The Michelle Nicolle Quartet national tour will land at Lawson on July 27, as part of the band's 21st birthday celebration. They will play a retrospective of songs from their eight CD releases, which feature a wide range of jazz classics. The concert is presented by the Friends of the Lawson Mechanics Institute.
In its 21 years, the quartet has performed throughout Australia, across Asia and Europe, and highlights include The North Sea and Tokyo Jazz Festivals. For this performance, the quartet will be joined by the exceptional Blue Mountains accordionist Gary Daly. A further bonus is the band offering workshops in guitar, singing, jazz rhythm and improvisation in the afternoon before the show.
A recent award was the Bell Australian Jazz Award for Vocal Album of the Year in 2017.
The Michelle Nicolle Quartet is acclaimed as one of the finest, most prolific and inventive jazz ensembles in Australia. Even the great American jazz singer Kurt Elling is a fan: "Michelle is a singer born to charm, enlighten and seduce through music."
Michelle and her long-term collaborators Geoff Hughes (guitar), Ronny Ferella (drums) and Tom Lee (bass), lovingly explore music with a totally contemporary and forward thinking approach, but at the same time are steeped in the rich tradition of jazz, storytelling and the magic of live performance.
John Shand wrote in the SMH after the Springwood show in 2016, "..all the band had to do was set up a golden glow of warmth, soft groove and space and Nicole was soaring to places you will be taken by few singers. In the world, I mean."
The warm response of Blue Mountains audiences have made them one of the Quartet's favourites and they look forward to meeting old and new friends at their 21st birthday party.
Workshops In the afternoon of July 27 a workshop in jazz guitar with Hughes, singing with Michelle Nicolle and jazz rhythm and improvising with Ferella will take place at Lawson Mechanics. Cost from $15, with two workshops $30 ($20 concession). Workshop inquiries ronnyferella@gmail.com; bookings www.trybooking.com/BDMSR.
