Zara McFarlane celebrates Sarah Vaughan's 100th birthday

Multi-award winning jazz singer Zara McFarlane is no stranger to AB. She previously performed here in 2014 and 2017. The Telegraph once rightly described her as “the most interesting jazz singer to appear in years”. Not surprisingly, her first four albums appeared via Brownswood, the label of renowned BBC Radio 6 guru Gilles Peterson. She has collaborated with, amongst others, pretty much all members of the still very relevant English jazz scene (think: Shabaka Hutchings, Moses Boyd, Ezra Collective, …) as well as with prominent producer Floating Points.

This spring saw the release of her latest album Sweet Whispers – Celebrating Sarah Vaughan a tribute to ‘The Divine One’. The Guardian: “**** - The British jazz singer pays homage to Vaughan with earthiness and spontaneity. A terrific tribute to a jazz legend”. Both Mojo and Uncut gave the album a score of 8/10. Uncut concluded that: “Zara captures Vaughan’s depth of expression with perfect control, but proves she’s more than just a talented imitator by authoritatively stamping her own considerable personality’.

“Sarah Vaughan is one of my favourite singers of all time”, Amy Winehouse once said. And rightly so! Together with Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, America’s Sarah Lois Vaughan (1924-1990) is considered one of the greats of the jazz genre. Vaughan was known for her expressive voice, unique vibrato and great vocal range. “All it might take is a second and a half of hearing her sing to make your spine tingle or your heart drop”, The New York Times once summed up.

Her versatility was impressive and her career spanned a half century or so. Vaughan meandered effortlessly from bebop (she worked with bop pioneers Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker) via jazz standards to pop, rock, and Brazilian music. She felt at home in small ensembles as well as with big bands and orchestras. Delve further into 10 iconic Vaughan albums or her life story.