Nikki Yanofsky proved that jazz can still appeal to a young audience with her set at Ottawa Jazz Festival.
The 19-year-old songstress played a diverse set that seamlessly wove together jazz standards, her own originals, and even some pop music of today.
“I’m trying to bring jazz back to my generation,” Yanofsky said before jumping into a medley of pop songs turned jazz.
The medley opened with the recognizable hook of “Thrift Shop,” and after a minute of Macklemore, swung into Bruno Mars’ “Treasure.”
She followed up with a crowd-pleasing groovy jazz take on “Sexy and I Know It” before closing out with Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.”
Yanofsky continued to show how jazz can work in today’s remix culture with some mash-ups of her own.
First, she played a re-worked version of Louie Armstrong’s classic “Jeepers Creepers.” This included working original lyrics and verses into Armstrong’s famous chorus. She then topped the song off by scatting wildly alongside a recording of Satchmo’s trumpet solo.
Her next remix played with her mentor Quincy Jones’ famous song “Soul Bossa Nova” (or as you may know it better, the Austin Powers theme). She put her own lyrics to it and created a song that was one part Quincy, one part Nikki, and then threw in a dash of Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” for good measure.
Even her original songs had the tinge of vintage jazz to them, with walking basslines on the electric upright, and Yanofsky scatting to her heart’s content.
“I like to write my songs to sound old,” admitted Yanofsky. “That way I can mess with them without pissing anybody off.”
A highlight of the show was when Yanofsky told the story of playing with her hero, Stevie Wonder. The young singer was beaming with pride as she spoke of standing two feet away from the musical legend.
The band then broke into a high energy cover of “Let The Good Times Roll,” which the audience joined in on enthusiastically.
She also played a cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” (originally by The Zutons), topped off with a psychedelic wah pedal-heavy solo on guitar, and a chilled out grooving solo on bass.
Yanofsky closed on “I Believe,” her original song that was the theme to the 2010 Olympics, but was quickly called back on stage for an encore.
Yanofsky’s youthful set showed that jazz is still as relevant today as it ever has been.
