The Nicki Allan Sextet

Currently the music scene abounds with gifted young lady ‘jazz’ singers…and talented and indeed welcome as they are, not all are completely worthy of the title with a capital ‘J’!!  In my humble opinion however, one who can rightly claim to be a ‘Jazz’ singer ( even though she can also perform most convincingly outside that particular sphere) is Leeds based vocal talent Nicki Allan. Nicki is one of that relatively rare breed of artist, who though fully respectful of song lyrics, has the control and confidence to take daring unexpected liberties with the melody, without marring—and in most cases actually enhancing the results!!

Immaculately fresh arrangements and flawless musicianship

The Nicki Allan Sextet was founded eighteen months ago. Formed largely from a nucleus of players and educators within the Leeds College of Music, it embodies high standards of musicianship and performance delivered via a number of exciting arrangements of both original songs penned by Nicki and great standards from the American Songbook, arranged uniquely by drummer Ronnie Bottomley and pianist Graham Hearn.  

The musicians are from a varied jazz cultured background. Many have had the pleasure of working with great names in the business, such as Drummer Ronnie Bottomley who has a long and colourful career behind him performing with the likes of Art Farmer, Don Menza, Humphrey Littleton, Johnny Dankworth, and Morrisey Mullen. Trumpet/Flugal player Mark Chandler has worked with George Russell, Elvin Jones, Pete King, Johnny Dankworth and the BBC radio big band. Pianist Graham Hearn, who has a Doctorate in the field of twentieth century music and composition, has accompanied many famous Jazz names who visited the College of Music and recently played alongside Gerard Presencer at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz club. Joel Purnell is regarded as one of the hottest, new jazz talents to come out of England with the successful release last year of his solo debut album, Red shift and Richard Hammond is one of the most sought after session Bass players in the North of England. He performs all over the county and recently played at the Royal Albert hall.

Nicki herself is no stranger to Jazz or the music business. A former Graduate from the college, she has worked there as a vocal coach for the last 16 years. She has also voice coached for the West End, written many original works for different genres, including a collection of Gospel Songs soon to be published, is a sought after recording artist for bands and musicians and has taught and performed alongside Tina may, Lee Gibson and Snake Davis. Her influences include Claire Martin, Leanne Carroll, Ella, Miles Davis and John Coltrane to name a few.