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Biography
"Miss Nissim’s instrument is gorgeous, lustrous, precise, highsprung and light as a feather-light. Her musicianship is fierce as she digs into the expression of each word, brings ceaseless variety soft dynamics and gives every phrase a lustrous grace."Raul DaGama
Vocalist ,composer, lyricist and pianist Tamuz Nissim from Tel Aviv, Israel, now based in NYC is performing in International Jazz Festivals and clubs like the Blue Note, Jazz Forum, The Bar 55, Deer Head Inn, Lincoln Center and many more, gaining the love of music lovers and Jazz aficionados alike.
Her personal singing style is rooted in the jazz tradition yet pushes forward to modern era as she sings a repertoire of heartfelt melodies, virtuosic vocalese , fast scat solos and original compositions with poetic lyrics.
Her latest albums Capturing Clouds (2020) “Echo of a Heartbeat” (2018) received rave reviews from the Jazz press -NYC Jazz Record, UK Vibe, JazzPRESS Poland , All About Jazz, Midwest Record, Jazz DaGama, Jazz Avenues, WTJU, Times Of Israel , The Jazz Journal (UK) and many more.
“Capturing Clouds” charted on The Roots Radio Charts for 12 weeks peaking at #6 , at NAAC Radio Charts peaking at #12.
“Echo of a Heartbeat” charted on the JazzWeek charts.
Both albums are still being played in more than a 100 radio stations around the USA, Canada, South America, Japan, Europe, Africa, Australia and Israel.
"A real boundary pusher that scores high marks."
Midwest Record (Capturing clouds 2020)
"Tamuz Nissim’s third release and it is a gem! She has a beautiful voice, outstanding control, she can scat with the best of any era and on top of that, she tosses in some knock out vocalese that would put the icing on any cake!"
She sang on George Nazos' albums "Heat Song" (2020) and Symposium For Peace (2021). The second awarded George with a composition award from Bronx Council of the Arts.
In 2017 she published "Liquid Melodies" a common CD with guitarist George Nazos , essential element to Nissim’s music for the ten years. where they present combination of jazz standards and "Originals that are so smart they can bend light." (C Michael Bailey, All About Jazz). Their record got extensive airplay worldwide, reached #57 in the Jazz Week charts and got warm reviews from the Jazz press. Their arrangement for Gershwin's Fascinating Rhythm was chosen for Jeff Hanley's show ‘Jazz Happening now’, an NPR one hour show that is broadcasted in 43 radio stations around the States.
The band was also chosen to warm Hugh Masekela at the Atlanta Jazz Festival.
“This meaningful title perfectly encapsulates the combined sonics of Israeli vocalist Tamuz Nissim and Greek guitarist George Nazos. When these two pair up they manage to develop a hydrous happening full of mellifluous designs, clear flowing thoughts, and dulcet tones. They're fluid in action, fluent in various dialects of the jazz language, and full of interesting ideas.” Dan Bilawsky All About Jazz.
Her debut CD “The Music Stays in a Dream” (2013) featuring her original compositions was presented in radio stations world wide and in several festivals such as the Athens Technopolis Jazz Festival, the Preveza Jazz Festival, the Montofoli Festival and the Tinos Jazz Festival. Her performances won warm reactions from the audience and the press, describing Tamuz as a “very charismatic artist” (BHMagazino), “a voice that caresses your soul” and “a proof that jazz is a living art and that stars are still being born” (Athens Digital). “An extremely gifted jazz singer that is bringing in her debut album a lot of freshness.” (Third Ear ,
Israel)
Her composition “Broken Promises” has been featured in the Greek Jazz & jazz magazine CD compilation “Summer jazz Flirt ”.
She is a member of the Jared’s Pauley's Band and has recorded and contributed original lyrics at his last release “On Capitol Street” (Ropeadope 2019) along side Mike Clark, Duane Eubanks and others.
In 2020 she recorded the Israeli song "Ha'omnam" on guitarist Roni Ben Hur's record "Stories" (Dot Time Records). The record feature jazz Legends Victor Lewis, George Cabales, Harvie S and Ingrid Jansen. The record charted on the Jazzweeks Charts and received raved reviews.
Born in Tel Aviv ,Tamuz grew up in an artistic family; her mother is a dancer and a choreographer and her father is a writer. Both of them play an instrument and have a great love for classical and jazz music.
She started playing classical piano at the age of 6 and started to sing when she was 14. At this time she was twice a recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Grant. By the age of 16 she was performing around the city regularly with some of Israel's best jazz players to accompany her. In 2005 she sang in the soundtrack of Ilan Heitner’s movie ‘Bruno in Love’
She moved to the Netherlands in 2007 to study at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Den Haag; from there she received a Bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts, voice and side subject
piano. In Holland besides many performances at the local Jazz clubs she also performed at the Amsterdam Israeli film Festival “Filmisreal” 2011 and her composition 'Shir' was featured in the Record “Love, Live ,Listen 2 - The Hague playlist” . In 2013 she performed at Holon Women's Festival in Israel, a common project with singer Martha Mavroidi. In 2015 was chosen as a finalist at "Riga Jazz Stage international vocal competition" and won to performed at "Riga Ritmis" International Jazz Festival in 2016.
My Story
I was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. My family can only be described as artistic; my father is a writer, my mother a dancer and choreographer, my grandmother a painter, and almost everybody in my family plays an instrument. In fact, I found out that I am related to band leader and pianist Jean Goldkette, and so I am not the first Jazz musician in the family.
During my childhood years I was playing classical piano. Music always fascinated me: when I was three years old, I used to sit in front of the piano and tried to invent melodies. My artistic interests were various, among them writing, painting, and dancing. I even took part in a ballet performance of the “Nutcracker” when I was nine.
The moment when it became clear that I should devote myself to music was when, at the age of thirteen, as a classical piano player of Ironi Alef high school’s music department, I asked to sing a song with the jazz band at the end of the school year’s performance. The night of the performance convinced everybody, including myself, that singing was my greatest passion.
Since my mother was a choreographer, we had a huge music library at home. My mother often tells the story of how, when I was a baby, I used to cry when she was listening to Tom Waits. Now he is one of my favorite artists and his music has influenced me considerably.
So I grew up with the melodies of Billie Holiday and Sarah Voughan around me, as well as Bill Evans, The modern Jazz quartet ,Art blaky and Mingus.
As my lust for music became more intense, I started to play every week at a local café in the center of Tel Aviv. Every Tuesday I was singing in the café and every Wednesday, straight after school, I was going to the jazz CD shop to spend all the money I got from the concert on new CDs. During the summer, I was working as a waitress in order to save money for the “Red Sea Jazz festival” and for singing and piano lessons. Instead of going out dancing with my friends or going to the movies, I was always going to Jazz clubs and jam sessions or I was staying home to learn new songs.
At the age of twenty I stayed in New York for three months to attend masterclasses and experience the city of Jazz and in 2007 I moved to the Netherlands to study in the “Royal Conservatory of Den Haag”. During my studies, I began composing music more and more. Thanks to my scholarship, I finally could dedicate more time to the music, in search for my personal sound. Meeting musicians from all around the world was an important contribution to this process, as well as the melancholic atmosphere of Holland’s weather. As Tom Waits sings in San Diego Serenade, “I never heard a melody until I needed her song.”
My ifluences
I believe that life and music are one.
All of life’s experiences and feelings (love, joy, dreams, disappointment, excitement etc.) can be translated into music if only we let the music in our lives. That is why I always aim at intriguing my audience with an emotion, tell them a story, or enable them somehow to experience music at a deeper level.
I love reading, mostly fiction and poetry. Boris Vian’s book “Froth on a Daydream” starts with the following claim: “There are only two things: love, all sorts of love, with pretty girls, and the music of New Orleans or Duke Ellington.” The book, which is one of my favorites, exploresthe limits between reality and fantasy, life and dream, and music as the tool that brings everything together.
As for poetry, I love Allen Ginsberg, Maya Angelou Charles Bukovski and Israeli poet Yehuda Amihai.
I prefer poems with broken rhythm that are associative because they are similar to Jazz.
