Natalie Brooke is a rock star. A virtuoso funk / rock keys player leading her powerhouse 4-piece band from the Baltimore area. The explosive act is fronted by Natalie on keys, synth, keytar, and vocals and backed by drummer Nathan Shulkin, Nester on the bass, and Luke Walker on the guitar.
She kicks off every show with a punch and never lets the energy drop - audiences move, dance, scream, jump, and ride the wild wave of the set with her and the band. Natalie’s music was once said to be a mashup of Rick James and Rush. She has an undeniably infectious vibe featuring a fiery blend of fast tempos and sloshy rock elements balanced with her transcendent jazz and classical roots. Natalie brings an exceptionally unique approach to the keyboard that is equally percussive and melodic that lights up the show with every electrifying note she plays. She is on a meteoric rise, frequently sharing the stage with pillars of the rock, funk, and jazz scenes. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Andy Frasco & the UN, Big Something, Cris Jacobs, Doom Flamingo, Sunsquabi, lespecial, and the Magic Beans are a few of the artists Natalie has played with recently.
Natalie’s artistry thrives in the space between vulnerability and fire. With her new full-length album, Measured in Moments, arriving October 10, 2025 the Maryland-based pianist, vocalist, and bandleader reveals her most fearless work yet. A bold, expansive statement that charts her path from quiet, ear-trained prodigy to commanding frontwoman, composer, and collaborator.
The album’s opening singles offer two distinct windows into her evolving sound. “Sometimes” featuring Cris Jacobs, released September 9, 2025 is a groove-forward meditation on life’s dualities. Led by her soulful vocals and anchored by the lyric: “sometimes change is what I am, sometimes I’m better off running.” The track builds in intensity, slipping into a jazz-soaked breakdown before she unleashes a fiery organ solo. Baltimore rock luminary Cris Jacobs answers with a spellbinding improvisation of his own, pushing the song into uncharted terrain.
“Hands” takes a decidedly different route. An urgent jazz-fusion composition that rides a staccato motif into a soaring chorus that is both sultry and celebratory, the track embodies Natalie’s invitation to the dance floor, complete with tension-building bridges and moments of release that capture her instinct for drama and motion.
For Natalie, these tracks are snapshots of a larger journey. “Pretty much always been piano,” she recalls. “I started when I was five, and just was always in lessons. I did quit lessons in middle school, which is when I picked up really learning by ear, which I think is where a lot of the creativity really started happening.” The shift from the page and toward instinct proved to be the vital catalyst cementing the foundation of her artistry.
Her evolution hasn’t been linear. Classical training gave way to a “brutal learning curve” in jazz, years of attending metal shows fed into her love of grit and volume, and eventually vocals entered the frame. “Vocals were a completely different approach. I was actually very quiet my whole life… singing has actually been a really big challenge. I finally, secretly, started going to voice lessons and not telling anybody when I was 25,” she says. What began as therapy — “being okay with being loud and being heard” — has transformed into a defining strength.
When she first stepped into the role of bandleader, six months before the pandemic, Brooke was hesitant. The forced pause became a turning point. “When I first started my band, I was still a little shy being the front woman. Then during covid was when I decided that I can get back out there, I’m gonna not hold back. I’m gonna rip it up.” That commitment shows up not just in her stage presence—often wielding a keytar bought on impulse (“I wish I had a better story… I just bought the keytar”)—but in the way she runs her band. “I really like grit, and I really like when people like to be pushed and when they like to also push me… we always want to be hurtling forward, creating something new, and not getting stagnant.”
Her debut solo EP, Wicked and Wonderful (2024), hinted at this alchemy of sounds, combining instrumentals, piano-driven experiments, and genre-bending curiosity. The forthcoming album pushes further, weaving fusion, funk, and rock energy with moments of intimate storytelling. On stage, Brooke favors high energy, while in the studio she leans into narrative and nuance. “I like to go into the studio to really tell a story and honestly get things out that I can’t get out live,” she admits. The result is a body of work that honors both sides of her identity: the explosive live performer and the reflective songwriter.
Ultimately, Natalie Brooke’s story is one of reinvention, perfecting the art of learning to be heard, to lead, and to trust the creative tension that comes with pushing boundaries. The release of Measured In Moments captures that arc in full, cementing her place as one of the most compelling new voices in modern jazz-fusion and beyond.
