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London Baby! 8:520:00/8:52
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Slow Motion 4:510:00/4:51
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0:00/6:05
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0:00/11:59
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0:00/4:00
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Tulsa 5:240:00/5:24
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0:00/8:11
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0:00/9:12
Bio
“Night Music”, produced by St. Paul Peterson and featuring Ricky Peterson, Lenny Castro, and some other amazing musicians proves to be one of Grady’s funkiest songs yet in his expansive career. The new single and music video is dedicated to David Sanborn and the impact that he had on Grady’s desire to be a saxophonist. He was and is undoubtedly Grady’s biggest influence. Sanborn’s TV show “Night Music” was ahead of its time and featured an impressive who’s who of musicians getting together and jamming for, on a lot of occasions, the first time. This led Nichols to name the song “Night Music” as the spirit of the song reflects what happened on the TV show every week.
Having also been a huge fan of the Peterson brothers – coming to know of Ricky through his extensive touring with Sanborn and discovering his other projects; St. Paul Peterson – Grady knew Paul was at one time a protégé of Prince and fronted the group, The Family, and was a big fan. St. Paul also toured with Kenny Loggins, the Steve Miller Band, Donny Osmond, and countless others including David Sanborn. Flash forward to the late 90(s), Grady was in L.A. hunting for a producer for his next project which is when he first started working with Jeff Lorber. Nichols went to see David Sanborn in concert, and it was the “Songs From The Night Before” tour, which was a record Ricky produced. And low and behold who was on bass, St. Paul Peterson! Grady got to visit with the brothers backstage after the show and became an even bigger fan! Paul really liked that Grady knew about his work with The Family, and they had a great conversation. Working with both on this song is a full circle moment bringing it all together!
Grady has recorded a significant amount of music over the years with longtime collaborators like Jeff Lorber, Grammy winner Bill Champlin, Chris Botti, Dove Award winners Andy Chrisman, Rachael Lampa, and Chris Rodriguez. Grady has performed onstage with Peter Cetera, the Beach Boys, Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer, Kenny Loggins, Kirk Whalum, and Bob James. Being called a great singer on the saxophone, Grady approaches playing the sax to sound like a singer. Maybe this explains why Grady has opened for music royalty like Luciano Pavarotti, Ray Charles, Huey Lewis and the News, George Benson, Al Green, the Righteous Brothers, the Temptations, and so many more. It doesn’t hurt to mention that Grady’s most famous song, “London Baby'', which has a new rendition on his recent LIVE record, was on the Billboard Jazz Charts for six months! Nichols’ follow-up Christmas record featuring legend Michael Omartian and orchestral genius David Hamilton reached number two on the smoothjazz.com holiday charts. Grady views himself as a saxophonist who plays many varying styles. He is frequently told “I never liked jazz until I heard you” as his music captures the hearts and ears of everyone that listens. Now put on your headphones or crank the dial on your stereo and get ready to make some noise with the great saxophonist himself, Grady Nichols!
Throughout a career spanning over two decades, Nichols has crafted ten highly acclaimed albums and performed extensively, opening for such luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti, Ray Charles, Al Green, Wayman Tisdale and The Beach Boys. A riveting live act, his repertoire runs the gamut from his own original songs to pop/rock classics and Motown hits. His songwriting and musicianship have earned him the respect of his peers, and his albums have featured such acclaimed guest vocalists as Chicago’s Bill Champlin, Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer, Andy Chrisman of 4Him and award-winning songwriter Zac Maloy.
“Tony Bennett once told me that what he tries to do as a jazz vocalist is sound like an instrumentalist and I thought, ‘Wow, I’m going to do the opposite of that,’” Nichols says of his approach to his artistry. “I’m going to sound like a vocalist. Obviously, as a horn player, you’ve got to have chops, practice technique and study the greats, but I also spent a lot of time picking vocalists that I liked and analyzing their phrasing and how they approach a lyric., and then Then I tried to approximate it as much as I could with how I would play that lyric. I try to communicate an emotion and state the melody as such that it sounds like somebody is singing it.”
That creative philosophy combined with his natural musical gift has made Nichols one of the most respected musicians in the country. A 2016 recipient of the Golden Hope Award, Nichols has also received the Legacy Tribute Award from the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and the Outstanding Achievement in Jazz honor from the prestigious Charlie Christian Music Festival. It’s all been much more than Nichols ever expected to come from his childhood obsession with the sax.
“Growing up on a farm in Arkansas, I really should have been a country artist,” Nichols admits with a grin. “Most guys who play jazz didn’t have a barn, so I’m kind of coming at this from a different place than I think a lot of instrumentalists are. Most sax players are traditionally West or East Coast guys. Everything you’ve experienced in your life comes out in your music and I love the saxophone.”
A chance meeting with Sanborn during his college years cemented Nichols desire to become a professional sax player. “What I loved about Sanborn was he talked a lot about having your own sound,” he recalls. “We had a great conversation. It wasn’t like a musician to fan discussion. It was player to player and he was just very encouraging. At the time I was like 19 or 20, and that really made a huge impression on me musically. It set me on a course of discovery. ‘What’s my voice? There already is a David Sanborn or a Kenny G,’ so I really worked on trying to find my own sound, my own voice so that if you heard a few notes, you would know it was me.”
Nichols succeeded in establishing his own unique sound. In 1996, he recorded his first album, Between You and Me. “I did four studio cuts and the rest was from a live performance because there really is nothing that could replace what playing in front of a live audience does to you, the energy and how much fun it is,” he enthuses. “Playing live versus recording in a studio is just two different mentalities. Right after I released the first album, Tulsa got a jazz station and at the time they were very hungry for people who did this kind of music. I had just put out this record, so they started playing me. I got management and then we started expanding where we got played and did another record and it did pretty well on radio, also.”
Nichols’ career continued to gain momentum. He’s played the most prestigious venues in the country and in the studio, he has worked with such noted producers as Chris Rodriguez, Jeff Lorber, Michael Omartian, Zac Maloy and David Hamilton. He’s made frequent forays onto Billboard’s Jazz chart with entries like “London Baby!” riding the chart for six months, and his Christmas collection, Falling in Love with Christmas, peaking at No. 2 on the smooth jazz.com holiday charts.
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Notable Performances
- Newport Beach Jazz Festival (Los Angeles, CA)
- KSBR 25th All Star Birthday Bash (Mission Viejo, CA)
- Greenwood Jazz Festival - Headliner (Tulsa, OK)
- KOAS Lake Las Vegas Concert Series (Henderson, NV)
- Charlie Christian Jazz Festival (Oklahoma City, OK)
- Cathedral City Town Square Fountainworks (Palm Springs, CA)
- Fourth of Jul-Ivar’s Festival (Seattle, WA)
- Croce’s Restaurant and Jazz Bar (San Diego, CA)
- Shows for radio stations in: Baltimore, MD / Bakersfield, CA / Memphis, TN / St. Louis, MO / Reno, NV
- Norwegian Cruise Lines Smooth Jazz Cruise (featured artist with Patti Austin, Jonathan Butler, Craig Chaquico and Warren Hill)
- Riverfest (Wichita, KS)
- Jazz in the Woods (Overland Park, KS)
- Sambucca Jazz Cafes (Dallas, TX, Houston, TX)
- World Pulse Festival (South Bend, IN)
- Post Oak Wine & Jazz Festival - Headliner (Tulsa, OK)
- Guest artist with the TCC Signature Symphony conducted by Andres Franco (Tulsa, OK)
- Guest with the Nashville Alternators at 3rd and Lindsley (Nashville, TN)
- Jaycess 10 Outstanding Young Americans Awards Show (Anaheim, CA)
- Caravan of Dreams (Ft. Worth, TX)
- Jazz In June -Headliner (Norman, OK )
- Grapefest (Grapevine, TX)
Live Collaborations
- Chris Botti
- Leigh Nash
- Jeff Lorber
- Bill Champlin
- The Beach Boys
- Wayman Tisdale
- Kirk Whalum
- David Hamilton
- Michael Omartian
- Andy Chrisman
- Bob James
- Paul Brown
- Marion Meadows
- Roy Clark
- Kim Waters
- Peter Cetera
- Phil Keaggy