Between Soul and Swing: Nicolas Bearde’s Jarreau, Alive and In Motion

Nicolas Bearde has spent his life discovering where soul storytelling intersects with jazz’s improvisation. The Bay Area singer—who honed his stage skills working with Bobby McFerrin—now applies that instinct to Al Jarreau, creating a four-set tribute that honors Jarreau as a dynamic, living language, not as mere nostalgia. (Click play to listen to the interview.)

“I don’t recall a time in my life when I wasn’t singing,” Bearde says, recalling car rides with his grandfather when cousins harmonized and a kid barely ten years old somehow ended up front and center. “I’d always be the lead singer—even though I was like 8, 9, 10 years old.” The habit became a path. In high school, he joined vocal groups, then in the service at 18, he fronted base bands, working the clubs and learning how an audience breathes. “That was the beginning of what I would call my professional career.”

Back then, his ear was tuned to Motown and radio pop—James Brown, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson. “Jazz came along much later… when I got tired of dropping down to my knees and begging ‘please, please, please,’” he laughs. He wanted longevity, a future that didn’t require theatrics. “I fell in love with jazz music… I still maintained my love for soul and R&B and all that, but jazz really struck a chord.” In the Bay Area, he joined a scatting vocal group, then auditioned for McFerrin’s groundbreaking a cappella ensemble. “It was incredible… a masterclass in how to perform, how to approach an audience,” he says. “Watching him work every day… was very, very educational and inspiring.”

If McFerrin honed Bearde’s stage instincts, the pantheon—Lou Rawls, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis—shaped his sound. “Al [Jarreau] is quite an inspiration as well, which is one of the reasons we’re doing this show,” Bearde says. His mother’s records also left their mark: “My mother loved Sarah Vaughan,” he adds—a reminder that great singers first live in family rooms and after-hours radio shows before they ever reach conservatories.

Bearde’s own catalog carries that lineage forward. His debut, Crossing the Line, put him on international soul charts. Subsequent albums ranged from a Nat King Cole project to collaborations with top Bay Area players. He’s also toured widely and taught vocal intensives—evidence of an artist who has studied the tradition deeply enough to teach it.

Two songs help map his journey. The first, “Can We Pretend,” opens Crossing the Line and remains a fan favorite, particularly overseas. “It’s the first song on the first album I recorded… and it’s still bouncing around Europe and the world,” he says. Written by Denise Nicholas—Bill Withers’ one‑time wife—the tune became a calling card he still pulls out on tour: “When I go to Europe, I kind of have to do it… just to say hello to the fans over there.”

The second song, “Falling in Love Again” from Visions, demonstrates how patience can reshape material. “This song took me about seven, eight years in gestation,” he says. It started with a different rhythmic idea that never quite worked—until he sat down with Bay Area producer Larry Batiste. “Within minutes… we suddenly had the bridge, we suddenly had the finish, and we changed the feel completely from how it was originally conceived.” It’s a small lesson in craftsmanship: keep the idea alive long enough to meet the collaborator who can unlock it.

All of that experience fuels his upcoming Jarreau celebration. “I think [Al] opened up that connection between R&B and contemporary jazz, while still being attached to the classic vocal style,” Bearde says. Like McFerrin, Jarreau’s improvisational drive created its own lane. “They both did a lot of study, a lot of background work, developing their styles,” he notes, recalling stories of a young Jarreau workshopping daring ideas around the Bay. The standard “Spain,” a signature Jarreau vehicle, remains a live experiment for Bearde: “It’s quite a complex piece… each time I do it, it’s like a new experience,” he admits. “I’m just trying to get to my own voice with it.”

The tribute’s co-conspirator is pianist Tammy L. Hall, who first proposed the project. “She brought this notion to me to honor Al in this way,” Bearde says. “She brings this passion for the music… and I’m honored she asked me to be a part of it.” The band reflects that intention: Kevin Goldberg on bass (“the consummate musician”), Deszon Claiborne on drums (“a great rhythmic genius”), Charles McNeal on saxophone, and vocalist Leberta Loral for harmonies and a couple of duets.

What can audiences expect? “Each moment of the show has a special aura,” Bearde says, but two pieces form the emotional core: “Not Like This,” a through-sung theater miniature with no solos, and Jarreau’s “More Love,” which follows seamlessly. “It just tags right along with this breakup tune,” he says, relishing the shift from heartbreak to the hope Jarreau always kept close.

And beyond the tribute, the singer is mid-flight on his next chapter. A seventh studio album is taking shape for early 2026. “I’ve just designated it as SEVYN—for no particular reason,” he says with a grin. “It’s about half done now.” The working title may be playful, but the direction is serious: more original writing, arrangements that embrace the groove, and a voice that knows exactly how to balance tenderness and timing.

Show Details

Nicolas Bearde, with special guest Tammy L. Hall, presents an Al Jarreau tribute at the Joe Henderson Lab (SFJAZZ Center) in San Francisco.

Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7:00 PM and 8:30 PM

Sunday, Nov. 9 at 6:00 PM and 7:30 PM

Tickets: https://www.sfjazz.org

Artist site: https://www.nicolasbearde.com