It’s worth noting that fans of well-established dancer/model and emerging jazz singer Lucia Jackson helped her raise some $15,000 towards her dream of recording her wonderfully engaging debut album, You and the Night and the Music. It’s even more beautiful to know that they not only got their money’s worth, but thanks to them, we fans of traditional vocal jazz have a captivating new singer to love and support ourselves.
Truth be told, Lucia has the sweetly effortless jazz magic in her genes; her dad is veteran jazz guitarist Ron Jackson, who crafts dynamic solos and creates lush, lively, diverse and at times even exotic arrangements. None of that would matter without Lucia’s plain-spoken but deeply sensitive and emotional vocals, which somehow convey wisdom and innocence at the same time.
There are French and Latin twists along the jazzy road, and the singer’s wide-ranging choice of material (from Julia Michaels’ “Issues” to “Sophisticated Lady” and a gender-reversed Beatles ballad) lends itself to a lot of freewheeling fun.