New Orleans star makes Bay Area premiere
Quiana Lynell stunned Terence Blanchard with her talent, and the rest is history
When New Orleans trumpeter Terence Blanchard performs at Jazz Fest, he doesn’t expect to discover a major talent in his own backyard. But hearing Crescent City-based vocalist Quiana Lynell dominate a 2017 Jazz Fest stage, his initial thought was, “Who are you, where have you been, and why am I just hearing you now?’” he said. Blanchard made sure he’d hear her again soon by inviting Lynell to perform in Poland as part of a 2017 tribute to Spike Lee featuring the 75-piece Polish National Radio Symphony playing music he composed for the director’s films. Since the May release of her soul-steeped debut album “A Little Love” (Concord Jazz), Lynell has been on the road, leaving a trail of similarly superlative first impressions. She makes her Bay Area debut Saturday at the intimate Hammer4 theater — inside the Hammer Theatre Center — as part of San Jose Jazz’s new Black Cab Jazz series, which opened last month with drummer Kendrick Scott’s Oracle. She also performs two shows Sunday at SFJazz Center’s Joe Henderson Lab. The four-concert SJZ series, which features the convivial option of two and fourtop table seating, continues in 2020 with New York drummer Matt Wilson’s Honey & Salt Quintet (Feb. 21), an acclaimed project that focuses on his music inspired by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carl Sandburg. The season closes with a trio led by Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana (March 8), a powerhouse improviser who spent much of the spring performing with the latest incarnation of the all-star Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour ensemble. Booked by SJZ’s Bruce Labadie, the series was the brainchild of baritone saxophonist/ arranger Aaron Lington, a San Jose State music professor who directs the university’s jazz orchestra, as well as the San Jose Jazz High School All Stars. Black Cab Jazz not only brings world-class acts to an underutilized space, it’s designed so that San Jose State students have the opportunity to play with the headliners in a classroom setting. “The key element is the students,” Labadie said. “They get the music in advance and rehearse before the artists arrive in town. For the Hammer, it puts this great space to use and for San Jose Jazz, it provides exposure in the off season between Summer Fest and Winter Fest. It fit all the boxes.” For Lynell’s collaboration with Lington’s students, she sent classic big band charts of songs associated with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. She’s fully comfortable in the context of straight-ahead swing, but she wanted “A Little Love” to showcase her stylistic range. Working with Brian Bacchus, a producer particularly known for acclaimed vocal recordings by the likes of Cassandra Wilson, Gregory Porter and Lizz Wright, she came up with a diverse program that encompasses Donny Hathaway’s “Tryin’ Times,” Irma Thomas’ “Hip Shakin’ Mama,” the Gerhswins’ “They All Laughed” and Ellington’s sublime spiritual “Come Sunday.” She’s also eager to interpret contemporary material. The album opens with “We Are,” a piece of Sadesque R&B written by Russian-born singer-songwriter Alina Engibaryan with Snarky Puppy’s Michael League and Mike Maher, and closes with Joshuah Campbell’s 21st century civil rights anthem “Sing Out, March On.” In between,there’s the gorgeous ballad “What Is Love?” by multi-instrumentalist Monte Croft. “I can be a swinging singer, but that’s not solely who I am,” Lynell said. “I enjoy a lot of different styles. Brian and I worked very closely together. He brought me those two songs from Monte and Alina. They’re modern and current. ‘What Is Love?’ reminded me of a Stevie Wonder song.” Raised in the Dallas suburb of Cedar Hill, Lynell grew up in a church-going family and was steeped in gospel music. After earning a degree in vocal performance from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, she decided to start a family and got a day job in sales rather than pursuing a career in music. A co-worker, vocalist Janelle Brown, encouraged Lynell to start singing with her zydeco/blues group 2 Da T, which started her on a path of musical exploration. Her breakthrough year was capped when she won the 2017 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition against a tough field of finalists that included Berkeley’s Tiffany Austin. Lynell made the move to New Orleans and is touring with a top-shelf band of young Crescent City players, but it doesn’t sound like she’s planning on staying put for long. “I do foresee a move to the East Coast sooner rather than later,” she said. “The big city gives me the heebie jeebies sometimes. I’m a very Southern girl. I like to take my time. But my career is moving in that direction.”