Nikki Yanofsky - Little Secret (2014) [Hi-Res]

Canadian vocal jazz & pop sensation Nikki Yanofsky is back with her sophomore release „Little Secret“. Executive Produced by legend Quincy Jones, Little Secret combines pop-song structures with sophisticated harmonies, club-ready beats with punchy big-band horns, and earworm hooks with scat-singing solos. It’s all held together by her powerful delivery, as well as a newfound sass.

In the studio with Rob Kleiner and Dan Cinelli, Yanofsky brought together the immediacy of her pop work with the depth of her jazz. Her approach is epitomized by the track “Something New”, which cheekily adapts the hooks from Jones’s “Soul Bossa Nova” and Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” to a strutting groove, and features the full breadth of Nikki’s vocals, from a soulful roar to a kittenish growl.

“I’m excited to be back and to unveil Little Secret to the world,” said Yanofsky. The process of making this album has really forced me to reflect on what I wanted to say and the quality of work I wanted to put out. I think I have separated from the kid to the adult and the artist that I am now, and I couldn’t be more excited to share this new music with the world.”

“Little Secret is the evolution of an immense talent,” commented Randy Lennox, President and CEO, Universal Music Canada. “The master Quincy Jones has taken Nikki Yanofsky from ingénue to a young woman at the vanguard of her talents.”

With Little Secret, Nikki has drawn on the impeccable taste and crossover wisdom of the album’s Executive Producer and her co-manager Quincy Jones, who has been bridging gaps between jazz and pop since the ‘60s. She had brought jazz into a pop context before, performing with Hancock in 2011 for the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute to Barbra Streisand, and singing at a Los Angeles tribute to Carole King with a big band conducted by Jones himself.

“For many years now, it has been both my dream and my goal to inspire young people to recognize and appreciate jazz and blues,” said Jones. “Nikki Yanofsky is a leading voice in a generation of young artists who are bringing the quality of music back up. Little Secret is the result of years of hard work, and her stab at bringing her influences to her own generation. I’m proud to be her Executive Producer and excited for the world to hear this album.”