Fiery soul siren Nikka Costa returns to the Bay Area
A gifted performer who has been dazzling audiences with her explosive live shows for decades, funk/soul singer Nikka Costa plays fan favorites and songs from her new album Dirty Disco at Berkeley's Cornerstone Sunday night.
Years before British divas like the late Amy Winehouse and Adele scored critical and commercial success for their jazz-inflected takes on retro R&B, fiery American soul siren Costa had already blazed her own distinctive trail through vintage sounds. The daughter of renowned producer/arranger Don Costa who worked extensively with Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn and Sammy Davis Jr. (he also discovered Paul Anka and Trini Lopez), Domenica Costa was a precocious musical talent who started singing at a young age. By the time she was five, her father had already recorded her performing a duet with Hawaiian pop star Don Ho, launching Nikka's career as a child performer who released several albums in Europe.
In the '90s, Costa married Australian musician/producer Justin Stanley and relocated Down Under. She would front a couple of bands that moved her sound away from her pop past into a more soul and funk direction, issuing the Australia-only release Butterfly Rocket in 1996. The singer first made herself known in the states with the update of Sly Stone-influenced funk on her 2001 U.S. debut, Everybody Got Their Something, a collection co-produced by future Winehouse collaborator Mark Ronson (five years before the global domination of Back to Black) that featured the hit tunes "Like a Feather," "Push & Pull" and the title tune.
Costa would issue several acclaimed albums including Can'tneverdidnothin' for Virgin Records in 2005 that included covers of songs by cornerstone influences Tina Turner and Nina Simon and the gritty Stax Records 2008 effort Pebble to a Pearl featuring collaborations with '70 soul/funk drumming legend James Gadson (Dyke & the Blazers, Bill Withers, Herbie Hancock) and modern keyboard great James Poyser, but despite stints touring with Prince -- who she regularly shared the stage with -- and Lenny Kravitz, she has largely remained a cult phenomenon.
The singer entered a period of quiet after the release of her 2011 EP Pro*Whoa, which dialed back the analog grit of her earlier work for a more modern electro-pop sheen. She resurfaced a couple of years ago to crowdfund her latest album, the acclaimed Nikka & Strings: Underneath and In Between that came out in 2017. A lushly arranged mix of soul and jazz standards, contemporary tunes and originals that was recorded in a single day, the release includes stunning versions of both familiar songs ("Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Stormy Weather") and some unusual choices (a heartbreaking rendition of Jeff Buckley's "Lover, You Should Have Come Over").
After a six-year hiatus from releasing new music, Costa is back with a return to the explosive dancefloor energy that marked her earlier work. Her latest album Dirty Disco -- once again produced by husband and longtime collaborator Stanley -- was released last month after a string of funky infectious singles, including the synth-powered title track which arguably stands as the best Prince song to come out since the Purple One left this earthly plane. Featuring such illustrious guest musicians as Kamasi Washington keyboardist Brandon Coleman, veteran session player Greg Phillinganes (Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour) and bassist Kaveh Rastegar (Bruce Springsteen, John Legend, Beck, Bruno Mars, Meshell Ndegeocello), the simultaneously gritty and spacey new effort spotlights Costa's gifts as a songwriter and powerhouse vocalist who has earned her place among modern funk luminaries.
Costa returns to the Bay Area for the first time in five years when she brings her current tour promoting Dirty Disco to the Cornerstone in Berkeley Sunday night. Opening the show is Oakland-based R&B ensemble Sal's Greenhouse. Fronted by dynamic vocalist and baritone saxophonist Sally Green, the group delivers a soulful sound heavily indebted to Bay Area funk forebears including Tower of Power and Lydia Pense and Cold Blood.
Nikka Costa
Sunday, Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m. $28-$31
The Cornerstone