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Nicole Glover

Nicole Glover’s journey in music began when her father introduced her to improvised music at a young age. She began playing the clarinet at the age of ten, transitioning to tenor saxophone the following year.

Her interest and curiosity for music began to blossom in high school. She became involved in a variety of performance groups, both within her school and in the community. Nicole was one of 19 students from across the nation to be selected for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, who embarked on a national tour that involved performances with Bobby Watson and Julian Lage, concluding with a performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival with Wynton Marsalis.

Throughout her musical career, Nicole has had the pleasure of performing with such great musicians as Mulgrew Miller, Wynton Marsalis, Esperanza Spalding, Kenny Garrett, George Colligan, Geoffrey Keezer, Bennie Maupin, Bobby Watson, Mike Clark, Bill Stewart, Essiet Essiet, Mel Brown, Julian Lage, Obo Addy, Rob Scheps, Red Holloway, Terell Stafford, Helen Sung, Dana Hall, Scotty Barnhart, and Thara Memory.

After studying at William Paterson University, Nicole returned to Portland, Oregon in 2011. Upon arrival, she was invited to record on Esperanza Spaulding's Grammy-award winning album "Radio Music Society". She now performs with in multiple groups with multi-instrumentalist George Colligan, as well as her own jazz trio and several other improvisational ensembles such as the Alan Jones Storyline Sextet, Thomas Barber's Spiral Road, and the Kerry Politzer Quintet. In 2013, Nicole was invited to travel to France to play in the Vannes Jazz Festival in an Alan Jones Academy of Music Quartet. Nicole is also member of Ural Thomas and Pain, voted Willamette Weekly's "Best New Band of 2013", and has opened for Parliament Funkadelic and Booker T. Jones with the Pain.

In August of 2015, Nicole released her debut album "First Record", featuring George Colligan (piano and trumpet), Jonathan Lakey (bass), and Alan Jones (drums).

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Album Review

Ben Wolfe: Unjust

Read "Unjust" reviewed by Maurizio Zerbo


Sul piano compositivo e dell'organizzazione sonora, Unjust è uno dei più luminosi gioielli jazzistici degli ultimi anni. Contrabbassista di ragguardevole talento, Ben Wolfe ribadisce nel suo decimo progetto discografico la predilezione per architetture ariose ma arzigogolate, dimostrando come la scrittura jazzistica possa captare lo spirito dei tempi nel rispetto dei classici modelli di riferimento. A dimostrare come il contrabbassista statunitense non si accontenti di riprodurre le idee altrui, l'impasto sonoro del suo ottetto trascende le atmosfere post-boppistiche e ...

8
Album Review

Artemis: In Real Time

Read "In Real Time" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright


For drummer Allison Miller, a key feature of In Real Time is that this second Blue Note release captures the unique ensemble sound of Artemis. She stresses a palpable sonic integrity that she attributes to trust and chemistry. Renee Rosnes emphasizes the singularity of each player in the equation, underscoring “a striking juxtaposition between the stylistic approaches of the two saxophonists," Nicole Glover and Alexa Tarantino; “each illuminates the other." She adds, “ Nobody sounds like Ingrid," which is certainly ...

8
Album Review

Ben Wolfe: Unjust

Read "Unjust" reviewed by Dave Linn


The history of modern jazz contains only a handful of bass players who have both led their own groups and been visionary in their compositions and approach. Charles Mingus, Charlie Haden, Dave Holland, Jaco Pastorius and Christian McBride are those who come to mind. With the release of his 10th album, Unjust, Ben Wolfe shows he belongs in that group. Wolfe began his musical career as a classical bassist and studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in ...

4
Album Review

Artemis: In Real Time

Read "In Real Time" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Artemis double down on their fiery yet regal 2020 self-titled, Blue Note debut with a punchy, calligraphic flare (thanks in part to their younger contemporaries, in demand multi-reedist Alexa Tarantino and hellfire saxophonist Nicole Glover), catch fire, and watch it spread. An early, sure-fire contender for the tops-of-twenty-three list barrage, In Real Time is really very hard to resist, even when it falls out of step. “Balance of Time," though intoxicating in texture, seems out of sequence just ...

6
Liner Notes

New Faces: New Sounds

Read "New Faces: New Sounds" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


While established forces typically radiate clout and currency, it's the new faces, beaming with hope and the promise for what's to come, that tend to shine brightest. Posi-Tone Records, not surprisingly, supports that line of thinking. Promoting emerging artists has long been a mission for the label, which prides itself on seeking out and nurturing burgeoning talent, and this aptly named project, launched with one group of individuals on 2018's Straight Forward and carried to tremendous heights with different personnel ...

4
Album Review

Caili O'Doherty: Quarantine Dream

Read "Quarantine Dream" reviewed by Kyle Simpler


The pandemic affected people in many different ways. For some, it raised new levels of awareness about health and prevention, but for others it also became a means of artistic discovery. This latter point is certainly the case for pianist Caili O'Doherty. In spite of being careful and taking precautions, she ultimately contracted COVID. While dealing with the illness, she found herself in a dreamlike state as she tried to get over it. During her ordeal, she used music as ...

27
Album Review

Alexander Claffy: Good Spirits

Read "Good Spirits" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Bassist Alexander Claffy's quintet dashes from the starting gate on Good Spirits with a fiery reading of McCoy Tyner's propulsive “Inner Glimpse," setting the tone for a bright and animated session whose spirit is undeniably good. The album was recorded “live" (no audience) at GB's Juke Joint in New York City “at the height of the [coronavirus] pandemic" in February 2021. Claffy's front line consists of trumpeter Benny Benack III and tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover; his teammates ...

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"Nicole Glover plays with, well, just about everyone... A brilliant soloist, look for her to shine brighter still in 2015." - Willamette Weekly, "2015 Artists to Watch"

"Glover...serve[s] up some beautiful harmonies that possess a hell of an evocative punch. Slow patient notes that have the time to breathe and bloom at just the right moment." - Dave Sumner, Bird is the Worm

"I'm really impressed with a young saxophonist named Nicole Glover...Nicole ... is one that, in the face of the increasing challenges to jazz and art music, really gives me hope for the future of the music." - JazzTruth

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Primary Instrument

Saxophone, tenor

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

In Real Time

Blue Note Records
2023

buy

Unjust

Resident Arts
2023

buy

Good Spirits

Cellar Records
2022

buy

Quarantine Dream

Posi-Tone Records
2022

buy

New Sounds

Posi-Tone Records
2021

buy

Play On

Posi-Tone Records
2021

buy

Videos

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