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| Nicole Ratté CD Release - When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful An album reflecting her bubbly personality, that's what jazz vocalist Nicole Ratté has been working on over the past year. She will launch it on Friday, March 19 at 8 p.m. at the NAC Fourth Stage with her quartet. Well known for her warm presence and her light and sensual voice, Nicole has prepared a show with textures and surprises, a simple and authentic portrait of who she is. The Album Including jazz standards in English, French and Spanish, the album contains 14 songs. There are beautiful surprises like the title song, When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful, written by Harry Woods in 1936 for Fats Waller who did a very successful heartwarming rendition. This is one of Nicole's favorite songs. For this first album, she chose a happy, warm and tender ambiance and Jean-Pierre Allain, her long-time collaborator, created arrangements that suit Nicole's personality very well. There are swing tunes, Latin songs, ballads, well known and not, including a jazzy version of the famous La Maison sous les arbres from French composer Gilbert Bécaud. All were chosen for a particular reason. Entirely recorded at the Morning Anthem Studio, owned by her bass player Normand Glaude, Nicole uses some of the best musicians in Ottawa. There are songs that are played as a trio (piano, bass and drums) but in others saxophone, trumpet or percussion are added to bring the album interesting nuances while keeping an undeniable unity. The album cover was conceived by her friend, photographer Claude Brazeau, who did the photography and infography. Claude listened to each of the songs before the photo shoot, so he could translate the atmosphere into images, resulting in a cover that is on the same wave length as the music. The Release Concert Nicole will be accompanied by her excellent musicians: Jean-Pierre Allain on piano, Normand Glaude on bass, Denis Ouellet on drums and Vince Rimbach on saxophone. She will do all the songs on the album, plus some of her favourite standards, those that touch her the most. The Vocalist Nicole Ratté is a well known figure in the Ottawa-Gatineau jazz community. She sings regularly on many stages: the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, Gatineau Balloon Festival, Classical Tuesdays, Outaouais en fête, Gatineau Casino du Lac-Leamy Sound of Light, Château Laurier, Hilton, Westin, Marriott, Rideau Hall, Parliament Hill, Museum of Civilization, War Museum and Aviation Museum. We can also hear her at many jazz venues in the area including the Café Paradiso, Molto and Bacci. Nicole has organized a jazz vocal workshop at Les Productions musicales l'Artishow (a Gatineau vocal school) and,, each year since 2004, her courses have generated new jazz fans in the area. She also is the musical director for two restaurants in Gatineau and Chelsea. In 2008, Nicole created, in collaboration with a colleague, the very successful J-SING group. J-Sing's goal is to encourage collaboration and training between professional jazz singers in the Ottawa-Gatineau area. write your comments about the article :: © 2010 Jazz News :: home page |