Nicole Henry is known throughout the music world as an acclaimed jazz singer, but to her Miami fans, she's simply the voice they've loved since she began performing while at the University of Miami. And they especially love that each year, no matter where she is in the world that, when December approaches, she'll be coming back here for her annual Winter Concert.
Henry began her career as a fixture in the local Miami Beach music scene, performing at the now-closed Van Dyke jazz club, Joe's Stone Crab, and the Loews Hotel, but with release of her first CDs, Henry's career took off. She's earned rave reviews and the New York Times called her a "pop soul superwoman."
She has also earned a Soul Train Award for "Best Traditional Jazz Performance," three Top-10 U.S. Billboard and HMV Japan jazz albums, and has performed in 15 countries, headlining in cities including New York, Tokyo, Madrid, Moscow, Maris, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco.
Henry is also beloved here for her philanthropy, especially her devotion to children's causes. She's on the board of the Miami Music Project, which provides free after-school music programs for children in the Miami-Dade School System, and she performs her Winter Concert to benefit it.
miamiartzine: I know you've had a busy year. What stands out for you?
Nicole Henry: This year was marked in particular by my tributes. I continue to work on my Nancy Wilson tribute, researching and developing my show to honor her because I adore her discography but I think she's been overlooked. I also began working with (director) Will Nunziata on a theatrical tribute concert to Whitney Houston. I've done two of these shows at 54 Below in New York, and they were sweetly sold out. These shows have taken on a life of their own, and we're connecting with performing arts centers throughout the country and starting to book dates in 2020 and 2021. And I just came back from the United Kingdom, where I did a four-night tribute to Aretha Franklin.
maz: I also this year you achieved a goal you've worked hard on, which is to become an actor and you played Whitney Houston's sister in the musical version of "The Bodyguard," for which you got a rave review in which the writer wrote: "For my money, Nicole Henry…stole the show." How did that role come about?
NH: I got the acting bug, and that is one of the reasons why I started splitting my time between my home in Miami Beach and New York City. I was fortunate to get a theatrical agent, and this is the first musical that really landed for me. I went to the North Shore Musical Theater (in Beverly, Mass.), which is a 1,500 theater in the round and they were packed for two weeks straight. It was a great experience. We jammed in 10 days of rehearsal, and did eight shows a week.
maz: What was it like performing in a musical like "The Bodyguard," compared to performing solo in concert.
NH: It's definitely using a different muscle. I'm accustomed to being on stage for 90 minutes straight in a concert but in the show, my character wasn't always on the stage. You had to stay in character and basically find the nuances to keep the character alive, show after show. But I loved learning what I consider to be my process, starting with dialogue and ending on opening night, so I definitely feel there is more to do in the theatrical stage for me. It's very exciting, and a definite addiction. But you're straddling two careers, which are very different, and each one could easily take 50 hours a week.
maz: You recorded your first Christmas song this year.
NH: Yes, I finally recorded one, and I recorded it with my Miami-based band, which I've worked with for years. It's amazing, but we'd never recorded in the studio before. We recorded "Angels We Have Heard on High," but we made it a little funkier and added a little soul.
maz: There are so many Christmas songs, how did you choose that one?
NH: I chose it because the song talks about angels singing of a miracle, which makes me pose the question ‘what miracles of life do we see that we could sing about? How many miracles do we come across every day that we take for granted. To me, life is a miracle and we take it for granted every day. It's amazing the things we forget to marvel at.
maz: What does doing this winter concert mean to you?
NH: It has a special place in my heart. I remember that, a few years ago, when I was thinking skipping it, Dennis (Dennis Ostern, her then manager, who died in 2018), said Nicole, we started a tradition, you have to.' He loved it, it was his favorite thing. And also, especially now that I'm not in Miami anymore, when I come back and do it, it feels like a reunion.
"Nicole Henry's 7th Annual Winter Concert" will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14 at the Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, 33139. There is a V.I.P. reception at 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $30-100. Online colonymb.org or 800-211-1414
