Chetham’s Big Band
The Stoller HallA matinee show from Chetham’s Big Band and jazz ensembles.
The audaciously funky and multi-talented Danish bassist-singer-songwriter-bandleader Ida Nielsen, a former member of two of Prince’s backing bands — New Power Generation and the four-piece rock-edged 3rd Eye Girl — is set to release her sixth album as a leader overall and fourth since the passing of her former mentor in April 2016. Playing her signature 4-string Sandberg California electric bass with typical authority while fronting all the vocals and also supplying multiple keyboard parts, Nielsen combines slamming funk beats, slap bass virtuosity, agile rapping, catchy pop hooks and tons of attitude on More Sauce, Please!
From the hard-hitting opener, “Been Trying,” featuring slick turntable scratching by Congolese DJ Amazulu Nanga and a burning alto sax solo from her countryman Jakob Elvstrøm, to the orchestra lpop rap closer, “Give Me A Bit Of…,” More Sauce, Please! throbs with high energy and bristles with stunning musicianship by the multi-talented bandleader. Added to the potent mix are the adept rapping of Son of Light on the slow-chugging funk of “Bounce Like a Grandma,” the playfu lcall-and-response between Ida and Finnish beat boxer/scratch maestro Felix Zenger on the slamming rock-funk number, “Ninja,” the infectious ‘70s flavored “Glorious Disco” and the mondo-slap bass and two-handed tapping showcase, “Slappadibopbop.”
Nielsen showcases her own formidable rapping chops by spitting some rapid-fire rhymes on “Kuku Put Some Sauce On It,” and she supplies multi-layered vocal harmony on the entrancing “More People Like You.” Her meditation on love lost, “It’s Gone,” features some telling lines from rapper Victor Danos while Ida’s exhortation to “tap into emancipation” on “Shake It Off” reads like an optimistic anthem for her fellow funkateers: “If your life sucks, whatcha gonna do? (Shake it off!)/If your heart breaks, whatcha gonna do? (Shake it off!)/If you’re stress level’s going through the roof, whatcha gonna do? (Shake it off!).”
Ida Nielsen released her sixth album, “More Sauce, Please!”, on German Leopard Records on June 16th 2023.
“Ida Nielsen showcases an energetic and groove-driven work with “More Sauce, Please!” that sound out the boundaries of funk and soul. With her impressive bass playing technique and her charismatic voice, the Dane presents 11 songs that get your legs moving and spread a good feeling.”
inMusic Germany
“Ida Nielsen -Funk Goddess”
Bassplayer Magazine
