NATEKid

“Since successful Caucasian hip-hop artists are as much an anomaly as white chocolate, comparisons between jaFúnK front man NateKid and Eminem are inevitable. But, the color of their skin notwithstanding, the rappers are as different as night and day. On his stellar debut, "jaFúnK," NateKid accentuates the positive, eschewing hate rhetoric in favor of feel-good rhymes that, despite their sensitivity and insight, do nothing to handicap the future pin-up’s macho swagger. What’s more, the up-and-comer is not content to be merely ghetto fabulous: He’s a bona fide music lover — an aficionado of classic jazz, no less — and wears his heart on his disc as well as his sleeve. Eight of the album’s tracks combine NateKid’s original wordplay with alternately reverent and inventive renderings of retro songs by the likes of Irving Berlin and Louis Prima. The result? Fabulous, period. On paper, it reads like an accident waiting to happen. Yet in your Walkman, it’s a miraculous marriage of the urban and the urbane, an ultramodern, and refreshingly respectful, rejiggering of tunes that have bypassed whole generations. Sure, teenagers won’t know the numbers on which NateKid and Co. are riffing. However, after hearing "Harness Melodies," their slammin’ revamp of "I Got Rhythm," or the aural strutting of "My Baby," their hep overhaul of "Steppin’ Out," no one, regardless of their age, is going to forget them. True, this ain’t your grandma’s Gershwin. Yet she’ll tap her toe to it all the same. How could she resist? How could anybody?”
Charlie Mason- Time Out, TV Guide
- freelancer

NATEKid is one of those artists that’s here to change the face of music. Lately we've had Amy Winehouse & John Legend who, through brilliant musicianship, reintroduce classic sounds in a completely accessible way. These artists make music for our youthful MTV generation, but with the ingenuity that real musicians and music champions can get excited about. He has an incredible range of talent, I’ m looking forward to directing him in an MTV video and seeing him as an actor in the upcoming movie roles he's slated for."
Marty Thomas Director MTV/RIDICULOUS Pictures (VMA/BET Award winner)
- VMA winning Director Marty Thomas

"jaFúnK takes a new, wonderful, joyful perspective on the American musical genius of the 20th century.... the music of the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen... and then adds their own insightful music reflecting the spirit of the new century ..... It's delivered with spirit that will get to your heart and feet!.... Hip hop... jazz.... pop.... it's really what Duke Ellington meant when he said something's are " beyond category!"
Dick Golden- XM satellite radio and Cape Cod’s Ocean 104

- Disk Jockey

“NateKid's CD is more than just a mix of hip hop, jazz, and funk. It's takes something more to blend these elements together and achieve a style that is greater than the sum of its parts. NateKid's playing a game of hit and run, allowing his personality to shine thru each song and having fun with what he's doing. Using his love for ballads and the old musicals, as well as the roots of hip hop, NateKid pays respect to the crooners and rappers of old, while at the same time, adding a fresh vibe that takes each style to a new level. Vocally, NateKid is smooth and vibrant; you feel him come right 'atcha and you can't help but smile and feel every word right along with him.”
Michael Cuozzo- Director of Gravity, UPN 9
- Michael Cuozzo Director of Gravity

“The Harlem Renaissance forges a seductive partnership with Hip hop on jaFunK’s debut album. NateKid, a musician based in Harlem, mixes the lyrics about his life and passions with the classic jazz melodies. The messages and taunt musical arrangements are uplifting. The band is surprisingly successful at blending the two seemingly divergent worlds. NateKid captures the diverse sound





spirit of modern urban life. At the same time the band is able to pump new energy into the horn sounds of New York City during the heyday of the Cotton Club. JaFunK’s first effort is an adventurous hybrid where the influences of musical pioneers from John Coltrane to KRS-ONE find common ground. It’s definitely worth a listen.”
Dan Russo- WMUH Allentown

Nate Lombardi proved that it's possible to mix jazz, pop and hip-hop, with a little beat-box thrown in for good measure! Where DO they come from?!
Jim Caruso-Birdland’s Cast Party

Nate is a talented music mogul who is inspired by the old and the new. He is among the cutting edge of a major new direction in the evolution of hip hop and it's connection to jazz and music of the past. Jazz has been termed as America's form of original music. Today's genres of music have their birth place there. Follow the evolution from Plantation call and response, gospel, blues, blue grass, country & western, ragtime, swing, bebop, rhythm & blues, off shots of the aforementioned, including hip hop and you will see the development of music based on the lives and experiences of the people that lived it .Where we have fallen short is connecting the dots with our music from one generation to the next. Nate is a connector. The thrust of his music facilitates an appreciation of music by all generations. People no longer have to segment themselves from the music of the young or music of the old. Facilitators, like Nate close the generation gap and open the music to us all.
Eric Frazier- Jazz Journalist, (Jazz Improv) Author
- Freelance- Jazz Improv

“WHO is this new kid on the block?” I asked myself when I first listened to NATEKid. My immediate impression,” Very cute, got the goods for modeling, let's hear the musical ideas”. Then I listened, and I listened again. The ideas kept coming, there was more going on than just a mix of hip hop, jazz, and funk. I played selected tracks to friends. They loved the jazz standards being modernized, their 30+ year old party generation kids loved it, even the 12 month old granddaughter grooved the booty. It was refreshing to hear the minimal use of the beat-box and Pro- tools without all the dominant electronics & hip hop anger that gets verbalized in their lyrics. Those of us who have spent years in urban education teaching & training see this as a positive creative outlet as an antidote to racial discrimination, for the Afro-American and Aboriginal adolescent facing a life of poverty, drug use, incarceration and early deaths in custody. The arrival of Eminem and now NATEKid who lives in Harlem, New York, is no accident. It’s the direct evolution of black & white kids sharing a common urban cultural art form and then making it their own by sharing their influences in different ways. NATEKid's version of The Pink Panther, Let Yourself Go, Too Darn Hot, I'm Yours, Blue Skies, Slap That Bass, & Call Me Irresponsible (one of my fav's with a sexy R&B style),and the Piazolla Tango style of Cole Porter's "I Get A Kick Out of You", would have had the old boy chasing Nate around the block!! This is pure musical innovation and would have had the original composers NOT turning in their graves BUT sitting up and jumping for joy that their music has contemporary relevance and is living on, in the music of genuine young innovators. NATEKid is keeping up a musical tradition, and connecting the dots by making the music meaningful to his generation. NATEKid has broken through, he's definitely here to make his mark!!
Helen Simon,s Dip.Advanced Studies in Education(University of Keele, UK) University of Sydney Jazz Announcer/Producer/Reviewer Community Station Broadcaster




- Jazz Caravan

Award winning Producer presents a
Genre-busting evening of music with the NYC premiere of
NATEKid


New York, (March 14, 2008) – Jennifer Maloney, one of the producers of the Broadway hit, Spring Awakening, is proud to present the NYC premiere concert of NATEKid. NATEKid, along with an ensemble of prodigious musicians, will be premiering a new genre of music, a fusion of hip-hop and jazz at NYC’s legendary club The Cutting Room located at 19 W. 24th St. (between Broadway & 6th Avenue) on April 2, 2008 promptly at 7:30pm.

NATEKid’s talents include singing, acting, various types of dancing, playing piano, writing lyrics and melodies. As an actor, NATEKid has appeared on TV’s Sex in the City, As the World Turns, All My Children, Off-Broadway in the The Firebugs and in the upcoming film, See You in September. As a recording artist NATEKid has recently been commissioned to work on the upcoming Broadway Bares and a French pop single. He’s been played around the world on KSUN, KMUD, Dolphin Radio online, WOR, XM Satellite, NPR, 94.1 (Jazzxpress Radio) and throughout the US at 3,500 AMC Theaters (millions of plays.)

Director/Producer Jennifer Maloney says “NATEKid’s unique vision introduces the young and exciting fans of hip-hop to the traditional standards of the jazz world. With his versatile arrangements, witty lyrics and rich tone, he has found a way to fuse the two worlds seamlessly and has created a fresh, new sound that makes you think that these two styles of music are long, lost soul mates.”

Maloney’s Broadway producing credits include Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde the Musical, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life, and the Off-Broadway hit I Love You Because. Jennifer received a TONY award as one of the producers of Spring Awakening and the show received a total of eight TONY awards. Spring Awakening also won the NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, the Drama League Award for Best Musical, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. Jennifer was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards for both Spring Awakening and Legally Blonde the Musical. Jennifer was the Coordinating Producer of As the World Turns from 1999-2006, where her producing team won the 2001 and 2003 Emmy Award. Jennifer produced the film See You In September, which is currently in post-production; the film stars Justin Kirk and Estella Warren and was directed by Tamara Tunie.

Brian Nash will serve as Music Director. Brian has music directed over 40 shows, led orchestras for concert, stage, and recordings, orchestrated and arranged for theater pieces and rock bands, and produced several albums. Recently, Brian music directed, orchestrated, and co-produced SILENCE! The Musical, winner of the Outstanding Musical award for FringeNYC 2005. Shea Sullivan, who was selected as one of 2008’s DanceBreak Choreographers, will serve as the Choreography Consultant. Shea was the longtime assistant to Tony-award winning choreographer Henry LeTang, and worked on the film Bojangles starring Gregory Hines.


For more information on NATEKid, including music samples, please visit:
www.jafunk.com
www.myspace.com/natekidmusic


For press inquiries, please contact:

Paulina Piekarski
917-747-6687
paulinapiekarski@gmail.com
- BroadwayWorld.com