Nefertari Bey

Nefertari Bey draws her musical influences from Dinah Washington, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, John Coltrane and Liz Macomb. By creating her own style and sound, Nefertari is being recognized as one of jazz’s up and coming great vocalist. Having studied under jazz masters Barry Harris and Shelia Jordon, Bey’s singing has become steeped in tradition. Most importantly Nefertari Bey is an advocate of music education; she holds a B.A and M.M in Classical Performance, Jazz Studies and Music Education.

Despite the many accolades, Nefertari has received; she continues to remain humble and dedicated to creating first-rate music her way. With her extreme talent, education and contribution to the industry, Nefertari Bey has become jazz music’s new rising star! - Harlem One Stop

Artist: Nefertari Bey
Sound: Classic Jazz
Born: Oakland, California
Years in the industry: Since 1997
Influences: Dinah Washington, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone

Why we like her: Bundled inside this young artist is the voice and range of classic songstresses such as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn. Ms Bey is proof that
the best of music is in its jazz roots.

Check out Nefetari Bey on www.nefertaribey.com - Written Magazine

The world's largest women's jazz festival returns this September to Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. The 2nd annual Diet Coke Women In Jazz Festival at Jazz at Lincoln Center takes place September 4-October 1. This exciting festival features the best female jazz vocalists and instrumentalists on the scene today.
In association with NYC & Company, New York City’s tourism marketing organization, the 2nd Annual Diet Coke Women In Jazz Festival will feature nightly performances by some of the most influential women in jazz today as well as up-and-coming jazz artists. Coca-Cola is committed to the encouragement and development of female jazz artists of the future. Nefertari Bey will perform on September 22.
- Jazz at Lincoln Center

Nefertari Bey will perform at Rialto Center for the Arts February Feed Your Senses. Feed Your Senses is a free lunchtime performing arts series held monthly at the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University. February’s Feed Your Senses celebrates Black History Month with Langston Sings, an educational music program that examines the similarities between the poetry of Langston Hughes and spirituals, blues, and jazz. The program features a different artist or speaker each month providing a casual and fun insider's look at their craft. Previous Feed Your Senses have featured the faculty from Georgia State's School of Music and Latin jazz group Vecinos del Mundo. Box lunches are available for sale or you are welcomed to bring your own lunch.

During Langston Sings the Nefertari Bey Ensemble will perform the “Music of Langston Hughes.” The Nefertari Bey Ensemble has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and at the Atlanta Jazz Festival.
- Rialto Center

The lovely and talented Nefertari Bey will be at The River Room (formerly known as Earl Monroe’s) tomorrow night, Thursday, November 3rd. She will be performing two shows 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Previous performances at The Harlem Tea Room have been sold out! This 25-year-old jazz phenom conjures up vocal influences infused by singer Randy Crawford and legendary songress Dinah Washington.
For more information and samples of her style visit NefertariBey.com
- Uptown Flavor- D.Bell

"When you sing jazz you have to be able to perform live more than any other genre," says Bey...."

To check out more of this article pick up Vol. 7 Number 47 Rolling Out
- Rolling Out-Volume 7 Number 47 June 21, 2007

Our Atlanta sojourn brought us in contact with two jazz women, one well known, the other just beginning her arc in the jazz spotlight, whose stories are worth telling.
Though only in her early 40s, Terri Lynne Carrington has already lived several lifetimes as a first-call jazz drummer, bandleader, educator and all-around ambassador for the artform.
Having first played the drums at age six, she has since performed throughout the US and around the world (including a visit to Jamaica in 2004).
Apart from being one of a small but growing cadre of first-line female jazz drummers, Carrington's distinguishing trait, by her own admission, is "a funky way of playing jazz". This gift has meant that she's just as comfortable supporting straight-ahead artistes as fusion artistes, dyed-in-the-wool traditional vocalists (like longtime family friend Nancy Wilson) or the more eclectic Cassandra Wilson (whose oeuvre includes covers of songs by Sting, The Isley Brothers and the Monkees).
But Carrington reserves some of her biggest praise for two players in particular. Pianist Herbie Hancock, who is himself a study in musical diversity (having done everything from Gershwin to hip hop), and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, whom Carrington calls her 'spiritual mentor'. She credits Hancock for his incredible creativity as her most rewarding musical experience, and fittingly, her performance on the Saturday night of the festival preceded that of the maestro (they did not play together on that occasion).
Carrington again called on Wilson for her latest project, called More To Say, the follow-up to an earlier project, called Real-Life Stories.
"I had written this song, and it just came to me that she [Wilson] was the only one who could voice it the way I was hearing it in my head. Even though she's a family friend and someone I just have tremendous love and admiration for, I was a little hesitant about calling her up and asking her to do it, partly because of her schedule. So I just so happy when she said, 'anything for Terri. I'll do it."
The CD will be released shortly, but Carrington continues on her multi-faceted path in the meantime. When asked though, about possible hip hop collaborations, she's cautious. "It is the music that my generation grew up on, but it would have to be the right project, something I can be really challenged by."
She may be new to the jazz spotlight, but 25-year-old Nefertari Bey has the right antecedents in more than one jazz style.
She's a not-too-distant relative of acclaimed vocalist Andy Bey, and closer to home, her dad, Lester Lashley was a charter member of landmark free jazz outfit The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), which also gave the jazz world Muhal Richard Abrams, Malachi Favors and Lester Bowie.
At age eight, Nefertari made her first serious moves, taking up the clarinet and was subsequently part of several local ensembles.
Today, having studied under luminaries Barry Harris and Sheila Jordan, having gained a BA and MM (Master's in Music) in classical performance, jazz studies and music education, and having performed widely (includinga just-completed tour of Russia), Nefertari arrives in Atlanta and closes a circle of sorts. Only a few years earlier she served as a Jazzteer, part of the behind-the-scenes volunteer corp that keeps events of this magnitude humming.
"It was a fantastic experience," she recalls. "I got to learn so much, about music and about people that just broadened my whole perspective and prepared me for a moment like this."
The moment was her Monday night (Memorial Day) slot alongside the likes of Monty Alexander, sax great Lou Donaldson and rising fusion star Mike Phillips. Bey is also readying her debut CD for release later in the summer.
Through it all, her passionate spirituality keeps her grounded (delightfully so). "I'm really grateful to God for giving me this gift and allowing me to share it with people around the world. People take it for granted, but the music has been good to me and I want, through my work to touch others with the same love."

- The Jamaican Observer