Jazzmeia Horn

New York-based performer Jazzmeia Horn is a gifted jazz vocalist with an inventive, vocalese-influenced style that helped her win both the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition and the 2015 Thelonious Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition. Following her Monk win, she garnered further acclaim, earning Grammy nominations for 2017's A Social Call and 2019's Love & Liberation, both featuring her original songs. In 2020, she showcased her adept arranging skills with the big-band album Dear Love before returning to her small group original jazz material with 2024's Messages. Born in Dallas, Texas, in 1991, Horn grew up in a creative, spiritually minded family and was first introduced to singing by her grandmother, a gospel pianist with an abiding love of jazz. Although she sang from an early age, it wasn't until her teens, when she attended Dallas' Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, that she developed an interest in jazz. Introduced to Sarah Vaughan by her composition class teacher, Horn fell in love with Vaughan's style and worked to learn her phrasing and inflection. From there, Horn began listening to other instrumentalists, including John Coltrane and Miles Davis. After high school, she honed her skills studying at Manhattan's New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. She had already gained recognition as a formidable talent during her time in school, and took home several Down Beat student music awards. Graduating in 2009, Horn quickly immersed herself in the New York scene, performing alongside such luminaries as Billy Harper, Delfeayo Marsalis, Mike LeDonne, Peter Bernstein, Vincent Herring, and many more. Horn's profile rose significantly when she won Newark's 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition. Two years later, she solidified her place as a bona fide star after taking first place in the Thelonious Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition. In 2017, as part of her Monk Competition prize, she released her debut full-length album, A Social Call, on Concord Records. The record garnered praise, including a Grammy nomination; Horn also performed at the Grammy ceremony. She returned in 2019 with her sophomore album, Love & Liberation, which featured a cover of Erykah Badu's "Green Eyes." It also received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. In 2020, Horn delivered her first big-band recording, the Grammy-nominated Dear Love, which found her working with her 15-member Noble Force ensemble. A third studio album of largely original material, Messages, appeared in October 2024. Along with her own songs, it found her interpreting the standard "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me." Also featured was a guest appearance by trumpeter Marquis Hill. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi