Can you bottle Happiness? Can you build it up and cut off slices for others? Can you send Happiness on stage, hand it a microphone, and let it infect all who listen to it sing? The answer, I feel, is YES.
***
Nicole Henry has tucked herself away onto the list of the world’s most acclaimed jazz performers. She is charismatic and, certainly, her voice is one to be reckoned with. Its flavor is warm, has notes of Whitney Huston, but is all her own (and pairs nicely with Brie 😊). Finally, it is the happiness in her voice that keeps me going back to her music—especially around the holidays.
I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
In 2019, I had the privilege of traveling to Miami, Florida, to attend Henry’s 7th Annual Winter Concert titled, “Believe.” The jazzy setlist included performances such as, “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “Waters of March,” “I Am Changing,” and “O Holy Night.”
I Believe in You and Me
For Nicole Henry, her Winter Concert is always one of homecoming and celebration. Each year, Henry holds the live show in the city that raised her, Miami, and always uses the platform as a fundraiser for various musical nonprofits. Last year, the concert benefitted the Miami Music Project.
The theme of the music was centered around the call to Believe as a way to encourage the country and world to stand together and hope in difficult times.
I Am Changing
Hope, of course, can be bottled. It can be preserved and shared in the form of art. I took the cozy feelings from Henry’s 2019 show straight into the New Year. However, it was harder to keep the hope in 2020.
Perhaps this is why her concert is annual. For her 8th Annual Winter Concert, Henry’s setlist will be formed around the theme, “I Sing Because I Am Happy.” If we need anything at the end of such a draining year, it is to remember to be happy. I’m sure Henry and her band will deliver.
Angels We Have Heard on High
The Winter Concert is on December 19, 2020, at 8 PM EST and features Nicole Henry and her fantastic 8-piece band. Again, Henry has chosen to donate a portion of all proceeds to the Miami Music Project, a 501(c)(3). The 6-camera production will be shot at Pinecrest Gardens in South Florida (I mean, if you have to perform virtually, why not perform somewhere beautiful!). General admission is $35; VIP experience is $85 which includes virtual backstage sights, a post-concert meet-and-greet, and more. Plus, you’ll be able to stream the concert again and again until Dec 26, 2020. Get your ticket at nicolehenry.com.
Waters of March
It’s a wonderful night of key changes, high notes, and the warm holiday cheer that we all long for. If nothing else, it’s a wonderful way to give to a young community of artists all while sipping some hot cider (and maybe eating some of that brie 😊) in the comfort of your own home.
***
During the team meetings at Savage Ticket, we’ve often joked that, at the end of December, our problems will be fixed and come January 1st, all will be well again. Still, there hasn’t been a day that has gone by this year that I haven’t had something to be grateful for (even if it hasn’t come to mind). I think having traditions like a Winter Concert is a way to remind ourselves to keep positive. And while all our struggles won’t fall away with the dawn of 2021, we can find ways to be happy in the present. So, friends, our hope is that you will continue to be grateful and remember to sing.
#Music #Christmas #holiday #songlist #playlist #NicoleHenry #believe #WhitneyHouston #Miami #MiamiMusicProject #MiamiBeach #happy #jazzmusic #jazz #jazzsinger #livestream #virtualconcert
Written by Colleen Walker