Released last year, Samara Joy McLendon’s debut album announced the arrival of a remarkable new talent, a vocalist who possessed timing, timbral richness and emotional power in abundance.

On this follow-up album, released on the iconic Verve label, the winner of the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition pays homage to one of her most important touchstones on opener Cant Get Out Of This Mood, which Vaughan recorded in 1950 with George Treadwell and his All Stars. Containing echoes of the version recorded by the great Carmen McRae on her 1957 album After Glow, Guess Who I Saw Today is a standout.

In addition to dusting down Social Call, written by Gigi Gryce with lyrics by vocalese legend Jon Hendricks, the singer presents two stunning