Nicolas
Bearde Invitation Nicolas Bearde is a San Francisco Bay Area treasure. As a
charter member of Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra ensemble as well as the innovative
vocal sextet SoVoSó, he's long been internationally recognized as a versatile
and fearless vocal improviser, charismatic performer, and distinctive jazz and
soul stylist.
While Bearde
has drawn on his love for both R&B and jazz on his previous four CDs,
Invitation, the singer's fifth release on his own Right Groove Records label,
is his first entirely straight-ahead set of songs. Produced largely by renowned
pianist/arranger Nat Adderley Jr., Invitation will be released January 29.
"Nat
has a way of starting you in a different direction," says Bearde of
Adderley, who spent nearly 20 years as music director for Luther Vandross and
grew up in a deeply musical family including his cornetist father Nat Sr. and
his alto saxophonist uncle Cannonball. "He has a way of voicing chords
that is so very musical. You don't have to hear the melody to hear the melody
within the chords. We found that during rehearsal of this new material. I
thought, this is probably the most beautiful way I've ever heard these
songs."
The relaxed
phrasing and depth of feeling that Bearde brings to such standards as
"Nature Boy," "Lush Life," and "Save Your Love for
Me" and to a rarely heard vocal version of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden
Voyage" place him firmly in the tradition of such deep-voiced greats as
Billy Eckstine, Al Hibbler, Arthur Prysock, Johnny Hartman, Bill Henderson, Lou
Rawls, and Jon Lucien.
Seven of the
tracks were recorded in East Orange, New Jersey, or Brooklyn, New York, with
Adderley on piano, Belden Bullock or Kenny Davis on bass, and Vincent Ector or
Rocky Bryant on drums, and, on three tracks, alto saxophonist Vincent Herring,
considered by many to be Cannonball Adderley's foremost stylistic disciple.
"I Want to Talk About You" was produced in Oakland by the late Bud
Spangler with pianist John R. Burr, bassist John Wiitala, drummer Akira Tana,
and tenor saxophonist Anton Schwartz. "Maiden Voyage" was produced in
San Francisco by Bearde and Peter Horvath, who played piano in the company of
bassist Gary Brown, drummer Leon Joyce Jr., and percussionist Peter Michael
Escovedo.
Bearde was
introduced to Adderley nearly three years ago while appearing at Trumpets in
Montclair, New Jersey. The club's owner recommended that Bearde call Adderley,
who lived in the neighborhood, about the possibility of their working together
at his next Trumpets engagement.
"Nat
said 'Send me the music and info, let's hear what you do,'" says Bearde.
"So I sent him three albums' worth of material, and he called back and said,
'Where have you been? Why don't people know who you are? Of course I'll work
with you.'"
Nashville
native Nicolas Bearde, who's been based in the San Francisco Bay Area since the
1970s, has worked extensively as an actor for stage, screen, and television and
as a voice-over artist in addition to his vocal pursuits. By the mid-1980s,
he'd hooked up with Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra, and when McFerrin decided to
take a break from the group in the mid-'90s, Bearde and other members branched
off into a smaller a cappella unit called SoVoSó, which included Molly Holm,
Linda Tillery, Rhiannon, Joey Blake, David Worm, and Edgardo Cambon. "We
followed in the improvisational tradition of Voicestra, but added more gospel,
Latin, and R&B elements," he says.
Bearde
maintains a busy touring schedule. He has appeared at the Russian River Jazz
Festival, San Jose Festival, Salt Lake City Jazz Festival, Usadba Jazz Festival
in Russia, and Minsk Jazz Festival in Belarus, as well as such clubs as Yoshi's
in both Oakland and San Francisco, B.B. King's and Café Cordial in Los Angeles,
and the abovementioned Trumpets.
Besides
being a master singer, Bearde has distinguished himself as an actor. Since
taking part in Juke Box, a 1986 radio play starring Danny Glover, he has
appeared in such films as True Crime, Final Analysis, and Pacific Heights; on
television in Monk, Henry Lee, Nash Bridges, and Baby Snatcher; on the stage in
Flying West, Two Trains Running, Full Moon, Twelfth Night, American Song, and
Master Harold...and the Boys; and in commercials for the California Lottery,
Chrysler, Orchard Supply Hardware, and Verizon.
Bearde has
released four albums through his Right Groove imprint: Crossing the Line
(1998), All About Love (2004), Live at Yoshi's: A Salute to Lou [Rawls] (2008),
and Visions (2013). Connoisseurs of fine jazz singing will be thankful to hear
him in the uncompromising context of Invitation.
Nicolas
Bearde will be performing two CD release shows in the Bay Area: Saturday 3/5 at
Café Stritch in San Jose and Saturday 3/26 at the Sound Room in Oakland.
