WHO’S NEXT:

NIKKI YANOFSKY

HOMETOWN: Montreal, Quebec

INFLUENCES: Ella Fitzgerald,
Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday

ALBUM: Nikki, out now

WEBSITE: nikkionline.ca

THINGS HAVE MOVED QUICKLY FOR NIKKI YANOFSKY-AT 12 she was singing in front of 100,000 people at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, by 13 she had been nominated for a Juno award (Canada’s equivalent to the Grammys), and at 16 she’s just released her debut studio album, Nikki. she began singing as a child, and knew even then she wanted to perform for a living. she began listening to jazz in her early teens, keying in especially on the music of Ella Fitzgerald—in 2008 she released a live album of Fitzgerald songs, Ella … of Thee I Swing. Nikki was produced by grammy winners Phil Ramone and Jesse Harris, and features a mix of standards and original songs written by Yanofsky with Harris and singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith. “The album is very personal, and allows the listener to get to know me,” she says. “you hear where i came from through the musical influences, and you hear where i’m going through the originals.”