Orice Jenkins - Centennial Cole (2019)

Orice Jenkins is a vocalist, arranger, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist signed to independent imprint Truth Revolution Recording Collective. After three remarkably diverse projects, his newest album, 'Centennial Cole', is a celebration of a great voice from the past: Nat 'King' Cole. The legendary singer was most famous for songs like Unforgettable and The Christmas Song, but Jenkins performs his own soulful arrangements of less popular and nevertheless timeless tunes, similar to his work on his 2016 release, 'Soar', which reached #11 on the iTunes jazz chart. Jenkins became notorious for his hip-hop laden covers of jazz standards like Bye Bye Blackbird and Body & Soul, as well as his swinging treatments to songs by Drake and Rihanna. Centennial Cole offers much tamer sounds, accented by the presence of a string quartet.

Around The Piano, his 2014 debut, featured original orchestral soul songs written during Jenkins' teenage years. More of his early songs were released on Tertiary, a 2017 mixtape that featured entirely self-produced music. Both projects were released several years after their inception, partially because of Jenkins pursuing higher education at prestigious arts conservatory, The Hartt School, as well as his work as a music educator in his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut. He also tours nationally with The Afro-Semitic Experience, and has served as musical director and arranger for legendary soul singers Betty Harris and Kenny Hamber, as well as Grammy-award winning artist Charmagne Tripp. He has collaborated with rapper Klokwize, Grammy-nominated producer Chris Davis, and shared the stage with jazz legends such as Dr. Eddie Henderson and Stanley Jordan.