In this edition of Bay Area Beats, San Francisco singer Kim Nalley explains how balancing singing with being a historian and Ph.D student has helped her pay tribute to the legends of jazz that have come before her.
"Jazz in it's own way is a type of oral history as well, cause we're constantly paying respect to our ancestors . . . so you have to have a lot of knowledge of where we came from as a people in order to play jazz successfully"
Kim was born into a family of jazz musicians. She began practicing piano with her great-grandmother, who taught her the history of the genre. When she went to UC Berkeley in the 90’s, Kim was discovered singing at Harry’s Pub in the Fillmore. Since then, she’s built an international reputation as one of the world's best jazz & blues vocalists. In this edition of Bay Area Beats, Kim explains how balancing singing with being a historian and Ph.D student has helped her pay tribute to the legends of jazz.
