Nalley switched to jazz shortly after moving to San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1980s,[3] where she attended University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). She received from UC Berkeley a B.A. degree in History and sang in the Cal Big Band.[5] "She studied classical music and theatre and, while attending college, she gained important experience singing in local clubs and jam sessions."[6]
While performing weekly at the Alta Plaza, director Michael Tilson Thomas discovered Nalley, recorded her in concert, and hired her to sing a program of Gershwin tunes with the San Francisco Symphony. She began performing with the Johnny Nocturne Band, charting at No. 12 on the Gavin list and embarking on a national and international touring schedule that included the Mountain Stage. She also performed at the Teatro Zinzanni as Madame Zinzanni.[5]
After spending a couple of years living in Switzerland, she returned to San Francisco to own and run the Jazz at Pearl's North Beach night club during 2003–2008.[7]
Discography
As leader
Need My Sugar (CE Jazz & Blues, 2002)
She Put a Spell on Me: Kim Nalley Sings Nina Simone (CE Jazz & Blues, 2006)
^"AUDIO STORY: Joy To The World 2011". PRX. 2011. Retrieved 2019-10-01. A born singer, as a child Nalley was taught piano by her great-grandmother and went on to study opera and theatre at the Educational Center of the Arts in New Haven, CT before relocating to San Francisco in the footsteps of the Grateful Dead.
