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Nicole Zuraitis

Grammy® Nominated New York based musician Nicole Zuraitis blends clever songwriting skills, an effervescent presence and dazzling vocals in a consummate package that has thrilled audiences across Manhattan and across the world. If recently you happened upon Greenwich Village’s 55 Bar or Birdland Jazz Club and were enchanted by the seismic versatile talent of inspired vocalist, keyboard player and songwriter Nicole Zuraitis, you’re officially part of the lady-powerhouse burgeoning fan club.

Nicole was nominated dually with her husband Dan Pugach in the arrangement category the 61st annual Grammy® Awards for their version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”. Connecticut Magazine listed her in their “40 under 40 Class of 2020” and the WOW Forum hosted her as a guest of honor in the fall of 2019. She is the vocalist for the world famous Birdland Big Band in New York City and her album Hive Mind won Best Jazz Album in the 2018 International Music and Entertainment Awards. In 2016 she won the New York City Songwriting Competition Coffee Music Project, in 2015 was the second runner-up in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and in 2014 won the Herb Alpert ASCAP Young Composer Award. She's also the People’s Choice and Johnny Mercer Award winner in the National American Traditions Vocal Competition. Her brand new project, Generations of Her: Women Songwriters and Lyricists of the last 100 years has sold out both the Birdland Theater and the Cell Theater in New York within months of its conception. Nicole has headlined Birdland, the Blue Note (NYC) and maintains residencies at the 55 Bar (every second Thursday of the month), Rockwood Music Hall (with the Dan Pugach Nonet), and Redeye Grill. Audiences love Nicole’s limitless enthusiasm, but that’s only part of her story; only part of her talent.

While pursuing a career that has spanned jazz, pop and classical, Nicole has collaborated with Cyrille Aimee, Thana Alexa, Dave Stryker, Livingston Taylor, Tom Chapin, Omar Hakim, Melanie Safka, Helen Sung and Bernard Purdie. She’s performed at festivals nationwide, and has recorded two albums: 2013’s Pariah Anthem and 2009’s Spread The Word, both releases featuring the cream of New York’s jazz hierarchy. Her newest album ALL WANDERING HEARTS will release in May 2020 with Dot Time Records.

Awards

Grammy Nominee 2019. Best Instrumental and Vocal Arrangement, "Jolene" Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition runner up NYC Coffee Music Project Songwriting Winnner 2020 Connecticut Magazine Top 40 under 40 Herb Alpert ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award winner


Tags

2
Album Review

Nicole Zuraitis: How Love Begins

Read "How Love Begins" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Love is not for the faint of heart.  Its tides are unpredictable, bound to different souls, intensifying and ebbing in parallel to the feelings and favors of each individual who exerts their gravitational pull on an evolving romance.  Musically charting those waters--depicting the full scope of that sea through song--is no simple feat. Yet some supreme talents, like this one, make it happen and make it look easy. Nicole Zuraitis--a first-rate songwriter, powerhouse vocalist and grade-A pianist--proves to be an ...

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Album Review

Thana Alexa: ONA

Read "ONA" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Ci giunge con un po' di ritardo questo secondo disco della talentuosa vocalist e compositrice Thana Alexa, ma va assolutamente considerato. Anche questo, come già il debutto Ode to Heroes, è un tributo: dalle figure musicali che l'hanno influenzata siamo passati a una celebrazione del genere femminile e al ruolo—spesso sottovalutato—che svolgono nel mondo. Nata a New York da famiglia croata, Thana è tornata nell'infanzia in Croazia dov'è rimasta per completare i suoi studi. Successivamente si è ...

3
Album Review

Nicole Zuraitis: All Wandering Hearts

Read "All Wandering Hearts" reviewed by Geno Thackara


Nicole Zuraitis has a heart full of soul and a voice full of sunshine. She's got a mix of things on her mind with her fourth album, everyday themes and weighty matters alike, and yet they ultimately come out sounding exuberant in her hands. The fundamental optimism is one key asset of All Wandering Hearts, even if her variety of jazzy coffee-shop balladry is no less eloquent in the spots when things get more somber. The too-spirited-for-AOR “Make ...

6
Album Review

Thana Alexa: ONA

Read "ONA" reviewed by Doug Collette


A departure from Thana Alexa's first album Ode to Heroes (Harmonia Mundi/Jazz Village, 2015), ONA is also rooted in jazz, but it showcases Alexa's use of her voice as both a lyrical and experimental instrument. Commencing immediately on the title tune, this mostly original material features arrangements in various combinations of atmospheric, electronic soundscapes and exotic instrumental textures, complementing a voice which enchants as often through its feather-light air as its full-throated tones. Co-produced with master drummer Antonio Sanchez--with whom ...

4
Album Review

Thana Alexa: ONA

Read "ONA" reviewed by Geno Thackara


Thana Alexa's voice contains a world of sound, and that is without even mentioning the globe-spanning musical trappings which surround it. Hearing her is like watching a thunderstorm or maybe a wild hawk in flight. She doesn't just sing but uses her voice as an expressive precision instrument, in much the same way all the tones and electronics here are sculpted into an unclassifiably genre-defying whole. Her rich contralto can also be honey-smooth and soothing in the (relatively) rare calm ...

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Performance / Tour

It's Time To Celebrate! The Indie Collaborative Presents All Faiths Show at Lincoln Center on December 8

It's Time To Celebrate! The Indie Collaborative Presents All Faiths Show at Lincoln Center on December 8

Source: Anne Leighton

On December 8th, the jazz community will be a significant part of an all-ages interfaith musical salute to Diwali, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years! Known as The Indie Collaborative, this multi award-winning group of Independent Artists, representing a “smorgasbord” of musical genres (roots, classical, hip-hop, jazz, gospel, R&B, children’s, spoken word, musical theater, and “everything in-between”) join together for an Interfaith Holiday Concert in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center. This 90-minute, high energy, family-fun concert will combine ...

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Recording

Vocalist/Pianist/Songwriter Nicole Zuraitis's "Hive Mind" - New Release On Dot Time Records!

Vocalist/Pianist/Songwriter Nicole Zuraitis's "Hive Mind" - New Release On Dot Time Records!

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

Nicole Zuraitis: Hive Mind An Exciting Mix of Originals, Jazz & Pop! APAP Performance January 12, 2018 10pm at 55 Bar! 55 Bar Residency 2018 Begins February 8th January 12- APAP Performance at 55 Bar- 10pm Dan Pugach Nonet featuring Nicole Zuratis Nicole Zuraitis: Voice David Smith: Trumpet Mike Fahie: Trombone Jen Hinkle: Bass Trombone Andrew Gould: Alto Saxophone/Flute Jeremy ...

“A heart as big as her remarkable voice”— JAZZ POLICE

“Zuraitis writes her own material, and her deftness with a lyric is decidedly pronounced; second, she’s a damned good piano player.... With an effervescent stage presence and a vocal style that’s equal parts Diana Krall and Bonnie Raitt, Nicole Zuraitis is already something special, but she also has the tools to be something very big. Watch this space.” -JAY HUNTER Nippertown Lake George Jazz Festival Review 2019

"Brooklyn’s Nicole Zuraitis Brings Visceral Vocals, Her Powerhouse Presence and Winning Songwriting to Jazz Outing, Hive Mind (Dot Time Records)."- KEN MICALLEF (DOWNBEAT)

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Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

How Love Begins

Outside in Music
2023

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Voices

Outside in Music
2023

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ONA

Self Produced
2020

buy

All Wandering Hearts

Dot Time Records
2020

buy

Hive Mind

Dot Time Records
2018

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Videos

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