Live at Vic’s Las Vegas (La Reserve Records)

Nicole Zuraitis & Friends

Released August 8, 2025

Grammy Nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album 2026

YouTube:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mnzXS2H4UdtoLazT-5Kk3xpQqhiTt2c28

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About:

This magnificent collection represents a critical turning point in the career of Nicole Zuraitis. The Grammy award-winning vocalist/songwriter/producer had accomplished worldwide critical acclaim in the years prior to forming her working band heard here Live at Vic’s in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 8-10, 2025. Live at Vic’s arrives on the heels of two major Grammy wins: in 2024 Zuraitis won Best Jazz Vocal album for How Love Begins, a historic win as the first independent artist to win in this category (who also wrote and arranged the entire album themselves) and a year later earned a Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble alongside partner and collaborator Dan Pugach for Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence which was inspired by their mutual passion for rescuing and fostering dogs. This subsequent triumphant recording makes its own claim on Zuraitis’ lasting impact in the world of jazz. 

Live at Vic’s Las Vegas is Nicole Zuraitis’ way of seizing and capturing a new audience. As her career continues on the upswing, her adoring fans and the music industry continue to pay attention to her contemporary musical concepts collected here in a brilliant, swinging interplay of blues, jazz, ballads and multi-dimensional vocals. Zuraitis found Vic’s through producers and owners of the venue Paul and Sue Lowden, and depended their bond through Sue and Nicole’s shared Lithuanian heritage. When a fan emailed Nicole suggesting she make a live recording, she knew just where to do it and Live at Vic’s was born. 

Zuraitis effortlessly shows her mastery of multiple roles as vocalist, pianist, improviser, songwriter, storyteller and arranger. She is accompanied by such notable musicians as Keyon Harrold, trumpet; Tom Scott, saxophone; Rachel Eckroth, organ (piano on “Round Midnight”); Idan Morim, guitar; Dan Pugach, drums; Sam Weber, bass; and Carmen Grillo (guitarist on “Georgia”) and Zuraitis on piano and vocals. 

The la reserve records double-disc live recording features 17 compositions with added touches of sophistication, produced and blended in the tradition and quality of live recordings performed by master musicians in their own right. These inspired and extraordinary instrumentalists connect to their audience via superb soloing and dynamic interplay polished with astonishing realism and exquisite craftsmanship that adeptly captures the flowing lines and detailed hues of Nicole’s golden vocals Whether they’re deep and gritty as heard in “Got My Mojo Working” or cool and tranquil as heard in “Pure Imagination” or in the heartbreaking interpretation of the Dolly Parton anthem “Jolene” ; these brilliant musicians mesmerize you from the introduction to the closing opus of this amazing recording.

Nicole’s performances of her original compositions reveals her mastery as a versatile vocalist/songwriter/arranger in a live setting without the luxury of “auto tune” and modern technical “fixes.” Zuraitis recently coined her own genre -“modern songbook”. “All Stars Lead to You” includes Nicole’s signature elements of a burning swinging approach as the dramatic rhythm section sets up for the remarkable soloing of Tom Scott’s saxophonics, followed by Keyon Harrold and Rachel Eckroth. By contrast “Middle C” is a folksy heavy swing ballad that reminds you, dear listener, of a Tin Pan Alley hit. As Nicole thanks the audience she introduces her classical side in her remarkable re-interpretation of Debussy’s “Reverie” while “The Coffee Song” gets a melodic reading and is invaluable as a revelation of Nicole’s adeptness to write quirky song lyrics. The inclusion of “Right In Front of Me” rounds out the beautiful essence of Nicole’s vocal training in a beautiful duet setting with guitarist Idan Morim.

So listen up dear people:  Everyone who hears Live at Vic’s Las Vegas will enjoy these impeccable performances that are so brilliantly arranged and expressed with the charm of the original songwriter’s intent alongside ideas that are both traditional and contemporary. The elements of the recording are superbly executed and become unforgettable thanks to the sinuous musical lines combined with the inspired vocals of Nicole Zuraitis.

Track Listing:

1. Got My Mojo Working (Preston Foster) 8:05

2. Nearness Of You (Hoagy Carmichael / Ned Washington) 7:16

3. All Stars Lead To You (Nicole Zuraitis) 11:22

Grammy Nominee for Best Jazz Performance 2026

4. Pure Imagination (Leslie Bricusse / Anthony Newly) 5:44

5. Jolene (Dolly Parton) 8:56

6. Middle C (Nicole Zuraitis / Billy Seidman) 5:43

7. Everything Must Change (Benard Ighner) 8:00

8. Reverie (Nicole Zuraitis / Claude Debussy) 7:17

9. Rhiannon (Stevie Nicks) 5:41

10. ‘Round Midnight (Thelonious Monk) 11:02

11. Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Web) 7:25

12. The Coffee Song (Nicole Zuraitis) 4:28

13. Right In Front Of Me (Nicole Zuraitis / Jeff Franzel) 5:13

14. Georgia On My Mind (Hoagy Carmichael / Stuart Gorell) 4:28

15. Sea Line Woman (Nicole Zuraitis) 11:11

16. Do I Move You (Nina Simone) 5:51

Personnel:

Nicole Zuraitis: vocals, piano

Keyon Harrold: trumpet

Tom Scott: saxophone

Rachel Eckroth: organ, piano (10)

Idan Morim: guitar

Dan Pugach: drums

Sam Weber: bass

Carmen Grillo: guitar (14)

Recorded live in Las Vegas June 8th, 9th and 10th, 2025 at Vic’s.

Produced by Nicole Zuraitis, Tom Scott, Sue and Paul Lowden 

Mixed by Brian Vibberts

Recorded by Matthew Mosca and Carmen Grillo

Mastered by Michael Piacentini

Review:

Newly nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album (2025), Nicole Zuraitis’ Live at Vic’s Las Vegas simmers at a high heat, often boiling over as it does on the opening read on Muddy Waters’ “I Got My Mojo working.” The singer switches to a singing version of “The Nearness of You” before taking on “Pure Imagination” and a smoldering, ruminative “Jolene.” Jumping genres uncommonly, the triptych of a waltz made of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon,” (opaque and complex) the performance centering “Round Midnight,” (smoky and beautifully brutal) and a show-stealing “Wichita Lineman” (stunningly modern) acts as a fulcrum for a superbly programmed setlist without a dull moment. Zuraitis’ Friends push the singer into the outer reaches of performance. These performances are overpowering most wonderfully. The singer’s superb stage presence is infectious. Prepare to be amazed. Good luck, Ms. Zuraitis!

C. Michael Bailey (Wild Mercury Rythm)