By Dale King
Lots of people leave Palm Beach County for the summer. But jazz vocalist Nicole Henry decided to stay.
She sold out back-to-back-to-back cabaret performances at the Colony Hotel — not an easy accomplishment during August in Florida — then sang the national anthem at a Marlins-Mets game on Labor Day and took her talent to New York, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C. She kicks off a stint at Jazziz Nightlife, the hot jazz spot in Boca’s Mizner Park, on Tuesday, then returns Oct. 14.
While jazz is her forte, Henry easily swings into other musical genres, as shown during one of her shows at the Colony. She paid homage to one of her influences, Billie Holiday, with a powerful performance of “God Bless the Child,” then took the audience on a journey through a mélange of love songs. She even revamped the Clovers’ “Love Potion Number 9” with some Bucks County hand-clapping and finger-popping along with a snappy, crowd-pleasing guitar solo by Aaron Lebos.
Backed by a quartet that also included Pete Wallace on piano, Eric England on bass and Michael Piolet on drums, Henry opened with a sweet, up-tempo rendition of “On the Street Where You Live,” featuring another great solo by Lebos. She slid slyly into a chorus of “Lady Marmalade,” and came back up with a couple of Cole Porter songs, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and “You Do Something to Me.”
She split the pair of Porter pieces with a torchy, soul-wrenching rendition of “Anything,” written by her friend, John Stoddart.
Turning to another legendary vocalist, Stevie Nicks, Henry took it down with the witchy woman’s breathy “Landslide” from her sixth album, So Good, So Right: Nicole Henry LIVE. The collection of emotionally tinged songs from the 1970s was recorded at her sold-out performances at Feinstein’s in New York City in May 2012.
With 10 albums currently to her credit, the singer with the crystal-clear vocal tones came to Florida from Philly by way of the University of Miami where she earned degrees in advertising and theater. She had a successful acting and voiceover career before an impromptu front woman assignment with a jazz troupe turned her on to that modality. The Miami New Times named her Best Solo Musician in 2002 and her first CD debuted in 2004.
On the Colony stage, Henry hammered home the Bob Marley song, “Waiting in Vain,” with its painful lyric, “It’s been three years since I’m knocking on your door / And I can still knock some more.” From there, she crossed back to blues with a little “C.C. Rider” reminiscent of Elvis.
The 2013 winner of the Soul Train Award for Best Traditional Jazz Performance didn’t leave her fans at the Colony wanting. She returned at show’s end for an encore, performing Billy Vera’s “At This Moment,” which is also Henry’s first music video and new CD single.
Nicole Henry will perform Tuesday and Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. at Jazziz, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Tickets are $25, $45 and $65 and can be purchased at 561-300-0730.