Smile

Acclaimed jazz label Resonance Records issue the first album by one of the most promising young jazz singers to emerge in years: Tawanda Suessbrich-Joaquim, known simply as Tawanda. The Los Angeles-based vocalist, 26, sings in a cloudless alto with a crystalline shimmer, effortless but unfussy jazz feeling, immaculate musicianship, and a maturity that few of her contemporaries possess.

Smile was produced by Resonance founder and president George Klabin. Resonance are renowned both for their deluxe reissues of previously unreleased gems by Bill Evans, Wes Montgomery, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, and other greats; and for their new recordings by an impeccably chosen array of veterans and newcomers.

On Smile, Tawanda gives even the most time-honored standards a freshness that makes them sound new. She also finds the jazz in tunes recorded by Sting (‘Sister Moon’), Donny Hathaway (‘Sack Full of Dreams’), and Maureen McGovern (‘Bring Back My Dreamer’). Lifting her even higher are the elegant piano-playing and arrangements of two members of the Resonance family, Tamir Hendelman and Josh Nelson, both of whom have brought out the best in many a singer.