Lucia Jackson, who was born in New York, grew up in Madrid, Spain where she started singing when she was ten. She studied voice and piano at the prestigious Escuela de Musica Creativa when she was 13 and also ballet and flamenco at the Professional Dance Conservatory. Returning to New York when she was 18, she has since danced with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre as a guest student, at the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival and, as a member of FJK Dance, toured China for two months. As a jazz singer, she has performed with many groups including the Bud Maltin Orchestra, Marty Schwartz, and the Art Lillard Big Band. With a great deal of encouragement from her family and fans, she has now released her debut album through her father’s label. Her father is of course Ron Jackson, a very well-known guitarist in the jazz scene, and he is one of the musicians working with her on this, as well as arranging all the songs and also producing the album. Her vocals are sublime, with a soft touch, which brings in nuances of Latin and Caribbean styles with her vocals always very much to the fore. Most of the songs are standards from the likes of Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington, but the one that stands out more than the rest is an incredible arrangement of “And I Love Him”.
With the lyrics amended just ever so slightly from the Lennon/McCartney classic, it is the arrangement and vocals that really make this shine. Lucia’s voice has just a small amount of reverb, the song has been taken at a far slower pace than usual, and she is accompanied just by her father Ron on a steel 7 string guitar which is picked delicately. This is an outstanding version, and one of the finest Beatles covers I have ever come across, and is worth getting the CD just on the basis of that one song alone. But, this late night jazz album is a delight throughout, and one that is surely set to allow her to make her mark on the jazz scene. She and the boys can rip it up when they want to, and she is the master of the sliding into the note style that when done well can add to much, and she certainly knows what she is doing. For those who enjoy their jazz to be that tad lighter, with an element of swing, this is superb.
Rating: 8/10
