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Listen to Erin Dickins talk about CD "Nice Girls", her music & about visiting Baltimore, Maryland

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Music on the Album: Nice Girls

Erin Dickins talks about Baltimore MD

Listen to this internet radio show with Cruise with Bruce Host Bruce Oliver and Erin Dickins as we talk about her career with the Manhattan Transfer, her new album Nice Girls and her performances in Baltimore Maryland. Listen to tips from Erin on her favorite Italian restaurant in Baltimore as well as where to go and what to see. We talk about all of the sites from the Inner Harbor to the stadium where the Baltimore Orioles play baseball. For more tips about traveling to the Baltimore and Washington DC area, CLICK HERE. You can also find out more about current events, lodging, the Inner Harbor, and restaurants, etc by CLICKING HERE.

Genre

Jazz, Pop, Swing

Comparison

Diana Krall, Jane Monheit, Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot

About Erin Dickins

A founding member of MANHATTAN TRANSFER, the original jazz vocal group, Ms. Dickins continues to enchant audiences throughout the world. She has performed and recorded with Leonard Cohen, Bette Midler, James Taylor, The Talking Heads, James Brown, Barry Manilow, Jaco Pastorius and Ashford & Simpson, to name but a few.

NICE GIRLS is Erin Dickins' debut solo album, recently released on Champagne Records. Anchored by the single and video Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast -a remake of 1950's starlet Julie London's hit - Dickins' album was carefully crafted over a two-year period by a group of renowned musicians including composer Jesse Frederick (music for Flamingo Kid, Full House, Perfect Strangers, Step By Step, Family Matters), pianist/arranger Rob Mounsey (Kurt Elling, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Deborah Cox) and bassist David Finck (Harry Connick Jr., Steve Kuhn, Liza Minelli, Rod Stewart, Sir Andre Previn).

This collection of beautifully recorded and performed gems - from cool sultry ballads to swinging arrangements, is a perfect musical reflection to Dickins' engaging personality.

Dickins comes from an artistic family. Her mother, who traded photo-portraits to a local opera singer in return for singing lessons for nine-year-old Erin, was formerly a dancer with the Rockettes in New York. Erin's father was a passionate amateur jazz pianist who taught Erin to sing and play, sharing with her his deep love of music.

Dickins considers it her honor and responsibility to spread the joy that she experiences every time she performs. Music is an instrument of transformation, and Dickins is transformed when singing. She believes that as a musician she has been given a unique gift. "When I perform I give 200 percent. If I can be an instrument for joy, just for one instant, then I have done what is asked of me. That's how you heal the planet, right?

One song, one person, one joyful encounter at a time - it's nice work if you can get it."

Seeing Dickins perform with her live band is an experience you do not want to miss. Riding off of the success of her recent launch at Avalon Theatre in Easton, MD, Dickins will be performing several spot dates throughout the U.S. in 2011 and is booking international dates in China and Europe for 2012.

She is currently in the early stages of writing and pre-production for the follow-up to Nice Girls with Frederick.

In the meantime, she continues to devote her time working with children at SummerFame, a performing arts summer program she founded in 2000, along with her other charitable efforts.

Quotes

Tim Hauser - co-founder of Manhattan Transfer

"... Dickins is astute on the one hand, yet sensitive and sensual on the other. Producing lyrical and enthralling renditions of famous jazz tunes such as Billie Holiday's I Must Have That Man, or Julie London's Nice Girls Don't Stay For Breakfast, a delight for the listening ear. Her live take of Frank Loesser's Adeleide's Lament is hilarious. Manhattan Transfer's Gene Pistilli and producer Jesse Frederick - Dickins' go-to composers - have created original tunes that allow her to redefine the boundaries of vocal jazz…"

Katherine Bernard, NPR, USA Co-Host "2 Boomer Babes Radio Hour

"... The [CD] production by Jesse Frederick is masterful: clean, dynamic and refreshing. He simply surrounds that great voice with texture, knowing when to allow the musicians to dance with it, and when to stay out of the way. And Erin floats through it all like a cool breeze on a summer day. Clearly there is a smile in her voice and her vocal performance is technically superb while remaining effortless and laid back. She has grown immensely as an artist, all the while honoring her roots and enjoying the fun I first heard in her so long ago."

Mike Jahn - award winning novelist and author of Jim Morrison and the Doors: An Unauthorized Book. Jahn served as rock reviewer for the New York Times 1968-1973

"Break out the martinis and the silver cocktail shaker for song stylist Erin Dickins who thrilled the packed house at the art deco Avalon Theatre in Easton with songs from her newest CD, ‘Nice Girls.' Dickins sophisticated scat, swing and ballads remind the listener that she was one of the founding members of Manhattan Transfer. With a nine-piece backup band that has more industry awards than an evening's worth of Grammy's, Dickins tore the place up, tossing her signature pearls to the crowd. She has performed with the likes of Leonard Cohen, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Bette Midler, James Brown, Randy Neuman, Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson, Barry Manilow, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield and Levon Helm."

Jordan Wright, Reviewer for The Washington Examiner The Washingtonian Magazine, USA

"Erin, you swing your "S" off and your intonation is impeccable."

Francois Moutin – Jazz Bassist, Moutin Reunion, France/USA

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