Feature: The Days Of Cabaret Gratitude - Day Five - The Rock And Roller

The Days Of Cabaret Gratitude

Day Five:  The Rock and Roller - Nicole Zuraitis

Nicole Zuraitis has been labeled a jazz performer.  Yeah, she is one… but don’t tell her that because she acts like she can do anything.  And guess what?  She can.  Do you want to hear some opera?  She can do it.  Is Broadway belting your thing?  She can do it.  Do you love a good, hedonistic, balls to the wall rock concert?  Yes, please.  You see, Nicole Zuraitis IS a jazz performer - a real-life, bonafide proficient in the art of crafting and performing jazz.  It’s evident in her shows, by way of her insane (correction:  IN SANE) skills as a pianist and as a vocalist.  But it’s also evident in a less flashy, less visible way in her arrangements, whether in the live shows or on her albums.   See, when you’re at a Zuraitis show, the Lady herself is pretty much front and center.  When Nicole is in the room, it’s hard to concentrate on anything else, even though she is always extremely dedicated to pushing her band members and fellow musicians into the light for a little well-deserved recognition.  Nicole Zuraitis comes off as a rock star.  She can’t help it.  It’s in her DNA, it’s in her personality, it informs all the parts of her, from her bigger than life voice to her bigger than the sky hair (think Julia Roberts circa Pretty Woman).  A woman of true beauty and of real talent, Nicole gets the attention merely by walking in the room and crooking her little finger - that is how magnetic she is.  

And then she starts singing.

Possessing of one of the prettiest, most naturally beautiful voices in the world, Nicole Zuraitis went to the trouble of learning the technique that would make that voice her bread and butter, and then she layered it with the instincts of a true blue jazz genius.  She could coast on the charisma and the personality, but she doesn’t have to because Nicole Zuraitis hears something special in her head that gives her permission to go out on an artistic limb with jazz treatments that get her GRAMMY Award nominations, and jazz sets that get her invited into the most prestigious rooms in the industry.  She also gets invited onto other peoples’ stages because they all want to play with her.  She has a standing date with the Birdland Big Band, she has her own Birdland residency coming up in January, and she has open invitations to play with her fellow jazz babies, any time she wants, turning up in group shows left and right, just to raise her voice in song and have a little fun.  She is smart.  She is funny.  She is sexy.  She is gifted.  And she is married to the charming Dan Pugach, who turns up in her shows being the drum kit, and the sparks fly from across the stage (maybe that happens every time TWO Grammy nominees make music together…).  Nicole Zuraitis is essential, and anyone who doesn’t say so just doesn’t know.  Fortunately, she is also one of the hardest working women in the music industry, so people can catch her act almost any time they want.

And.  They.  Should.

 

Read a Broadway World Cabaret review of Nicole Zuraitis HERE.

Nicole has a new EP Caffeine and Affirmations and there will be a release at Drom with her quintet on December 2nd at 8 pm, information and reservations can be found HERE.

Nicole will have a one-week residency with Birdland Big Band between Christmas and New Year's.  Get that intel HERE.

Starting in January Nicole is at Birdland with her quartet every Saturday at 5:30 pm.  THIS is the event page for that residency.

Nicole’s pronouns are she/her/hers.

Nicole can be found online at the following links:

Website:  HERE 

Instagram:  HERE 

Facebook:  HERE  

Spotify:  HERE  

apple Music:  HERE  

TikTok:  HERE

Twitter:  HERE

YouTube:  HERE 

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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