press

2.10.2019

'the next time nishla smith is in town go check her out...' 

29.9.2019

'marsden jazz festival has announced its full line-up...'

21.8.2019

'the nishla smith quintet, who open jazz north’s northern line showcase at this year’s festival on friday 13 september, will have their lyrics and speech interpreted for audiences with hearing loss.'

24.5.2019

'everything about this track is sophisticated and tasteful... the song sounds familiar but doesn’t quite always end up where you expect it to...'

7.5.2019

nishla smith vocals / aaron wood trumpet / richard jones piano / joshua cavanagh-brierley bass / johnny hunter drums

'nishla’s original songs have a delicate, quirky but deceptively simple air about them – she has a quietly commanding presence and a relaxed but assured delivery that wins over audiences instantly. her often dreamy and melancholic aura is offset with her energetic and imaginative band of manchester’s finest young contemporary improvisers...'

6.4.2019

'jazz singer-songwriter nishla smith channels some billie holiday on her new single, 'blue dream.' the song is about a slow self-awakening and the musicality is lulling and leaves the listener with the sense of emerging from a dream-filled afternoon nap...'

29.3.2019

'during this spring’s residencies, jazz singer and songwriter nishla smith will work on a new song cycle...'

27.3.2019

'the result is stunning, not only vocally does she capture your attention, but connecting the video to the elements of the song her vision is seamlessly conveyed. well worth the listen...'

1.3.2019

'nishla is a singer and songwriter who defies easy categorisation...'

21.2.2019

'nishla smith’s original ballads sound like standards from the american songbook of the 1940s and '50s. there is an ambivalent undercurrent to the beguiling nostalgia of another place and julian. maudlin moments shoulder ecstatic reveries...'

8.2.2019

'keep your eyes very much on this one...'

6.8.2018

'don't explain sang nishla smith. we didn't - the silenced room said it all...'

26.7.2018

'we’re opening up our music education centre next month for a unique series of short residencies where musicians, singers and artists can create new work...'

4.7.2018

'our 2018 festival programme launch featuring a performance from nishla...'

20.6.2018

'a selection of artists who’ve made it through mjf's groundbreaking hothouse scheme...'

16.3.2018

'mjf has awarded places on the second round of its talent development programme, hothouse to manchester-based gospel vocalist tosin akindele, lancashire-based joseph spencer of north trio and didsbury-based vocalist nishla smith...'

21.1.2018

'it’s easy to get lost in nishla’s voice, as she nonchalantly regresses into the jazz standards...'

21.1.2018

'beautifully sung and expressed by the talented and soulful singer nishla smith together with manchester collective...'

15.5.2017

'singer/songwriter nishla performs 'hold on to me' with bartosz glowacki on accordion, and guillaume matthias on piano...'