 Kim Nalley and Houston Person
The Grammy-nominated vocalist Kim Nalley possesses a range that spans nearly four octaves, one of many reasons for the critical acclaim that she has garnered throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Kim Nalley, in looks and presence is often compared to Billie Holiday, but vocally she 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 has the ability to scat blistering solos without ever losing the crowd's interest or the intense swing. Dubbed “the natural heir to the Boss Tenor crown worn so long and so well by Gene Ammons”, global performer Houston Person knows the music business inside out, from booking his own tours to producing his own albums. As eclectic as he is talented, Person has recorded everything from disco and gospel to pop and r&b, in addition to his trademark, souful hard bop. Person is known as a master of popular songs played in a relaxed, highly accessible style. These two wonderful performers will play soulful jazz the Rrazz Room at the Nikko Hotel in San Francisco at 7:00 p.m. on July 4th.
 Kim Nalley © Vladimir Korobitsyn 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.  Houston Person © Andrea Canter Person built his reputation as a leader with a series of soulful recordings for Prestige in the 60s. However, he was often upstaged by his legendary partnership with the great vocalist, Etta Jones, which lasted over 30 years until her death in 2001. Recently he has performed with vocalist Barbara Morrison, and was with her at the Dakota last spring where they taped a live recording, due out next month. Houston Person has recorded over 75 albums as a leader on Prestige, Westbound, Mercury, Savoy, and Muse, which became High Note Records; his appearances as sideman are legion, and include the recordings with Etta Jones, Lena Horne, Lou Rawls, Dakota Staton, Horace Silver, Charles Earland, Charles Brown, and many others. As a record producer, he has worked with many artists, including gEtta Jones, Freddy Cole, Charles Brown, Buck Hill, Dakota Staton, and Ernie Andrews. In 1990, his recording with Ron Carter, Something in Common (Muse), won the Independent Jazz Record of the Year Award, and he received an Indie Award for his recording, Why Not? (Muse). Other awards have included the prestigious Eubie Blake Jazz Award (1982) and the Fred Hampton Scholarship Fund Image Award (1993), and he has been honored with a "Houston Person/Etta Jones Day" in Hartford County, MD (1982) and in Washington, DC (1983). His High Note recordings as both tenor artist and producer, My Buddy: Etta Jones Sings the Songs of Buddy Johnson and Etta Jones Sings Lady Day, were Grammy Finalists in the Best Jazz Vocal category in 1999 and 2000, respectively.
The Rrazz Room at The Nikko Hotel
222 Mason St.San Francisco, CA 94102 Phone: (866) 468 3399
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SF Bay Area 
Sunday, 19 May 2013
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