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Nicolas King Celebrates CD Release With August 5th Show at The Green Room 42

25 Years in show business is celebration enough, but a new album and concert make the party better.

By: Jul. 19, 2021
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Nicolas King Celebrates CD Release With August 5th Show at The Green Room 42  Image

NICOLAS KING

CELEBRATES NEW ALBUM

"ACT ONE: CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF RECORDINGS"

FROM CLUB44 RECORDS

WITH A NEW YORK CONCERT AT

THE GREEN ROOM ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 5

AND NATIONAL TOUR DATES THROUGH THE SUMMER

Nicolas King - hailed as a "precociously polished crooner" by The New York Times - will celebrate his recent album Act One: Celebrating 25 Years of Recordings from Club44 Records with a string of concert dates throughout the summer including New York's The Green Room 42 on August 5 at 7:00 PM. Other shows include The Napoleon Room in Boston, MA (July 27), Music at the Mansion in Bloomfield, NJ (July 31), The Art House in Provincetown, RI (August 26), and Oshkosh Jazz Festival in Oshkosh, WI (August 28). The east coast shows feature Mike Renzi, the renowned two-time Grammy Award-nominated pianist and music director for Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, and Mel Tormé. To stream or download Act One, please visit Club44.lnk.to/ActOne. For concert tickets and information, please visit www.TheNicolasKing.com

Act One: Celebrating 25 Years of Recordings - which was released earlier this year - looks back with a lively history of King's already multi-decade career. While focusing on his suave vocals, and showcasing both eternal standards and newer songs, the album boasts guest appearances from stage and screen luminaries Liza Minnelli, Tom Selleck, Jane Monheit, and Norm Lewis. The recording also features major musical contributions from two-time Grammy Award nominee Mike Renzi and Charles Calello (arranger and producer for Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, and Ray Charles). Music legend Connie Francis provides liner notes. The album's leading single is "What a Wonderful World," a duet with celebrated Broadway leading man Norm Lewis. The label is planning an all-new Nicolas King album to be released in 2022.

Club44 Records recently presented an all-star online album release party, featuring Nicolas's friends dropping in to congratulate him, including Tom Selleck & the cast of "Blue Bloods," Carol Burnett, Fran Drescher, Max von Essen, Michael Feinstein, Connie Francis, Linda Lavin, Norm Lewis, Jane Monheit, Christine Pedi, Linda Purl, Billy Stritch, and more. The show is available on YouTube HERE.

"I started compiling Act One merely so that I had something fun to sell at concerts," says Nicolas. "But once the pandemic hit, I found myself with loads of free time and began uncovering so many recordings from the past 25 years. This tiny project ballooned into something much bigger than I anticipated, but it turned into an opportunity to look back at what brought me to this point. I think of this album as the ending of my childhood chapter and a wonderful setup to the next! I thank all my musical guests for their contributions, but I'm especially grateful to musical titans Mike Renzi and Charles Calello. They both have extraordinary legacies, and I am humbled to be added to the list of iconic artists they've collaborated with."

Label co-owner Wayne Haun adds, "When I was first introduced to Nicolas, I was mesmerized by his ability to put across a lyric and the way he effortlessly holds the audience in his hand. It feels fitting to release this collection as we prepare to enter the studio for an all-new studio album. We're thrilled to take the journey with Nicolas as he continues his trajectory as one of the most exciting young vocalists of his generation."

Act One: Celebrating 25 Years of Recordings is a compilation of sparkling new studio tracks, selections from his previous solo albums, and vintage archival gems from early in his career. The collection opens with a spoken live introduction by Liza Minnelli, a memento from the decade Nicolas toured the world with her. The new selections include a lushly orchestrated version of "But Beautiful," performed with jazz singer Jane Monheit. "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," a charming duet with Tom Selleck, was taped onstage when they appeared together in the Broadway play A Thousand Clowns when Nicolas was just 10 years old.

"I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together" - the inimitable TV theme to "The Carol Burnett Show" - is heard in a medley with "My Shining Hour." The pairing is dedicated to Ms. Burnett and her late daughter Carrie Hamilton, whom Nicolas worked with on the Broadway play Hollywood Arms. Other highlights include a loose, jazzy rendition of the Four Seasons standard "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and a pensive interpretation of the Irving Berlin classic "How Deep Is the Ocean," elegantly accompanied only by Alan Bernstein's bass. Nicolas's take on the beloved "Sesame Street" favorite "Sing" swings with the razzle-dazzle of a driving big band arrangement. He also makes sure to present new songs written in the classic style, including "Looks Like They're in Love" (Alex Rybeck & Bob Levy) and "The Only One" (Tracy Stark).

The storied entertainment anthem "There's No Business Like Show Business" provides a fitting coda to the album. The track, merging a delightful early recording with a brand-new studio cut, showcases both his roots as a young budding showman and his present-day vocal prowess, musical intelligence, and ebullient verve.

Will Friedwald - noted author and Wall Street Journal scribe - perhaps said it best: King "is a compact dynamo, a whirlwind of a performer who balances incredible excitement and high energy with restraint and nuance. He gets the crowd in his pocket within the first 30 seconds of walking out on stage and keeps them there for the rest of the night."

NICOLAS KING has been performing since he was four years old. He was in three Broadway productions (Beauty and the Beast, A Thousand Clowns with Tom Selleck, and Carol Burnett's Hollywood Arms, directed by Hal Prince) before the age of 12. He has also appeared in many national TV commercials, including the award-winning "Oscar Mayer Lunchables" commercial. King has appeared on TV talk shows, such as "The View," "The Today Show," "Sally Jesse Raphael," "Liza & David" and was on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno twice (including Leno's final week as host in 2014). He is the recipient of the Talent America Award, the Julie Wilson Award, the Bistro Award for Outstanding Performer of the Year, the AMG Award for Artist of the Year, and the Legends Award for his contribution to the preservation of the Great American Songbook. He has performed alongside Tony Danza, Andrea McArdle, Jack Jones, Lainie Kazan, Donna McKechnie, Faith Prince, Billy Paul, Jennifer Holliday, Debby Boone, and Linda Lavin. At the age of 11, he began touring with Liza Minnelli as her opening act and was a mainstay on her tour for 10 years. Among the venues he has played are Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Birdland, 54 Below, and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. His previous solo albums include On Another Note (2017), Nineteen (2010), and Blame it on My Youth (2006)

CLUB44 RECORDS - based in the Music City of Nashville, Tennessee - is a new independent label that aims to highlight the Broadway, cabaret, and jazz genres, preserve the American Songbook, and provide a home for artists who represent this timeless music. Following their premiere studio release, Christmas at Birdland, the label has presented Les Misérables Symphonic Highlights, arranged, orchestrated, and conducted by David T. Clydesdale and Brian Eads; Love Notes, the new album from Tony Award and Golden Globe winner Linda Lavin; Billy's Place from Grammy Award winner Billy Stritch; and Jane Monheit's Come What May, which celebrates the international Billboard #1 pop/jazz vocalist's 20th anniversary as a recording artist. Club44 Records also serves as the creative home of many other singers, instrumentalists, and writers. All releases are distributed digitally through Green Hill Productions/ Universal Music Group and to retail outlets by Provident/Sony. Club44Records.com

"ACT ONE" TRACKLIST

1) Liza Minnelli Introduction* Recorded live at the Kravis Center, West Palm Beach FL - 2006

2) Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries (Ray Henderson / Lew Brown) / Nice 'n' Easy" (Lew Spence / Alan & Marilyn Bergman)*

Arranged by Greg Wardson; Orchestrated by Jonathan Barrick - 2002

3) God Bless the Child (Arthur Herzog, Jr. / Billie Holiday)*

Conceived by Liza Minnelli; Arranged by Frank Owens (Yvonne Monett: piano, Bill Miele: bass, Bob Saraceno: drums) - 2003

4) Yes Sir, That's My Baby (Gus Kahn / Walter Donaldson), featuring Tom Selleck*

Live at the Longacre Theatre, New York NY - 2001

5) How Deep Is the Ocean (Irving Berlin) From the album Blame It on My Youth - Arranged by Nicolas King (Alan Bernstein: bass) - 2006

6) Mr. Paganini (Sam Coslow)

From the album Nineteen - Arranged by Mike Renzi (Mike Renzi: piano, Dave Zinno: bass, John Anter: drums) - 2010

7) Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Bob Crewe / Bob Gaudio)

From the album Nineteen - Arranged by Mike Renzi (Mike Renzi: piano, Jay Leonhart: bass, Buddy Williams: drums) - 2010

8) The Only One (Tracy Stark) - From the album Shades of Beautiful: The Tracy Stark Songbook - 2016

9) I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together (Joe Hamilton) / My Shining Hour (Harold Arlen / Johnny Mercer)

Single - Arranged by Mike Renzi (Mike Renzi: piano) - 2013

10) Looks Like They're in Love (Bob Levy/ Alex Rybeck)

Single - Released by Bob Levy (2020 MAC Award Winner "Song of the Year") - 2016

11) You Must Believe in Spring (Michel Legrand / Alan & Marilyn Bergman / Jacques Demy)

From the album On Another Note - Arranged by Mike Renzi (Mike Renzi: piano) - 2017

12) But Beautiful (Johnny Burke / Jimmy Van Heusen), featuring Jane Monheit*

Arranged by Mike Renzi; strings arranged by Charles Calello - 2020

13) Sing (Joe Raposo) - Single; Arranged by Charles Calello - 2020

14) What A Wonderful World (Bob Thiele / George David Weiss), featuring Norm Lewis*

Arrangement courtesy of Billy Gilman - 2020

15) What Matters Most (Alan & Marilyn Bergman / Dave Grusin)* Arranged by Mike Renzi; strings arranged by Charles Calello - 2020

16) There's No Business Like Show Business (Irving Berlin)

Arranged by Mike Renzi (Mike Renzi: piano, Alan Bernstein: bass, John Anter: drums)

17) Come Back to Me (Burton Lane / Alan Jay Lerner) Arranged by Charles Calello - 2020

*Previously Unreleased



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