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Clovis Nicolas
Jazz bassist graduated from Juilliard living and performing in New York City for the past 20 years.
About Me
After having established himself as a first-call bass player on the European scene (performances with Dee Dee
Bridgewater, Brad Mehldau, Michel Legrand,..), bassist and composer Clovis Nicolas moved from France to New York
in 2002. Since then, he has shared the stage in numerous venues (Jazz Standard, Smalls Jazz Club, Blue Note,
55 Bar, Kennedy Center, Smoke, Jazz Gallery, Birdland, Alice Tully Hall, Dizzy’s Club...) with some of today's most
prominent jazz musicians, such as Grant Stewart, Jeremy Pelt, Branford Marsalis, Curtis Fuller, Benny Powell,
James Williams, Peter Bernstein, Joe Magnarelli, Marcus Gilmore, Simon Shaheen, Kenny Washington, Jane Monheit,
and Dan Nimmer.
He is featured on more than 40 critically acclaimed recordings, including Bruce Harris' “Beginnings”, Behn Gillece
“Walk of Fire” (with saxophonist Walt Weiskopf), Belmondo’s “Hymne au Soleil” which won three Jazz Grammy
Awards in 2004 and sold more than 20,000 copies, Samora Pinderhughes' “Transformations Suite” (Jazz album
of the year on Apple Music) and “Grief”, Joe Magnarelli “Decidedly So”, Uptown Jazz Tentet “What's Next”, Yvonnick
Prene “Listen!”, Dmitry Baevsky “Kid's Time”.
In addition to those Clovis Nicolas recorded his music on five albums under his name and started a fruitful
collaboration with Sunnyside Records. “Nine Stories” was released in 2014 and selected in the Best Albums of the
Year by Downbeat Magazine; followed by “Freedom Suite Ensuite” in 2018 with drummer Kenny Washington, paying
tribute to Sonny Rollins' iconic masterpiece; then “Autoportrait” in 2021, a solo bass album that earned critics awards
such as a CHOC Jazz Magazine and a WBGO review by Nate Chinen. Follows “The Contrapuntist”, released in 2023
features a classical string quartet composed by Clovis Nicolas, side by side to a jazz quartet with Jeremy Pelt (tp),
Sullivan Fortner (p), Bill Stewart (drums) and the bassist/composer. It earned a CHOC in Classica Magazine, as well as
4 1/2 star in Audiophile. His latest album “Blues in Blueprint” is a dedication to the blues, featuring a piano trio with
Larry Goldings and Carl Allen.
Clovis graduated from the prestigious Juilliard School with a Bachelor and a Master of Music, and has been touring
extensively for performances and master classes in South and North America through the school’s educational
outreach program with Frank Kimbrough, Rodney Jones, Donald Vega. Clovis was also featured in a Ron Carter concert
tribute in Alice Tully Hall, performing with such guests as Herbie Hancock, Hubert Laws, Russell Malone, Mulgrew
Miller, Lewis Nash, Benny Golson and Buster Williams.
