Artist/Band Description
Versatile, multi-lingual vocalist specializing in Bossa Nova, straight-ahead & world jazz, island/reggae, funk, and neo-soul/R&B. Instrumentation ranges from vocal/guitar duo to full jazz combo. Overall sound ranges from soft, laid-back dinner music to swinging improvisational entertainment.
CURRENT PROJECTS:
Nikki D. & Party of 3 (www.nikkidecaires.com)
Bossa Nova/Jazz featuring guitarist Kiko Freitas and bassist Matt Wexler, with rotating guest artists on piano, drums, percussion and horns
Bonnie Birch Band (www.bonniebirch.com)
Classic, cabaret-style French, Italian, and German music with accordionist Bonnie Birch and rotating guest musicians
Rhythm Syndicate (www.rhythmsyndicatelive.com)
Salsa/Funk band featuring a full horn section and influences ranging from Afro-Cubano to blues & jazz
INFLUENCES INCLUDE:
KURT ELLING, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Karrin Allyson, Keely Smith, ERYKAH BADU, DeeDee Bridgewater, Diana Krall, Madeleine Peyroux, JONI MITCHELL, Joan Baez, David Bowie, Bjork, Joao & Astrud Gilberto, LISA ONO, Caetano Veloso, Rosa Passos, Wanda Sa, Bebel Gilberto, LILA DOWNS, Paris Combo, Coralie Clement, Jeanne Cherhal, EDITH PIAF, Lavay Smith, Pink Martini, Sade, Jill Scott, Aaliyah, Sheryl Crow, ZAP MAMA, Les Nubians, Amadou & Mariam, Keahiwai, Ka'au Crater Boys, Braddah Iz, Na Leo Pilimehana, KEALI'I REICHEL, Ralph Stanley, and countless other island/reggae, bluegrass, world, hip-hop, funk, R&B, & neo-soul artists...
Nikki D. Voice Studio
I have been a vocal technique teacher and vocal coach since 1995, in addition to conducting master classes, directing church and high school choirs, and directing and arranging vocals for college jazz and chamber ensembles in San Francisco, Nashville, and Dallas. Since my own singing career has led me from my college training in opera and classical music to the worlds of jazz, pop, and R&B, I work mainly with a vocal technique geared toward those styles.
My students include current and former members of The Soul Proprietors, The Bethurum Collective, Miss Solar System, Shelley & the Curves, Free Rain, The Groove Messengers, Syft, DISH Seattle, Ashley Loop, and others, in addition to singers and actors in the theatre and classical music communities.
My Story...
Music has surrounded me throughout my life - from the traditional and reggae sounds of my native Hawaii, to the pop and Broadway influences of my DJ father and actress/singer aunt, to my opera and jazz training in college. My first memories of performing are in various talent shows and cabarets as a child, then singing and dancing my way through several large-scale musical theatre productions while in high school.
While on a foreign exchange in France at the age of 17, I was asked to perform at several weddings and church events, where comparisons were drawn between myself and the likes of Joan Baez and Twila Paris (neither of whom I had ever heard of!). When I returned to the U.S. and settled in San Francisco, I began studying classical voice and performed regularly at weddings, church functions, cabarets, lounges, and as a featured vocalist with a local swing band. As I began making a modest living through singing, I discovered an ability to switch in and out of "classical" mode and decided to pursue jazz, pop, and other forms of music deemed more "gig-worthy" (in other words, styles that would allow me to make a more immediate living as a vocalist).
One of my most exciting professional opportunities came in early 2000, when I had the privilege of performing with bluegrass legend and Grammy-award recipient Ralph Stanley in Berkeley, CA. I moved to Nashville, TN later that year, where I performed in honky tonks and had further opportunities to sing with Ralph and his band. Ironically, it was in Nashville that I discovered my love for jazz, which later led me to pursue jazz studies at the University of North Texas.
Before moving to Seattle in 2003, I fronted and co-managed a successful all-female jazz/funk band in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area for two years while pursuing my foreign language and vocal jazz studies at UNT, in addition to numerous other jazz and big band projects. Today, after having spent two years singing with a popular cover band here in Seattle, I currently freelance with jazz, R&B, and bossa nova bands on the private circuit, also focusing on my work as a vocal instructor and coach.