Today we’d like to introduce you to Nalani.
Hi Nalani, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a small town outside of Boulder, Colorado, in a house where music was an essential and integrated part of my life. My dad is a singer-songwriter, so even before I was born music was in me, but my biggest musical influences came from what my mom exposed me to. She’s never been a musician herself, but her whole life is about bringing people together through it, and she made sure I was completely immersed in live music from the start. She booked and managed the music at the Boulder Creek Festival for many years, so I grew up backstage at festivals, around incredible musicians, and completely immersed in the energy of live performance. She also made sure I experienced as much music as possible beyond the festivals she worked, often convincing venues to let me in with her even though I was underage. In addition to music, my life was filled with infinite opportunities for exploring my creative self including art, acting and dance.
I loved music, and loved the magical connection between an audience and the musicians, but my own musical exploration didn’t really get cultivated until I started taking voice lessons at age 9. Instead of a traditional vocal teacher, I ended up studying with an incredible bebop jazz vocalist named Marguerite Jueneman (of Rare Silk). On my very first lesson she had me improvising scatt solos. I didn’t know enough to be afraid of making things up, and she created such a safe environment that improvisation became a natural expression for me. She gave me freedom to create on the spot before I even had the chance to be self-conscious about it.
When I was eleven, my mom surprised me with my first electric bass. She remembered that years earlier I’d told her I wanted to play bass like Laura Love, my favorite band at the time. What inspired me wasn’t necessarily the instrument, but Laura’s energy, her originality, and the way she connected with her audience. She sang, slapped the bass and danced, and had this incredible ability to make every audience member feel connected. Whenever I got to spend time with her, she somehow made me feel like I was the star instead of her. That energy and way of connecting with people has stayed with me even more than anything she played, and has been key in my development as a performer/entertainer and in my role as a facilitator of healing and the creative process. Cultivating that energy has become natural over the years, and I think it’s in part due to these early experiences and the amazing mentors and teachers who have helped me develop it along the way.
I’ve always been incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by mentors who believed in me, which is a huge credit to my mom who has an incredible gift for connecting people and an eye for who I needed to learn from or be surrounded by. This led me to teachers and musicians who believed in me when I couldn’t and created opportunities for me. My middle school jazz director encouraged me to stay in the jazz band even when I was terrified and teased, and thought I wasn’t good enough. A local blues bassist, Jodie Woodward, invited me to play with her band after only a year of starting bass lessons. My music mama, Hazel Miller (of Big head Todd and the Monsters), welcomed me to sit in and sing with her band throughout my musical upbringing. Those real-life experiences have always been the things that pushed the development of my skills and mastery on my instrument, cultivated confidence and trust in myself, and made my showmanship become second nature.
One of the biggest turning points in my life was meeting Victor Wooten and his family. After Hazel Miller’s bass player encouraged me to check out Victor’s Bass Camp, my mom made sure we went to one of his concerts, where we got to meet Victor, Regi and the whole band, which led to eventually attending the Bass Nature Camp a few years later. At the camp I met masterful bass players, Chuck Rainey, Marcus Miller, Michael Manring and Rhonda Smith, and with my mom’s help I was able to develop and maintain these connections over the years. A few would develop into close relationships and mentorships. The Legendary Chuck Rainey became my “Bass Godfather” and gave me opportunities to help him at clinics and camps and to this day serves as a spiritual confidant and father figure in my life. On the North Sea Jazz cruise we became close with Marcus Miller and his Manager, Bibi Green, who continues to provide a great perspective on songwriting and music business. My connection with Regi Wooten has grown over the years; from short lessons while he was on tour and getting to play with him at my moms festival in High School, to the deep familial bond and musical partnership that we share today. My personality and personal experience with such successful musicians at a young age gave me the perspective and social skills required to develop and maintain authentic and down-to-earth connections with admired and revered musicians. It’s still amazing to me that people I first admired from the front row have become mentors, collaborators, teachers, and dear friends.
I went on to study both jazz voice and bass at William Paterson University. It was an incredibly challenging experience for many reasons, but it taught me resilience and helped me develop a skill to craft my own experiences,and know where to place my energy and own my creative voice despite any resistance or judgement I might receive. I pushed the boundaries of the traditional conservatory-style jazz program, forming a Stevie Wonder ensemble, presenting my senior thesis on Joni Mitchell, and paving the way for others to pursue Double majors within the Jazz department. In 2010 I organized to have Victor Wooten perform and teach a master class at the school, and was honored to perform with him for the first time at that show. While I was at WPU I performed with Pete Escovido, was featured on a song with Paquito D’rivera, jammed at NJPAC with Roy Hargrove, and studied under Mulgrew Miller, Harold Maybern, Armen Donelian, James Weidman, and Marcus McLorien, and I interned at Sirius XM Real Jazz with Mark Ruffin. I used my honors thesis independent study, to explore the creative process itself; comparing the approaches of visual art and musical performance, and discovering the infinite ways to access the creative source that we tap into, and I performed a recital in a gallery filled with my original artwork. This practice is something I continue to study and explore through visual arts, facilitating classes at Art and Soul Nashville, through the healing art of Tibetan Cranial, and through performing teaching and coaching. Immediately Out of school, I lived and worked in NY, performed weekly in Asbury Park, NJ with a Latin Jazz Band lead by Nick Scheuble, but after college, I was burned out and actually thought I might leave music behind for good. I followed my then boyfriend who was in the Air Force to San Angelo TX, but that community insisted that I share my music and whole self with the world. I developed my solo show at The Chicken Farm Art Center and the San Angelo Fine Arts Museum ,as they created many opportunities for me to perform, and the Blues society had me open for Samantha Fish, performing for a crowd of 5,000 people. That community kept insisting that I show up as my musical, magnetizing self, and they wouldn’t let me ‘tap out.’ My time in Texas gave me evidence that my purpose in my life would always be connected to music, and was proof of something in me that I had heard Marcus Miller tell me many times before, “You don’t choose music. Music chooses you.” Though I’ve found over the years that like any loving relationship, you have to continue choosing each other, I have embraced a sense of trust and surrender in the fact that music continues to choose me.
In 2013 Victor Wooten invited me to ride along on the tour bus with The Wooten Brothers, which gave me the experience of “road life” and the full spectrum of the delights and struggles of being a touring musician. That opportunity helped me see how well I thrive in chaotic, and non-traditional environments. I was not scared by the musician lifestyle one bit, but enlivened by it. This led me to Nashville where I had begun visiting to study with Regi “the Teacha” Wooten with more commitment and devotion, and eventually decided I would plan to stay for a few months to “really commit to my music.” When I got there though, all my connections that had offered me places to stay or told me opportunities would be there, were suddenly not available. Again when I was met with this resistance that could have been interpreted as a sign that Nashville “just isn’t the place for me” I decided to plant my own roots. The resilience I developed during my University years showed up, and I pushed to find work and a place to stay and make my own way in this new city. What I thought would be a short stay eventually became home. My early years in Nashville gave me an incredible sense of community and welcoming affirmation of synchronicity and a magic that felt unique. Everywhere I went I made new friends and everywhere I went I ran into someone I already knew. The city was alive with an openness and collaborative energy that resonated with my own connective nature.
Studying with Regi skyrocketed my skills and technique on my bass and in my understanding of music itself. It gave me a deep understanding of power, the mysticism, physics, sacred, tangible and intangible nature of music, and how it is woven into the fabric of the universe. In addition to this wisdom, Regi’s friendship, guidance and willingness to collaborate with me professionally has greatly influenced not only my career and opportunities, but also my philosophy as an artist, teacher and facilitator.
My skill, natural showmanship and ability to connect with people has made me a unique member of the bass community in Nashville and a valued collaborator as a “side-man”, session player, co-writer, musical director, and creative coach. All my natural and trained skills have made me the engaging and versatile entertainer I am today, playing every genre and leading various projects such as The Rory and Nalani Trio, The Nalani Effect, and The Nalani Trio,
When I look back, I see a lifetime of people who believed in me, who encouraged me, and invited me into experiences and opportunities early on. My mom was the catalyst for so much of that, creating connections I never would have found on my own, but my nature of playful, openheartedness and deep emotional connection made me a magnet for these lasting relationships. This nature of connection and magnetism has become the foundation of everything I do. Whether I’m performing, teaching, or creating and facilitating, my goal is to make everyone feel seen, welcomed, inspired, wild and free. Whether you are in the role of performer and creator, working behind the scenes, or as an audience member and witness, you are an essential part of each moment, we are all collaborators! More than anything, I believe music and life is about connection; connection to one’s self, each other, and the universe, and that’s the thread that I will continue to hold as I move forward in whatever infinite, creative endeavors I pursue.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Any struggles that I have faced over the years, have simply been opportunities to evolve, and stand stronger and more rooted in myself and truth. Often the challenges that I have faced actually give me more will to persevere and push against whatever I’m perceiving as stopping me or challenging me, so I let it fuel me. When I’ve been met with resistance, judgment, sexism, or bullying, I’ve been strong-willed enough to take it as a queue to stand stronger in my sense of self, define more clarity in my values and desires, and be clearer about my boundaries and expectations of others.
The thing about pain is that we all experience it. Struggles, pain and suffering are all about perception; if you give it power and respond from a place of victimhood it can distort what’s true, but, inversely, when you ignore or resist and deny what you’re experiencing, that can be equally harmful and ungrounded, breeding arrogance. My life has definitely not been full of only rainbows and butterflies, but I choose to look at my own role in those experiences. I’m always looking at how I could do better or how I could respond better, or what’s my part. As long as I can do that without chastising myself, then I can take responsibility for my own role in whatever struggle I’m going through and be honest and rooted in what I am, or am not, OK with, and can choose how I want to move forward.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am most recognized and known as a Bass Player and Vocalist, and most celebrated for my showmanship and ability to move an audience. I specialize in versatility and entertainership. My Jazz training and years of study with Regi Wooten has given me the skills to master, perform and teach in a wide range of styles and skill levels. As a sidemen and session musician my people skills and ability to connect make my technical skills more valuable. I’m good at interpreting what an artist or Producer wants and am able to help translate that into musical terms and formats for myself as well as for directing other members of the band. I often work with independent artists where we can collaborate and I can be an integral part of helping bring visions to life.
As a private lessons instructor, I take pride in showing up for my students wherever they are at. I teach theory and improvisation on every instrument, but for technique and fundamentals I offer beginner piano, and all levels of electric bass, upright bass and vocals. Everyone has different ways of learning and different techniques that come natural to them. I use their natural abilities to validate and fuel the more challenging approaches. Everything I teach my students is about understanding and application through fun, and passion. We explore the magical and mystical and power of music, and develop basic fundamentals through playful, unconventional techniques and sounds. I encourage my students to find their own way to play, and let their ‘mistakes’ be information for what their body and soul is trying to transmute. I love uplifting them and helping them know their true nature and unique super powers.
As a performer, I am most revered for exemplifying delight, playfulness, wild abandon and freedom, using my versatility in skills on my instrument to integrate improvisation and spontaneity. No matter which project I am in, I bring this energy to every style both as a frontman and sideman. As a band Leader and solo artist I channel this through various genres and styles of music, and I am known for working with and hiring the best musicians in Nashville. I have two jazz trios and a funk R&B dance band.
The Rory and Nalani Trio is old-school, straight ahead Jazz, done with a twist. I sing duets with my duo partner, Rory Hoffman, a legendary multi-instrumentalist who’s played with legends and high profile artists like, Ricky Skaggs and Kacey Musgraves. Together, we do Ella and Louis style duets, but you’ll find us bantering, cracking jokes, inserting innuendo, playfulness, and humor at every opportunity we get.
On the other end of the spectrum, my dance band, The Nalani effect is a WILD show, featuring high intensity, improvisation and solos from each member of the band, as well as risky athleticism-style tricks with our instruments. We weave together classic songs so the music never stops and the audience keeps dancing, tailoring each experience to whichever audience we are present with. This band often features the Legendary Regi “the Teacha” Wooten on guitar and Vocals, and Adam Skye Wooten on Drums and vocals.
My Self titled jazz project, The Nalani Trio merges the old school great American songbook style of the Rory and Nalani Trio with the fusion-funk and antics that you’ll find in The Nalani Effect, and of course the highly skilled improvisation and mastery of all the musicians involved. But, as always, the highlight of the show is audience engagement, and a sensual, playful, magnetizing experience.
As a Solo Artist you will find me with just my bass and my voice. Sometimes on upright with my two contrasting instruments in an acoustic style. Other times, you’ll hear me with the electric bass creating unique arrangements, using a variety of techniques to cover melody, rhythm and harmony with just these two instruments, I sing over slap basslines, tapping, and pulling chords; a one-woman-band of sorts, where I get to integrate all the advanced skills I have developed.
All of my projects feature the playful, enthusiastic wild abandon that I am known for, and the magnetizing inspiration I create that welcomes and sparks audience participation and engagement. Whether it’s a laid-back jazz instrumental set at an art opening, or a dance party on a Festival stage the showmanship and love is always apparent. I am known for my potent personality that shines through the music on stage and in my recordings, and my ability to read the room and serve the audience, making every show a unique communion between the audience, the performers, and the current moment.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Everyone is talking about AI. Many musicians are scared of what it means for their careers and future, but I think it’s a great opportunity to get clearer, stronger, more vulnerable, honest and skilled in one’s craft. There may come a place in time where we might find ourselves feeling like we’re drowning in the over-saturation of music created by people who don’t really have any skill, or by computers programmed to create randomization. But, honestly how different is that from what we as musicians have been facing for years? We have always had to find our way through “the machine” of our industry. I believe that as the noise of AI gets more and more blurry, those of us that are still creating from a soulful, connected and collaborative place, will continue growing, and bringing people together. The people that will choose to put an instrument in their hand and develop the skill, instead of just writing a prompt, will get to develop something that others are unlearning because of their reliance on AI. I think that live performance and in-person connection will become more valuable, because we are already so uncertain about whether what we are seeing is ‘real,’ and there will be an audience of people who want to have the clarity of knowing they were there and what they experienced. Through recording on systems like the Sonoma (DSD) instead of digital, and through live performances, we will be able to remind each other what real music feels like, what real life feels like, and how valuable it is to be connected and present. Music does so much more than just make you feel an emotion or forget your woes; more than just worming a melody into your ear, or making you bop your head. Real, spontaneous creation, made by real humans and shared with others has something deeper, indescribable, and a sensory response that we’ll never truly be able to calculate or describe, but we all feel and know on a cellular level.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nalanimusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nalanimusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NalaniMusicOfficial/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NalaniMusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4M9rsIWcSQf2196RRqit6J
