Beloved Detroit jazz vocalist Shahida Nurullah and internationally-touring pianist and accordionist Ben Rosenblum join in concert for one night only, presenting a duo evening of jazz standards, Brazilian music and more.
About Shahida Nurullah:
Shahida Nurullah has a right to sing the blues. Considering she lost both her parents as a teenager, raised her brother when she was practically a child herself, and suffered debilitating injuries in an accident that nearly ended her life.
She sings the blues so beautifully.
She also sings jazz, samba, bossa nova, show tunes, and more. Her vocal talent surpasses the challenge of any music in the popular American songbook. Not to mention challenging the language barrier to sing in three different languages. Her skill has wowed audiences from her native Detroit to New York to Paris to Amsterdam and further. When internationally lauded pianist Geri Allen created the band Open On All Sides, she chose Shahida to be her vocalist. When the band toured without the alto saxophonist from Allen’s critically acclaimed recording, “In the Middle,” Shahida sang the alto lines. Shahida’s vocal talent has been praised in Downbeat magazine, the New York Times, the Detroit Free Press and Finland’s Rytmi magazine, which included her name in a poll alongside such legends as Sarah Vaughan and fellow Detroiter Betty Carter. Like everything else, Shahida has been more than equal to the task, returning to the stage with a triumphant appearance at the Montreux Detroit Jazz Festival and numerous southeast Michigan club appearances and even winning a starring role in a staging of the musical play “After Hours: Great Legends! Great Music!”
About Ben Rosenblum:
Award-winning New York City jazz pianist and accordionist Ben Rosenblum has been described as “mature beyond his years,” (Sea of Tranquility), an “impressive talent” (All About Jazz), who “caresses [the music] with the reverence it merits” (Downbeat Magazine). Since the release of his debut trio album, Instead (4 stars, Downbeat), Rosenblum has toured extensively with his trio and sextet throughout the United States, including multiple trips to the Northeast, Midwest, South and West Coast, as well as internationally in Canada, Europe and Japan. He was a featured soloist at Carnegie Hall's Stern-Perelman Auditorium – with Reona Ito's New York Harmonic Band – and has appeared at prestigious venues throughout the world, including at the Appel Room at Lincoln Center, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Ravinia, Himawari-No-Sato Concert Hall in Yokohama, Bird's Eye in Basel and the Library of Congress. Rosenblum's second trio album in 2018, River City, was called “richly romantic” and “well-realized” by JAZZIZ Magazine, which featured the title track as part of their Best of Fall 2018 CD. Most recently, Rosenblum released his third album, Kites and Strings, which is the first to feature him on both piano and accordion alongside his new sextet, the Nebula Project. In 2020, the Nebula Project was voted runner-up for Best New Artist in JazzTimes' Readers' Poll. Rosenblum has been privileged to share the stage with many highly acclaimed jazz musicians, including extensive work with Curtis Lundy, Winard Harper, Deborah Davis and Chris Washburne, as well as appearances with Bobby Watson, Sean Jones, TS Monk, Warren Wolf, Eliot Zigmund, and many others. Rosenblum's musical interests also extend beyond jazz to include work in numerous world music scenes, including musical styles from Brazil, Peru, Croatia, Bulgaria, India, Ireland, Jewish traditions and more.