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Downbeat review
Aimee Nolte
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Downbeat Review - Aimee Nolte’s voice is beautiful, sonorous and reflective on her latest album Looking For The Answers, The singer arranged and produced every track on the album, lending a consistent aesthetic and laid-back vibe to most of the cuts here. What separates Nolte from other vocalists and composers is the poetry and storytelling quality of her compositions, with lyrics reminescent of Joni Mitchell - just minus Mitchell playfulness. “Save Me One Last Time” speaks to the bandleadeader’s seriousness as a lyricists when the theme of lost love is addressed: “If I keep on falling, I’ll be lost forever/ Save me one last time.” [ Read the full review here ]
Los Angeles musician, Aimee Nolte is a jazz pianist, vocalist and thriving YouTube creator, constantly pursuing new recording, performing, and educational projects. Though primarily a jazz player, she knows over a thousand songs and can play them at the drop of a hat. Aimee earned her jazz piano degree from Brigham Young University In 1998 and has been an active and passionate musician ever since; even as a wife and mother of four! She has released three full-length albums so far that have been reviewed as deeply personal, captivating pieces of art. Downbeat praised her 2019 release, Looking For The Answers, raving that “What separates Nolte from other vocalists and composers is the poetry and storytelling quality of her compositions, with lyrics reminescent of Joni Mitchell.” In 2016, Aimee started her YouTube channel, "Aimee Nolte Music" where she now has over 150K subscribers. She shares the music that is inside of her with the world in her videos, whether through captivating duets with John Clayton and Nicki Parrott or breaking down the tiniest nuances of a McCoy Tyner solo in a way that makes even the most advanced techniques understandable to beginning musicians. Teaching topics like harmony, arranging, advanced jazz piano techniques, and even beginning piano and vocal skills comes as second nature to Aimee, and she is frequently called upon to perform and appear as a guest clinician all over the country.
She continues to play and sing regularly all over Los Angeles County. January, 2006 marked the release of her first album, “Up Til Now”. She sings, plays piano and harmonica, and wrote and produced all of the tracks on the album.
In 2010, Aimee released her second album with her longtime guitarist, Hideaki Tokunaga, entitled, "Just Us". Aimee composed 7 of the CD's 11 tracks, and co-wrote 2.
Aimee has had the opportunity to perform in the past with greats such as John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Ken Peplowski, Frank Vignola, Lenny White, and most recently, the Aimee Nolte Trio (with Mike Scott and Roger Shew), and her duo, "Skirt & Suit (with Joshua Payne on guitar) with regular gigs around the LA area. Recently she performed with Nicki Parrott along with a new trio (Robert Taylor & Justin Varnes).

Oscar Peterson's Tricky 4 Bar Break On C Jam Blues

Around the one and a half minute mark on the Oscar Peterson Trio recording of "C Jam Blues" on the Night Train album, Oscar Peterson turns the time around by using a very slick device...rhythmic displacement. Let's break it down and talk about this little nuance that adds to the genius of this pianist.

Performing Without A Rehearsal

Ever had to get up on the stage and perform with people you have NEVER REHEARSED WITH? It happened to me last weekend in Bismarck, North Dakota at University of Mary and I would like to tell you a bit about how it felt! Thanks to Nestor Torres and co, as well as everyone from UMary. It was a blast!

Live Practicing and Talking With You All

Live streaming 01/25/2020

My NAMM 2020 Story

I went to NAMM 2020 in Anaheim to perform at the Earthworks booth. There were some twists and turns and surprises, both good and bad along the way. I hope you like my NAMM story.

An Oscar-Inspired Boogie Blues Etude

Using one of the licks that Oscar Peterson played at Ronnie Scott’s in his “Boogie Blues Etudes”, I composed an attitude, over an F blues That uses his soulful lick and inverts and transposes it it to explore it’s sound a little deeper.

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Aimee Nolte At The Blue Whale

Footage and audio from my gig at The Blue Whale in Los Angeles on November 18, 2019 Guitar: Mike Scott Bass: Bruce Lett Drums: James Yoshizawa Audio mixed and recorded by Jonny Maia Video recorded by my husband, John.

20 Choruses Over Honeysuckle Rose

Sometimes, it can be really advantageous to choose a song and improvise for a long period of time, with a plan. 20 choruses is quite a bit of time to improvise, and by then end, (if you record yourself), you will learn a lot about your own improvising. You'll notice your habits, what things you need to work on, your strengths and your weaknesses, and you'll be better for it!

Blues Improv for 20 Minutes On Fender Rhodes

Nearly 20 minutes of improvisation over an F Blues backing track from the iReal Pro app. I wish I could have kept going for ten more minutes, but it's the holiday time and my family needed me! My main idea here was to start simply and build toward more complex ideas as I went, but to always be in the pocket and to take my ideas where they lead.