Paula Harris & Bonafide
Greenville, South Carolina, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2023 | SELF
Music
Press
"Lou Rawls called her a vanilla coating on s chocolate soul"
"William Bell ( A principal architect of the stax/volt sound and W.C. Handy Award recipient says) "Paula has one of the finest voices in modern blues and her phrasing is impeccable"
WIlliam Shatner (of Star Trek fame) could only say "My GOD! What a voice!" - blues.gr
It is right to celebrate a singer like Paula Harris as the rightful heir to a singer like Etta James - At the Crossroads
Blues with Balls - At the Crossroads
"With a gamut of original tunes laden with humor, sexual innuendo and relationship reflection, the green-eyed South Carolina native embodies the same stuff that made Etta James a legend before her. Harris has seemingly unlimited range, the lung capacity of a mythical entity and Ruth Brown-caliber self-assuredness - Monterey Herald
”This level of sophistication is seldom heard in modern day blues circles. Harris has been compared to Etta James, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Ruth Brown and others. The original tunes are on a par with those of the masters of the genre. This is transcends all boundaries. This is “top-shelf.” The more I listen the more impressed I become.” - Bill Wilson- Music Critic
“You only have to listen to understand why everyone that hears Harris falls in love with her. Utterly killer stuff that will assuredly knock you off your pins, this deal just doesn't get any more real!” - Midwest Record
"She is A Force of Nature" - Cashbox Magazine!
"She looks like an elegant Southern Belle. But Paula is anything but genteel when she lets loose with Funky Blues in her impudent, soulful, funky, humorous, and passionate delivery! - San Francisco Chronicle
“She is a singer with a remarkably wide range, near perfect intonation and amazing breath control. She knows the value of subtlety when the material calls for it and achieves an uncanny balance between tenderness and virtuosity” - Living Blues Magazine
“Paula is a superb vocalist, song-writer, and interpreter of the music she sings. Her ability to take and hold center stage is amazing indeed. Her live performances are heady, slinky, and downright sexy! She mixes Blues and Jazz with ample attitude and sheer joy. There is no room for disappointment when this lady sings the blues.” - Blues411
“As powerful as anything I have ever heard. Just wow!” - Making A Scene
“In performances, they demonstrate a wide range of music that shows the full spectrum of Blues, from the elegant Jazzy side to the funky soulful side. Striking 12-bar blues and swing are just the tip of this musical iceberg.” - Rootstime Magazine
”Lots of funky oomph is present. (They are) Fun as all get out and she’s got some dirt under her nails!” - Jazz Weekly
”At times Paula makes me think of Nina Simone, sometimes of a female Mose Allison and maybe Dinah Washington or Etta James. She sings the blues- and extremely well!” Norman Darwin - Blues In the South, United Kingdom
“Blues, soul & a triple layer of swing. It’s refreshing! We can only listen with undisguised pleasure. Excellent!”
Robert Sacred- - ABS Magazine, France
“When Paula Harris starts singing, all the hustle and bustle, noise, dims to silence. Really soulful vocals are powerful, effective and brilliant.” - Sound Guardian
"The highest point, even for Harris, may have been the song she did as a tribute to her idol and "Main Influence," Etta James. "Damn Your Eyes," Soulful and haunting, drew applause well before she was finished" Monterey Herald - Monterey Herald
“Paula has sung with symphonies. She’s performed jazz and pop. And now, at an age where most singers are thinking about hanging it up, she’s roaring out of the gate. There is a reason for her confidence. She has the kind of chops that can caress a ballad or shout down a twelve-piece horn band” - "The Blues Mobile"
There is a lightness and a contrasting breadth and depth to Ms. Harris’ singing that gives her an edge over most of her contemporaries who only have two modes; quiet, and what Taj Mahal accurately described as “Shouting In Key” - Blues Blast Magazine
“Paula is hands-down the best singer to ever grace our stage and the audience loved her. I look forward to having her back” - Edmonton Canada
“Paula was a knock-out at the San Jose Jazz Summerfest. She and her band enthralled and electrified the crowd and were a highlight of the festival.” -
“Her voice sizzles so hot she could bring a pot of water sitting on a block of ice to a boil. Paula Harris is NOT someone you can forget once you’ve heard her. There is no room for disappointment when this lady sings the blues” - Cascade Blues News
“Paula has one of the finest modern voices today and her interpretation is impeccable” - Grammy winner and member of Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
“A thin vanilla coating on a dark chocolate soul” -
“You’ve never heard anything like this before. She’s cooking with Grease! It’s hot as hell and oh so tasty!” -
“At times I feel like that bass line is going to buy me a beer. Delicious! I just completely love it!” -
“BonaFide Sounds like Tower of Power with Jaco Pastorius on bass and a killer chick singer” -
"Paula has the ability to deliver the sophistication and nuance of jazz, with the all the passion and grit of the award-winning blues singer she is. Her sound is exactly what the current market has been waiting for. She is as good as any iconic jazz vocalist and she'll sing circles around most of the current singers." - Pascal Boker (Downbeats "2015 Best CD" and "Jazz Master" award -recipient from Berklee)
One of the keys to Harris’ success as a late blooming woman of the blues, along with a voice that knows no boundaries, is her cerebral understanding of taking ownership and bringing new life to any blues tune she tackles. - Monterey County Weekly
When considering the album in totality, Paula Harris' Speakeasy presents a comprehensive and genuine story about real women making decisions and enduring detours along the road to authentic love and fulfilling lives in today's environment. While the search may be ongoing for some, Harris' music demonstrates the goal is definitely worthwhile. - All About Jazz
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Paula Harris is an award-winning vocalist, songwriter and band leader who has been based in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last 2 decades. She moved back to her home state of South Carolina recently. She has received accolades on every continent except Antarctica. Cashbox Magazine called her “A Force of Nature”. Lou Rawls said she’s “A thin vanilla coating on a dark chocolate soul” and Ray Charles once asked her “Are you black or white.” The acclaim has come, in part, due to her ability to sing the full spectrum of two of the greatest American music forms, Jazz and Blues.
After singing with corporate bands, symphonies and orchestras for decades, She “almost” hung up her microphone at age 40. But, on a whim, Paula decided to give the equivalent of “American idol” for bands a go. She penned original music and put a band together.
They knew they had something special when they walked out of the garage they were rehearsing in to find neighbors had all pulled up lawn chairs and the construction workers next door had stopped working to listen. They all broke into applause when Paula & crew exited the garage. Out of more than two hundred and fifty bands from almost every state and more than forty countries, Paula brought home a top three finish in the International Challenge, the biggest “Battle of the bands” competition in the world.
Since then Paula has won dozens of awards, worked with a roster of Grammy-Winning musicians, and had her music played on thousands of stations. She’s been compared to Etta James (The Monterey Herald), Dinah Washington and Nina Simone (Making a Scene
Magazine) and Sarah Vaughan (Blues Blast Magazine) just to name a few. She’s sung at performing arts centers, concert series, and headlined festivals. She’s done blues from sophisticated to naughty and Jazz from smooth to straight-ahead. She is also adept at Soul, R&B, Pop and anything else that catches her attention. So whether she’s blasting out dance grooves or caressing a ballad, she is still delighting audiences with that voice in the place she is most comfortable ... on a stage!
The Definition of BonaFide is “Authentic, sincere or without artifice” BonaFide, the group, dishes out music that is “genuine & real” from organic instruments and honestly talented vocalists which needs no special effects, pitch enhancing, or synthesizers. It is the result of Vocalist Paula Harris and Bassist Mike Frost, both musicians with extremely diverse backgrounds joining forces with the goal to create world-class original music and creative unique cover arrangements.
BonaFide, which offers formats from five to nine pieces, offers the technical precision & complexity of Jazz meshed with the passion of Soul & Blues and the driving grooves of Funk. The result is, In the words of Hazen Bannister (Music professor and founding member of “The Swinging Medallions”) “Next Level Stuff!” BonaFide is unique in that it is also a group of “Band Leaders” who have come together from the four corners of the U.S. to form one powerhouse combination. Paula (Vocals), from Northern California, Mike Frost (Bass) from New York, Iliana Rose (Keys& Vocals) from Los Angeles and Mike Gibilisco (Sax & vocals) from Tampa. They have the ability to bring in a full horn section if desired.
Whether you need elegant cocktail music for a corporate dinner, or hip shaking dance grooves from a headliner at your festival, BonaFide can deliver. BonaFide is, simply put, great music from players at the top of their game. This act cannot be put into a box. Their appeal is the manner in which they make the borders that exist between genres, disappear. BonaFide is sophisticated fresh and fun!
Band Members
Links
