In the Jazz Traditoin: Jazzmeia Horn

In 2015, Jazzmeia Horn strode onto the stage of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and left a panel of esteemed judges slack-jawed in astonishment. For her performance, she selected "Evidence" - a devilishly difficult Monk number that demands total dynamic control from the performer - and jubilantly scatted her way through its vaulting melody and twisting meter. Horn's victory launched her career as one of the world's most daring young singers in any style. On her GRAMMY-nominated 2017 debut, A Social Call, Horn recalls the likes of Nina Simone and Betty Carter as she serenades and scats through an unapologetically urgent, political take on jazz. She lambasts social structures that have kept people poor, attaches gospel standards to Coltrane themes, and renders ballads with frank poignancy. A student of past masters, Horn is a brave new voice for jazz's vocal resurgence and a mighty clarion for its future.