Primary Instrument: Guitar
Kim Prevost and guitarist Bill Solley has been racing the high road to success since winning the 1999 “BET on Jazz” Jazz Discovery Award. Individually and together, they've performed with musical greats like Arturo Sandoval, Bobby McFerrin, Nicolas Payton, Nine Inch Nails, Oleta Adams, Ed Calle, Sammy Figaroa, Kirk Whalum, Matt Lemmler, and Allen Toussaint. Both artists are natives of the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans. They have appeared at numerous festivals, and have toured extensively from England to the Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, Germany, the United States with plenty stops in between. They are repeat performers at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy. With five music releases, the latest release entitled “Just in Time “ on Enthropya Records, the musical duo have received critical acclaim from numerous publications including Jazz times, Just Jazz Guitar, Allmusic.com, and Offbeat.
Kim Prevost is an accomplished vocalist and songwriter. She has worked in all facets of the entertainment industry. She began singing as a child, in church choirs, where she often performed duets with the pastor, her father. In addition to completing eight years of ballet, tap and jazz dance training, she also worked extensively as a model for companies such as Saks Fifth Avenue. She continued to sing, dance and model throughout her college years. Her theater credits include leading roles in “Sweet Charity” “Dreamgirls”, “West Side Story” “ A Dose of Reality” and a Cole Porter review under the musical direction of music great Allen Toussaint. Additional credits include several commercials and dancing for the MTV show “NFL Jams Live”. She was chronicled in a feature documentary about her family gospel roots entitled Full Circle: Journey Back to Gospel. She is a featured vocalist on “The Fragile” of Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails.
Bill Solley has performed at numerous clubs and festivals around the world, including recent appearances at the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy. He is well versed in bebop, fusion and Brazilian music, but his current forte is accompanying many of the fine jazz singers across the country including his beautiful vocal partner Kim. His credits include performances and recording dates with many jazz musicians such as Dale Valentine, Terri Lynn Carrington, Phil Degruy, Stanley Jordan, Mary Griffin the Headhunters with Mike Clake, Paul Jackson, and Bill Summers. Bill was proud to take part in the blockbuster motion film “Ray” in which he was the guitar instructor to actor Terrence Howard. He and Kim can be seen in the recent documentary “No Cross, No Crown”.
Awards:
1999 "BET on jazz" jazz discovery award
”Kim Prevost is New Orleans' answer to Cassandra Wilson.” -Jonathan Tabak, OffBEAT Magazine(New Orleans)
“Individually, the vocalist and the fretman are both tremendous talents-Prevost the sultry improvisor, Solley the guitar master. As a team, they are the perfect complement of harmony, rhythm, and emotion.” -Geraldine Wyckoff, Gambit Weekly(New Orleans)
”They make wonderful music together...This is a very good CD, an indispensible one for enthusiasts of guitar with vocals and a real masterclass in the art of accompaniment.” -Adrian Ingram, Just Jazz Guitar Magazine (Atlanta)
”Kim and Bill are an excellent duo,very musical with a lot of talent and passion for the music, it's always a real pleasure to listen to the beautiful Kim's voice and the flying fingers of Bill, a great treat to your ears! It's always a pleasure for me to play with them and I always have a lot of fun,Gob bless,keep doing what you do,don't go and change it ..”
- Arturo Sandoval, Jazz Great Trumpeter
Upcoming.org wrote “Bill Solley makes music that jumps and jives and then makes you cry with its pristine beauty. Solley’s musicianship is truly amazing, as he works melody, improvisations and baseline simultaneously with virtuosity and ardor on his trademark 7-string guitar.”
“Bill Solley is one of the greatest fingerstyle guitarist on the planet”... Bill Piburn, Fingerstyle 360 Guitar Magazine
Talk to Me
STR Digital Records
2002
Tracks:.
Personnel: Kim Prevost; Vocal, Bill Solley; guitar, producer,Bill Summers; percussion, Kenyatta Simon; percussion, nicholas Payton; horns, Bobby Campo; horns, Jimmy Weber; horns,Tony Digradi;horns,Darryl Lavigne; keyboards and vocal,Donald Ramsey;bass,Larry Siebirth;piano,Rolain Guerin; bass.
<Kim Prevost and Bill Solley
Just in Time
Enthropya Records
2003
Tracks: .
Personnel: Kim Prevost; vocals, Bill Solley;7string guitar.
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