Hi friend, you’re fantastic.
Thanks for being here!

Nicole Zuraitis is a GRAMMY winning and 2X GRAMMY-nominated jazz singer-songwriter, pianist and arranger, New York-based bandleader and winner of the prestigious 2021 American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal. With a “heart as big as her remarkable voice,” (Jazz Police), Nicole has positioned herself as one of the top artists and "prolific songwriters" (Broadway World) to watch in jazz and beyond.  

Nicole Zuraitis is a GRAMMY winning and 2X GRAMMY-nominated jazz singer-songwriter, pianist and arranger, New York-based bandleader and winner of the prestigious 2021 American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal. With a “heart as big as her remarkable voice,” (Jazz Police), Nicole has positioned herself as one of the top artists and "prolific songwriters" (Broadway World) to watch in jazz and beyond.  

As a recording artist, Nicole has released five albums as leader, and her sixth album, How Love Begins, co-produced with eight-time GRAMMY-winner Christian McBride, won BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM at the 2024 GRAMMY® awards and features all original music.

Besides leading her quartet, Nicole is the premier vocalist for the Birdland Big Band and frequently headlines iconic NYC jazz clubs like Dizzy’s Club at Lincoln Center, Birdland, the Blue Note, the Carlyle, 54 Below and the late, great 55 Bar. She has appeared as a featured soloist with the Savannah Philharmonic, Asheville Symphony and Macon Pops and has supported iconic singers like Melanie, Morgan James, Darren Criss and Livingston Taylor on piano and vocals. 

Nicole's arrangement of Dolly Parton's Jolene, co-written with renowned drummer and bandleader Dan Pugach, was nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY®, spring boarding her career and making her a household name in the modern-day jazz landscape. In 2020, she was named in the top 40 under 40 for 2020 in Connecticut Magazine, and her weekly live stream during the Covid-19 crisis, "Virtual Piano Lounge," was featured in Forbes Magazine

Nicole has collaborated with an extensive list of luminaries, including Christian McBride, David Cook, Gilad Hekselman, Veronica Swift, Benny Benack, Stephen Feifke, Cyrille Aimee, Antonio Sanchez, Dave Stryker, Omar Hakim,  Rachel Z, Helen Sung, and Bernard Purdie. She is a proud educator and currently vocal faculty at NYU, SUNY Purchase and the Litchfield Jazz Camp. 

An ardent activist with a decade-long track record of giving back, her album release coincided with a self-produced music festival and day of activism for Save the Sound.Org.

 

“A heart as big as her remarkable voice.”

— Jazz Police

“A stunning singer with an equally adept pen.”

— New York City Jazz Record

“Multi-hyphenate Nicole Zuraitis is quite the seamstress. A celebrated pianist, singer, and songwriter, she’s adept at stitching together lyrical lines and melodic hooks, which she then sews onto fabrics colored with sophisticated harmony and the occasional metric twist. Her impressive handiwork remains accessible and, while tailored to her own experiences, fits comfortably around a wider reality.”

— Jazz Times

“Brooklyn’s Nicole Zuraitis Brings Visceral Vocals, Her Powerhouse Presence and Winning Songwriting to Jazz Outing, Hive Mind (Dot Time Records).”

— Ken Micallef, Downbeat

“A playful pianist… sublime vocals... Zuraitis unwound a sweeping, sunny set... it’s clear that above all else, she is a musician first — her well-cultivated, swingin’ and misbehavin’ stage presence notwithstanding. Opening act Nicole Zuraitis rules the night at the Cabot.”

— Chad Konecky, Wicked Local Boston

“Zuraitis’ fluid, natural sound is very much richly expressive and wide ranging... her composing full of jazz sensibility and great emotional depth, open to a variety of influences.... an emotive voice with seductive warmth.... 'Pariah Anthem' is a winning exhibition of her performance and songwriting skills.”

— Hartford Courant

Supreme talent...a poetess and purely expressive artist like no other... first-rate songwriter, powerhouse vocalist and grade A pianist--proves to be an expert cartographer, mapping out every detail, nuance and shade of emotion surrounding the arc of a relationship. ★★★★”

— All About Jazz 2023

“A heart full of soul and a voice full of sunshine.”

— All About Jazz

“Deep music from a deep soul… thoughtful and purposeful. Of all the singers to have come out of New York in the last ten years or so, Zuraitis is one of the most individualistic. Gifted with scary range and gale-force power.”

— New York Music Daily

“Emerging onto the scene with a notably warm personality, Zuraitis, vocalist extraordinaire, gave her audience a blues “clinic.”....soaring vocals... intimate familiarity....intonation and dreamy clarity.....I watched, transfixed by Zuraitis’s careful mastery of both piano and vocal. She made a mark for herself there (Birdland Jazz Club).”

— Chris Struck, Cabaret Scenes Magazine

“A strong musicianship that is never compromised, the gorgeous and capable instrument that can be conversational one moment and then soar to the heavens the next, the sincere storytelling that is always present in her delivery. Nicole is one of my favorite vocalists… a masterful musician who uses her knowledge for the good of the story. This is a rare and beautiful thing.”

— Jane Monheit

“A star… gorgeous pliable voice with a warm resonance in her lower register and a delicious sweetness in her upper register. In countless appearances, I’ve yet to hear her miss a note…she also played several covers with arrangements that shattered preconceptions. A thing of beauty that induced tears of joy.”

— NiteLife Exchange Review of Dizzy's Club Coca Cola 2023

“Zuraitis showcases superb songcraft.”

— Downbeat

“Zuraitis writes her own material, and her deftness with a lyric is decidedly pronounced; second, she’s a damned good piano player.... With an effervescent stage presence and a vocal style that’s equal parts Diana Krall and Bonnie Raitt, Nicole Zuraitis is already something special, but she also has the tools to be something very big. Watch this space.”

— Jay Hunter, Nippertown Lake George Jazz Festival Review 2019

“A voice that's hard to ignore... remarkable range... you can't help but stop and take notice.”

— Jazz Inside Magazine

“Nicole is a very accomplished musician, plain and simple. Nicole’s singing is out of this world but so is her composing, arranging, band leading and piano playing. She has strong charisma as she simultaneously excites the audience and makes them feel comfortable. Great presence doesn't always go hand-in-hand with great musicianship, but that certainly is not the case with Nicole.”

— Antonio Sanchez, Pat Metheny Group, Migration, Birdman

DISCOGRAPHY

“How Love Begins”

Album July 2023

“Big City Pipe Dreams”

Featured vocalist on Kabir Seghal recording

Miss You Most at Christmas Time

Dan Pugach Nonet 2021

"HIVE MIND"
Nicole Zuraitis

Released internationally September 2017
on DotTime Records

"DAY DREAM"

Carmen Staaf Sextet 2017

"WISHES ON A NEON SIGN"

Abbie Gardner 2017

"SEALINE WOMAN"

Nikki and the Riot Single 2016

"PARIAH ANTHEM"

Album by Nicole Zuraitis 2013

THE JAMMIN DIVAS

Full Length Album

“SONICA” Nicole Zuraitis, Thana Alexa, Julia Adamy

Album September 2022

“ALL WANDERING HEARTS”
Nicole Zuraitis

July 2020
DotTime Records

“While I’m Still Here”

Featured vocalist on Bob Levy Recording

"LONG MEADOW VINE
(THE WINE SONG)"

Single by Nicole Zuraitis 2017

"ONA”

Thana Alexa 2020

"NO BAN NO WALL"

Single Nicole Zuraitis 2017

"COME TO PARADISE"

Suzanne Dean 2016

"SOMETHING NEW"

Jennifer Sullivan

"SPREAD THE WORD"

Nicole Zuraitis 2008

“Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” with Carmen Staaf

Single 2022

My Favorite Things

Dan Pugach Nonet 2021

“LIVE AT TWO HEADED CALF”

Co-released December 1st 2018
with Brandon Scott Coleman

"PLUS ONE"

Dan Pugach Nonet 2018

"ALL ABOUT LOVE"

Elise Testone 2020

"TAKE SOME AIR"

EVA EP 2015

"FOR THE LONELY"

Single by Nicole Zuraitis 2014

"RIGHT HERE"

Andrea Daly EP

Harnam Zatzick Recording