Horn chose the title she did for her second album because, “Love
and Liberation is a concept and mantra that I use consistently in my everyday
life. For me the two go hand in hand and they both describe where I am in my
life and career right now. An act of love is an act of liberation, and choosing
to liberate—oneself or another—is an act of love.”
Love and Liberation, scheduled for release on August 23,
2019 via Concord Jazz, marks a formidable leap forward for Horn as a singer,
bandleader and songwriter, the result of an almost non-stop touring schedule
that followed the release of her debut album and which benefitted her vocal
chops as well as her band sound. “I have evolved,” she says. “It’s like I’m
really understanding music in a different way.”
“Once A Social Call was released in May of 2017, I hit the
road and I am still on tour. The album literally came out two years ago. I’m
really tired but grateful because I’ve had the opportunity to travel and
practice and improvise night after night in a room full of people with some of
the best musicians playing today. We’d experiment, using a trumpet player on a
song one time and a saxophonist the next, or sometimes just drums and voice in
the beginning of a song, trying out different combinations and ideas,
challenging ourselves. This was worth more than gold to me—understanding how to
utilize my instruments: my voice, my body, the band that I’ve hired.”
Horn has substantial experience with all the A-list
musicians on these tracks: pianists Victor Gould (her regular accompanist) and
special guest Sullivan Fortner, tenor saxophonist Stacey Dillard and trumpeter
Josh Evans, bassist Ben Williams, and drummer/singer Jamison Ross. Chris Dunn,
who produced Horn’s debut disc, is producer on this album as well.
Eight of the dozen new tracks are original tunes, a point of
pride and significance for the 28-year old Horn: “All of these songs are about
me and my experiences, but also as part of any young person’s journey. The
message they all share is that you just have to learn—about people, about
relationships, about business, love, or whatever. They don’t just tell one
person’s story, they tell many people’s stories.”
The songs on Love and Liberation comprise an impressive
variety of styles, approaches, and feel—some with full band, some just voice
and one instrument, even an a capelladuet—each with a precise message to
convey. There are songs that resonate with a powerful sense of African American
identity, and others that speak with intention about her stature as a strong,
independent woman. Still others deal with matters of love and attraction—with
tenderness and humor.
“Some of these songs are very cute and fun,” Horn admits.
“But a lot of them are meditations and have deep meaning that people can listen
to, to help free up their minds. People of all creeds and races, and even all
generations because there’s a lot of tradition in this music. My godfather gave
me the best compliment when I played the album for him. He said, I’m really
proud of you because this music sounds like what Ella [Fitzgerald] or Billie
[Holiday] or Abbey [Lincoln] or Nina [Simone] would have evolved into.”
Musically, Horn’s compositions both breathe and bend jazz
tradition, with tasteful touches of R&B and hip-hop, revealing a marked
inventiveness and a love for a good melodic line. On Love and Liberation one
can hear it on the opener “Free Your Mind” (a plea for more human interaction
and less focus on digital media) and the coy yet firm “Time” (urging an avid
suitor to take a breath and cool his jets), to the upbeat, off-kilter, rhythmic
slam of “Out The Window” (warning of the other woman) and the intelligence and
nuance of the a capelladuet, “Only You” (weaving the inner words of two lovers
as their thoughts connect, diverge and reconnect.)
Horn is quick to point out that she is constantly writing
while on the road, and that many of the originals on Love and Liberation are
not exactly new. “We’ve been playing ‘Legs And Arms’ for about a year now, and
some, like ‘Searching’ goes back to 2013! We’ve also been doing ‘Green Eyes’
which is by Erykah [Badu] and then a bunch are brand spanking new.”
The four covers on Love and Liberation are equally
impressive, both in which tunes Horn chose to cover and how she approaches
them, finding fresh takes on Jon Hendrick’s “No More” (as clear and strong a
statement on Horn’s own philosophy of personal empowerment), Badu’s “Green
Eyes” (Horn’s interpretation giving it a shot of gravitas with a more spiritual
feel), Rachelle Farrell’s “Reflection of My Heart” (a poignant vocal duet with
drummer/singer Jamison Ross), and Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Mercer’s “I Thought
About You” (the sole classic standard of the set.)
Blessed with a fitting name for her chosen path—it was
Horn’s jazz-loving, piano-playing grandmother who chose “Jazzmeia”—the singer
was born in Dallas in 1991, grew up in a tightly knit, church-going family
filled with musical talent andstarted singing as a toddler. She attended Booker
T. Washington High School for Performing and Visual Arts, known for launching
such musical greats as Roy Hargrove, Norah Jones, and Erykah Badu. Her
education included steering herself to the mentors who would guide her passion
for jazz, like Bobby McFerrin, Abbey Lincoln, and Betty Carter.
In 2009, Horn moved to New York City to enroll in The New
School’s jazz and contemporary music program. An intense four years of training
and performing followed, when she met many of the musicians who appear on her
recordings, including Gould and Dillard. In short order, her talent began to be
noticed. In 2013, she entered and won a Newark-based contest named for an
initial inspiration—the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition. In 2015,
she won the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition,the most coveted
award a jazz musician can hope to attain. Part of her prize was a contract with
Concord, which led to A Social Call and now Love and Liberation.
“Honestly, I’m way more excited now about Love and
Liberation because this is mostly my original music,” says Horn with palpable
giddiness. “Don’t get me wrong, I love A Social Call and all the acclamations
were great—the reviews in Downbeat, The New York Times and London Times. But
now I’m like, You guys don’t really know what’s coming. Boy, do I have something
in store for you!” - By Ashley Kahn
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