Mercedes Nicole - Too High A Price To Pay

Size: 145.9 MB
Time: 62:36
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2025
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Soul
Art: Front

01. I'll Play The Blues For You (4:59)
02. Blue Fire (4:53)
03. Feels Like Rain (6:05)
04. Last Two Dollars (5:27)
05. Life's Struggles (3:28)
06. It Took A Long Time Blues (4:18)
07. Breathe Again (5:58)
08. Smokestack Lightning (4:16)
09. Too High A Price To Pay (4:44)
10. The Sky Is Crying (6:12)
11. Essence Of A Woman (3:58)
12. Beauty For Ashes (4:05)
13. Ease My Soul (4:08)

Singer Mercedes Nicole released her debut album “Constellation” in 2022, which reached number 12 on the Rocks Music Chart in addition receiving air-play on radio stations in France, Brazil, Hawaii, United Kingdom, South Africa, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Canada, Switzerland and of course USA. Since then, her fame has not stopped growing. With this new recording, Mercedes also wants to make herself known internationally, after she has already become popular in Western Washington.

Mercedes Nicole’s principal performing feature is to bring her music to all those people who are seeking comfort, joy, love and healing of the heart. In her own words, “life is full of detours and adventure. It is no secret that music softens the rough paths and helps us get to the other side, where fun, laughter and joy reside. Let’s play in the rhythm of life together.”

To do so, Mercedes Nicole displays in this new recording a repertoire of thirteen songs ranging from blues to soft jazz, swing or ballads, seven of them Nicole’s own compositions and the rest versions like “Feel Like Rain” by J. Hiatt, “Smokestack Lightning” by Howlin’ Wolf or “The Sky Is Crying” by Elmore James.

All the album songs stand out for their elegance and versatility, as well as communicating an intimate relaxed feeling and happiness, developed with an extreme good taste by Mercedes’ wrapping full of nuance voice, well supported by musicians gifted with a remarkable technique like Rood Cook on guitar, Jake Sele on piano and organ, Alexey Nikolaev on tenor sax, Stacy Jones on harmonica, Scotty Harris on bass, Andrew Cloutiere on drums and Tommy Warren on backing vocals. All of them have perfectly understood the message of joy, love, happiness and hope Nicole wants to spread, always present in an album that tastefully brings these feelings to all listeners.

Too High A Price To Pay MP3
Too High A Price To Pay FLAC

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Mercedes Nicole - Constellation

Size: 126.5 MB
Time: 54:06
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Blues Jazz
Art: Full

01. I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues (5:34)
02. Stormy Monday (5:56)
03. Rich Man Blues (3:22)
04. There Is Something On Your Mind (4:22)
05. Your Love (4:57)
06. Turn Me On (3:42)
07. I Can't Make You Love Me (6:13)
08. The Thrill Is Gone (6:23)
09. This Bitter Earth (4:39)
10. Path Of The Mystic (4:02)
11. Bonus Track (4:51)

Seattle based jazz vocalist Mercedes Nicole returns to the source for her fourth album, constellation released in April 2020. Classically trained singer I was made and roads in the Jazz scene for some time now, winning a songwriter award in 2018 and collaborating with some of the finest players in the region. Her new 10 track album is a collection of blues standards and pop inspirations played by some of the finest musicians the city has to offer. She brought the ensemble into Orbit studios in Seattle to be recorded by Joe Reineke. Keyboardist Jake Sele anchors the rhythm section supported by the acclaimed Evan Flory-Barnes on double bass, while D’Vonne Lewis’ and Brian Kirk shared drumming duties and Thaddeus “Thaddilac” Turner and Jerry Wirkkala lent their guitar skills, but the other real star of the show was multi instrumentalist Jay Thomas who played amazing trumpet, Alto, Tenor and Soprano sax on several tracks. Originator of the form Jelly Roll Morton said “Blues has always been at the root, giving the music its sprit, so any composition can be played as Jazz because it is a Style.” Nicole and the fine group of players take that notion to heart.

Opening track, the Duke Ellington standard,“ I Ain’t Got Nothing But The Blues,“ sets the tone for the session, by placing Nicole’s contralto in the middle of an easy swinging rhythm section and having her trade off with Thomas on trumpet for the verses before giving away to pleasing solos on piano and Bass, creating a very strong opening number. She then tackles the oft recorded T-Bone Walker classic, “Stormy Monday,” wisely choosing to stay soft on her delivery, avoiding the vocal histrionics often heard covers of the slow blues standard. She and the fellas then add some lively bounce to “Rich Man Blues,” “pumping up the track first recorded by Dinah Washington and Lucky Thompson’s All-Stars In 1945. Sele does double duty on piano and organ during, “There’s Something On Your Mind, “laying down sweet Hammond B3 on the old timey Blues from The Big Jay McNeely catalog.

Jerry Wirkkala from Amigos Nobles artfully layers flamenco acoustic and electric guitars on the first original track “Your Love, “co-written by Nicole, who gives testimony to her devotion. In an interesting turn of events, Nicole explains that she intended to cover the beautiful love song “Turn Me On,“ from Norah Jones as a duet with Thomas but upon hearing his lovely saxophone decided to leave her vocals off and keep it as an instrumentaL track showcasing his amazing talent. Next Nicole bravely or brazenly takes on the sensational pop Ballad, “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” wisely staying true to Bonnie Raitt ‘s original version from 1991 that reminds us of a time a century ago when all the most popular tunes had jazz sensibilities. She pays tribute to the King of the Blues on “The Thrill Is Gone,” swinging up B.B Kings most revered song, then pairs down the Dinah Washington hit,“ This Bitter Earth,” utilizing a sparse accompaniment of only piano and violin from University of Washington grad Yun-En-Liu to help her bring out the emotion Of the melancholy aria. The album closes With a track written by Seattle guitarist James Howard, “Path Of The Mystic.“ A funky Go Go beat dance number with a power of positive thinking message for everyone “to be the change you want to see in the world,” that Nicole explains in the liner notes , for her encapsulates the essence of the entire album.

Constellation MP3
Constellation FLAC

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