Zara McFarlane

Zara McFarlane is a British jazz/soul singer and songwriter, based in East London. Her debut album, Until Tomorrow, was released on Brownswood Recordings in October 2011. Her second album, If You Knew Her, was released in January 2014 (March in Germany) also on Brownswood Recordings. Both albums contain mainly original compositions. She has collaborated with Denys Baptiste, Orphy Robinson, Soweto Kinch and Jazz Jamaica. In October 2014, McFarlane was awarded the title of "Best Jazz Act" at the MOBO Awards. One of the real pleasures of 2013 has been the many fresh faces on the jazz vocal front, including José James, Gregory Porter and young phenom Cécile McLorin Salvant. Deserving of mention amid this rising tide of unique talent is London-born Zara McFarlane, who next month releases her second album, "If You Knew Her," on tastemaker Gilles Peterson's label. Her standing as a promising star in Europe is only confirmed with recent stints sharing the stage with Porter and Dianne Reeves, and she has already earned airplay on KCRW-FM (89.9) for a lush and arresting recast of the late Junior Murvin's reggae classic "Police and Thieves." Echoes of vintage soul and Britain's so-called acid jazz scene from the '90s echo through various points of McFarlane's album, but some of her greatest promise can be heard on the new record's elastically swung single "Angie La La," a buried treasure from reggae vocalist Nora Dean that features trumpeter-vocalist Leron Thomas with McFarlane's nimble band. But ultimately, it's about songwriter McFarlane's talent and voice here. Echoes of Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald shimmer at the margins, along with the sound of a rising talent claiming new ground of her own.