Listen to Lover Come Back to Me from Jazzmeia Horn's new album Dear Love

(Press release)

September 2021 welcomes the release of Dear Love, the brand new project by US jazz luminary, vocalist and composer Jazzmeia Horn. A winner of the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition and the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition,

Jazzmeia Horn is also a NAACP Image Award winning artist. Having signed to Concord Records, her debut album A Social Call achieved great critical acclaim, receiving a GRAMMY Award® nomination in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album. Jazzmeia’s second album Love and Liberation, received yet another GRAMMY® nomination in the same category. Now Jazzmeia Horn makes a triumphant return with a big band orientated album – a notable departure from her previous work and a unique proposition, undoubtedly set to build on her compelling reputation as one of America’s most exciting and impactful jazz stars.

Dear Love, addresses three specific aspects of Jazzmeia’s existence, her community, her lover and herself. The album is infused with poetry and spoken word through letters of encouragement – it is the first time that these proponents of Jazzmeia’s creative talents feature on her recorded work. Dear Love is also one of the first times that a black female vocalist has written and fronted a big band album in its entirety (this having historically always been a male preoccupation) and the addition of strings elevates the album to that of a major orchestral project.

Having embarked on an exhilarating voyage of discovery by listening to art
ists such as Booker T, Little Jimmy Scott, Bebop Betty Carter, Frank Wess, Jackie McLean, René McLean, George Coleman J.J. Johnson and many more pioneering figures in early jazz, an intuition like no other developed within Jazzmeia’s psyche, allowing her to assimilate and absorb what she has heard and fully digest it until it is attached to her soul. This gift allows Jazzmeia to carry the torch for these legends of yesteryear, while heralding in a new and evolved era for the tradition of straight-ahead, classic jazz.

Similarly inspired by musicians such as Erykah Badu and her collaborative work with rappers such as Common and Talib Kweli, as well as Lauren Hill’s status within the Fugees, Jazzmeia Horn provides a unique slant to her work by combining these influences with the nuances of iconic jazz figures such as those mentioned above. The result is a sound that simultaneously holds classic qualities and a contemporary edge.

The making of Dear Love citing Jazzmeia and her collaborators’ journey throughout the project is being filmed in order to capture the creative process and to further demonstrate the concept behind the album itself. This documentary footage will be broadcast on network television in spring 2022. Jazzmeia also plans to tour the album extensively, with some flagship shows with The Frankfurt Philharmonic Orchestra scheduled for October 2021.

Dear Love is an ambitious and exhilarating project that represents some of Jazzmeia Horn’s very best work to date, reinforcing her status as one of the most versatile and exciting international jazz artists in the world today.

Listen to Lover Come Back to Me from the album which is released on Sept. 10.