The Nicki Allan Quintet are a piano/vocal led Jazz outfit headed by Jazz vocalist and pianist Nicki Alan. Influenced by all the great women in Jazz, especially women musicians such as Diana Krall, Shirley Horn, Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin to name a few. Nicki’s vocal style is a blend of wholesome Blues combined with soulful Jazz and more than a hint of R & B. She is a formidable scat vocalist and loves to improvise both on vocals and on the piano. Musically, Nicki is influenced by the great rhythmic funksters; Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Oscar Peterson and Thelonious Monk to name but a few, though add a touch of Red Garland and Jeff Lorber and you get the idea. Accompanied by a northern troup-de-force band of stella musicians, the band perform with gusto and finesse a magnitude of stylishly written arrangements mostly from the American Songbook with a scattering of original jazz tunes honed by Nicki herself. Together they play a lively and varied set of uptempo music with a surprisingly fresh, modern sound interwoven with bold improvisation, Scat and a deliciously driving feel.

The Nicki Allan Project was a concept that began 7 years ago as a Piano Trio with Nicki, Josh Cavanna-Brierly on Double Bass and John Settle on the Drums, both rhythm section player’s from the Manhattan Sound Big Band. The rehearsals enabled the development of both new original  material to emerge and re-workings of other music from wider eclectic sources, turning it into something fresher and edgier. Wether the sources were cult pop or Jazz, influential songs that made an impact on the group, the results delivered something exciting. To solidify this, the band took to the studio to make their first EP recording their first 4 songs and with the additional collaboration of Brass from good friends and respected Jazzers; Rod Mason, Joel Purnell and Ian Chalk, plus an arrangement or two from Honorary lifetime contribution to Jazz winner and good friend Ronnie Bottomley, they produced a very respectable collection of tracks from which to launch the band. Cinnamon and Clove, a Samba song by Sergio Mendes, was the first song recorded, arranged by Ronnie, and was chosen for the first Video. Its very energetic and shows off the band’s strengths. The project, in a nutshell, began as the trio nucleus plus guest support but has slowly evolved into a regular Quintet line-up, with Bassist Adrian Knowles, Rod Mason on Saxophones, Kevin Holbrough Trombone and Nicki and John Settle to complete the five as the regular band members. The follow up video to Cinnamon and Clove is a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colours, and is also available on Nicki’s YouTube channel. The band went on to record their first Christmas album in 2021 which is available on spotify and all digital music platforms and you can see more live videos on the Nicki Allan YouTube Channel.