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TORONTO, ON – October 21, 2022 – Acclaimed jazz singer, Nikki Yanofsky, returns today with the release of her new album, Nikki By Starlight, via MNRK Music Group – a 15-track voyage through vintage jazz standards from storied musicians, Frank Sinatra, Chet Baker, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, and more. Nikki By Starlight was co-produced with JUNO Award-winning producer/composer, Paul Shrofel, and features contributions from Stevie Wonder’s bandmate, Greg Phillinganes, Nathan East (Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson) and the iconic Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, Arturo Sandoval. Listen to Nikki By Starlight here.

Of the release Yanofsky reflects, “This album is truly a homecoming. It’s me going back to my roots, but on my own terms. I co-produced this record, I chose each song and how it should be interpreted. In the past, when I had sung jazz, I was a kid and was really just emulating my heroes, singing their arrangements. This album is all original arrangements, the approach was “how would I have sung these songs if I were alive when they were being written?”. They needed to be different from anything I had heard in the past, yet true to the era in which they came from. ‘Nikki by Starlight’ is the first time I was able to have my own voice in the genre that really ignited my passion for music in the first place.”

In light of Yanofsky returning to her first love, she wrote a letter to jazz earlier this year. An excerpt from the letter reads: “They say your first love is the hardest to get over. I never really got over you. I drowned your sound. I held you down deep where your echo was faint and easy to ignore. I walked a different path. Yet still, after all this time, those giant steps let me to the foot of your door.” Nikki By Starlight aches with an inexplicable passion for all that is jazz and Yanofsky’s commitment to reimagining the standards rings true all throughout the album. 

Recorded on a vintage RCA 77C – the microphone that was used by Ella Fitzgerald – Nikki By Starlight, and Yanofsky’s transportive musical touch, brings the Great American Songbook into the 21^st century, providing a chance for new audiences and existing fans alike to fall in love with a refreshed style.

Ultimately, Nikki By Starlight is a mix of ballads, up-tempo tracks and sambas that make you believe in teleportation. Comes Love has a real slinky vibe reminiscent of an old-fashioned speakeasy; C’est Si Bon is a nod to 1960s Paris with a very classic French arrangement; West Coast Blues features a pocketed ensemble with Greg Phillinganes on organ and a Lalo Schifrin inspired horn solo; and Estate is an Italian classic featuring Arturo Sandovel’s signature trumpet.

With the new album, Yanofsky continues to prove her artistry – stemming all the way back to when she sang the National Anthem on live television at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver in front of 3.2 billion people. Her self-titled album, Nikki, released in 2010, gained the attention of the late prolific songwriter, Rod Temperton (Thriller, Rock With You, Boogie Nights), who took her under his wing becoming her mentor, creative coach and musical champion. Her sophomore release, Little Secret, found Yanofsky exploring the velvet-clad sweet spot between jazz and pop with bold sentiments that signaled a self-assured coming of age. In 2020 she released Turn Down The Sound, a 10-track LP (eOne Music) that showcases her independence and marks a newfound departure for her career as a young musician, earning praise upon release from Billboard, Uproxx, American Songwriter and more.

DOWNLOAD – album cover artwork | DOWNLOAD – press photo

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About MNRK Music Group
MNRK Music Group is one of the largest independent music companies in the world, with recording, music publishing, and management divisions operating in every major music market. MNRK is committed to discovering and guiding top music creators and artists and works with some of the greatest musical talent including The Lumineers and Pitbull, the music publishing catalog of Chuck Berry, plus premier music companies Dualtone Music Group and Last Gang. The company’s music department services Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning producers. Its catalog across divisions consists of 54,000 music tracks, including multiple GRAMMY winners and platinum-selling hits.