizzy's to celebrate the release of the CD, titled So Good, So Right. She performed most of the songs from the CD and as a child of the 70's, I was taken right back to my AM radio days.

If Henry had been around in the 70's, she would have given Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin a run for their money. She has a powerful and sultry voice, and I loved the song choices. She wore a lovely, flowing Badgley Mischka sand colored gown, echoing the era she was honoring.

One of my favorite performances from last night was the opening song Stuck in the Middle With You. I can remember my mom singing that song, it was her favorite and a great way to open the show. Gladys Knight got a shout-out with Henry's soulful rendition of Neither One of Us.

Although known as a jazz/R&B singer, Henry sang some pop songs too, including Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi, James Taylor's Fire & Rain  and a plaintive Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word by Elton John.

The audience went crazy for Home Alone and Bob Marley's Waiting in Vain and a gospel-tinged Spirit in the Dark that would have made Aretha proud. The soulful Use Me was a highlight as well.

Henry chose as her encore one of my favorite 70's songs, Stevie Nicks' Landslide, which the Dixie Chicks also had a hit with a few years back. I adored Henry's take on this song, maybe even more than Nicks' version.

If you enjoy jazz, R&B and 70's music, I can't recommend Nicole Henry's So Good, So Right enough. You can buy at ITunes here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/so-good-so-right-nicole-henry/id587914301
or if you want an actual CD, the Amazon link is here:
http://www.amazon.com/So-Good-Right-Nicole-Henry/dp/B009369ZJY

Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston now Nicole Henry

Nicole Henry at Dizzy's Coca-Cola Club

I have a friend named Flo who has been raving about this jazz/R&B singer named Nicole Henry for the last few years. You know, you hear people talk about someone and you think to yourself, "yeah, yeah I'm sure she's good, but.." Finally I got the opportunity to hear for myself when Nicole played Dizzy's Coca-Cola Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center last night.

The venue was sold out, but Flo managed to finagle our way from the back sets to a table, which we shared with two very nice gentlemen, Fred, who has seen Nicole several times in New York and Miami, and his friend Chris, who has heard Nicole's CD but not seen her live yet.

Nicole took the stage and started singing and she has such a stage presence, along with the voice to match. She is a combination of Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston and a little Aretha Franklin. I was blown away by her, and a little shocked that she is not better known. I'm afraid that in this age of American Idol, good old fashioned singers like her get lost, and what a shame that is.

She and one of my all-time favorite songs, Since I Fell For You from her CD Embraceable, and I loved the arrangement. Her next CD, out in October, features songs from her show at the Metropolitan Club, where she performed '70s songs. How I wished I had seen that one, because her best song of the night was from that show, a Bill Withers tune Use Me that had everyone mesmerized.

After last night's performance I am officially in the Nicole Henry fan club, along with everyone else who was there last night. If anyone ever asks you to go see Nicole Henry, don't hesitate to enthusiastically say "yes!"

Nicole Henry's website is here.
She is also on Facebook here.