Both Madeleine Peyroux and Lianne La Havas are women who face a venerable legacy without fear of measuring themselves against their creators. Their songs and their interpretative daring have the same boldness and craftsmanship as the great classics of jazz and soul/folk, respectively, in which they look up to.
Elegance, class, subtlety: the discography of London-based Lianne Charlotte Barnes, simply Lianne La Havas in the music world, distills these properties with the fluidity of purebred artists. With a Greek father and Jamaican mother, she grew up in an eminently musical environment, so it is not surprising that at the age of seven she began to sing and at eleven to play the guitar. Her approach is in the best tradition of folk, soul and r'n'b, and on albums such as the eponymous "Lianne La Havas" (2020), the third of her career, the influences of Joni Mitchell, Milton Nascimento, Al Green, Jaco Pastorius and Destiny's Child were equally noticeable. Her fans are longing for an early follow-up. For the time being, her live show is growing and shining.
She was born in the southern, bohemian university town of Athens (Georgia), the birthplace of R.E.M., grew up listening to New Orleans jazz and made a living as a teenager in the Latin Quarter of Paris. With such credentials, it was almost inevitable that Madeleine Peyroux would turn to jazz, but what was not so predictable was that she would do so by emulating with such success the precepts of Billie Holiday (to whom her voice is so often compared) and of Bessie Smith, Patsy Cline or Édith Piaf. The American singer, guitarist and composer deploys her argument with the integrity of the classics, and has a brilliant discography of three studio albums that combine originals and covers, and that awaits continuation for this same 2024.
