Colorado Symphony
Nathaniel Rateliff

NILSSON - A Little Touch of Schmilsson

In 1973, singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson released an album of standards from the Great American Songbook, an adventurous and unprecedented move for someone at the height of their powers in the rock era. The album, A Little Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night, takes listeners on a narrative arc through infatuation, courting, marriage, separation, and the inevitable slide into old age. This March in celebration of its 50th Anniversary, Denver singer and songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff breathes new life into this classic album alongside the Colorado Symphony, blending his folk, Americana, and vintage rhythm & blues influences with Nilsson’s classic tribute to the Golden Age of American music.

"I’ve always felt that music does have the potential to take your breath away. I experienced that feeling when listening to Harry Nilsson’s A Little Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night for the first time and that exhilaration has been with me throughout every subsequent listen ever since. When considering where to take my collaboration with the Colorado Symphony, I kept coming back to this album. The courage of Nilsson to release an album of standards like ‘It Had To Be You’, ‘Thanks For The Memory’, and ‘Over The Rainbow’ at the height of his fame is wild to contemplate. And to create something so beautiful that takes listeners on an emotional journey through love and loss is what I’m excited for audiences to experience."  - Nathaniel Rateliff