Dennis Caiazza - bass: Clark Terry, Eddie Daniels, Joshua Redman and Marian McPartland
Dave Frishberg, Tom Grant, Ron Steen
Drew Shoals - drums: Drew Shoals Collective, Tony Furtado, Curtis Salgado, Go By Train, John Nastos, Red Ray Fraizer, Keegan Smith, Echo Jazz Trio, Brian Ward, Double Dragon, Raina Rose, and Karen Therese
Mike Horsfall - vibes: Bud Shank, Bobby Shew, Leroy Vinegar, Rebecca Kilgore, Marilyn Keller, Darrell Grant, Pete Rugolo
Paul Mazzio - trumpet and flugel horn: Natalie Cole, Dianne Reeves, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Woody Herman Orchestra, Gino Vinelli, Tom Grant, Gary Hobbs, Randy Porter, Ben Wolfe, Alan Jones
Tim Jensen - saxophones and flute: Julie Andrews, Johnny Mathis, Rosemary Clooney, Ray Charles, Lou Rawls, Natalie Cole, The Manhattan Transfer, The Ojays, Mary Wilson, Dianne Reeves, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Bobby Vinton, Frankie Vallie and Wayne Newton.
Lars Campbell - trombone: Chopslaughter, Bobby Torres Ensemble, Oregon Symphony and Oregon Ballet Theater orchestras, Pink Martini, Gordon Lee Big Band, Tim Jensen
Justin Kagan - cello: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Westchester Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Principal Cello of the State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico
Skip vonKuske - cello: The Portland Cello Project, Vagabond Opera, The Oregon Symphony, Pink Martini, Smoky Robinson Jennifer Batten (Jeff Beck, Michael Jackson), Trans Siberian Orchestra, Randy Cannon, The Stolen Sweets, Michael Allen Harrison, Stephanie Schneiderman, Carmina Pirana/Luna, Ashleigh Flynn, Susie Blue, Myshkin's Ruby Warblers
Influences
John: Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Parker, Max Steiner, Bernard Herrman, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Tower of Power, Rick James, Carol King, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Coltrane, Leadbelly, Full Force, Larry Harlow, Papo Luca, Fania All Stars, Toshoko Akiyoshi.
Valerie:Sarah Vaughn, kd lang, Nikka Costa, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy King, Sumi Jo, Renee Flemming, Eva Cassidy, Joni Mitchell, Shannon Day, Bonnie Raitt, Chaka Kahn, Cecilia Bartoli, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Peggy Lee, Nancy Wilson, Bryn Terfel, Harry Connick Jr., Nancy Wilson, Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Sting, Herbie Hancock, Rosemary Clooney, Shrift, Yo Yo Ma, Nicola Conte.
Sounds Like
Ourselves. Working on Nu music that encompasses the full spectrum of what we've been up to in the last 20 years....from pop to film scores, jazz, and soul music! This is the OFFICIAL Nu Shooz MySpace page.
"Twenty years ago, Valerie Day and John Smith were playing a Nu Shooz gig in Ashland the day Z100 first aired their single. "I Can't Wait" went on to hit No. 3 on the Billboard chart, spawning everything from a gold record to a tour with Tina Turner.
It also earned the Portland couple lifetime status as icons of big hair.
Still active in local music, the duo were back in the studio early this year for a 20th anniversary remake. And where were they this week when KINK first aired the single?"
"A Remix That Was Worth The Wait"
by Marty Hughley/Portland Oregonian
A REMIX THAT WAS WORTH THE WAIT
Portland Favorite Nu Shooz dusts off and updates it’s ’86 hit, ‘I Can’t Wait’
October 25, 2006
For Valerie Day and John Smith, the song “I Can’t Wait” was a big part of their past. And they’d assumed it would stay that way.
As the core of Nu Shooz, one of Portland’s most popular bands in the 1980’s, the couple rode the catchy pop/R&B song all the way to No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart in 1986, a gold album award and a Grammy nomination. At the occasional low-key performances they’d done since disbanding the group, it was common for fans to ask them to play “I Can’t Wait”, but Day and Smith would decline. It wasn’t a song that would hold up, they felt, as something stripped down and simple.
But they played a small fund-raiser for Day’s niece’s school a year or so ago, just Day’s voice and Smith’s guitar, and faced the same request at the end of the night. “And for some weird reason, we looked at each other and said ”There’s hardly anybody here. Let’s do it,” Day recalled over a recent breakfast near their Northeast Portland home. “And it worked! It was very surprising.”
Inspired, they decided to re-record the song, both to celebrate the 20th anniversary of it’s chart run and as an experiment in integrating their pop past with the romantic jazz approach Day has pursued on more recent projects. The new version was produced by Gregg Williams (who’s worked with the Dandy Warhols and Sheryl Crow) and features a sumptuous arrangement with acoustic bass, trumpet, vibes and cello. It’s a fresh sounding treat in it’s own right, as well as a reminder of the familiar hit’s enduring appeal.
The unplugged version is available as a digital download through iTunes and CDBaby.com and as a CD at Music Millennium stores. A listening party at Aura (1022 W. Burnside St.), from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. tonight, will feature autograph signings, vintage video, and even Smith trying his hand as D.J. A copy of the CD is included with the $5 cover charge.
Day and Smith even have assembled a new version of the band which will play for the variety show “Live Wire!” on November 16th at the Aladdin Theater (to air Nov. 25 on Oregon Public Broadcasting radio stations), and at the KINK Holiday Benefit on December 8 at the Roseland, with Feist and Jonny Lang. “I Can’t Wait” just might wind up a big part of the couple’s present and future.
About this page:
I have been very active in Domestic Violence causes all of my adult life. I noticed a need in the world pertaining to Same Sex Domestic Violence. It happens more than people know. Unfortunately there are a number of gay people who barely consider themselves worthy or valued as a gay person much less a Domestic Violence Victim. There are also very limited resources, statistics, or information, for Same Sex Domestic Violence. Hopefully through empowerment and education we can change some of this. :D
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