When it comes to jazz musician names, vocalist Jazzmeia Horn's name is pretty perfect — and it's not even a stage name. It's Horn's given name.
"With a name like Jazzmeia Horn, I don't know what else I would be doing. Not to have a big head or anything, but it's honestly my destiny. It was a gift that was given to me," Horn said.
With that gift in tow, Horn came to sing in the KNKX Studios in 2018 with pianist Julius Rodriguez, bassist Endea Owens, and drummer Henry Conerway. She also chatted with KNKX about her start in jazz and how she shares who she is through the music.
"I am basically transcribing my soul without using a language," Horn said. "Does that make sense? Like, if I say, 'Hey, how are you doing today?' You have the right to say, 'I'm fine or I'm not having a great day.' But if I just start scatting my solo to you, you feel that more."
Horn's career had a hot start. She won several prestigious national jazz vocal competitions in 2012, 2013 and 2015.
Horn is a masterful improviser, dancing around the melody and playing with rhythms. For Horn, vocal improvisation is just an extension of who she is as a person.
"My life is improvisation," she said. "I wake up in the morning and have to figure out, how am I going to get my children on time to the babysitter and still make it to the airport to make my flight to come to Seattle? You know, that's improvising."
Horn was in Seattle the year after releasing her Grammy-nominated debut album, Social Call. Her calling for music began with the social scene at her family's church.
"Because I love to sing so much, I asked if I could sing, and they were like, 'Okay, cool, you have to join the choir,'" she said. "And so that's how that happened."
Horn sees a double meaning in the title of her debut. It's a jazz standard included on the album, and also a call to make a difference in society. For Horn, singing is about connection; helping listeners connect to themselves and her relationship with the audience.
"Everything that I do is not for me, it's actually for somebody else, in hopes that they might see it and and feel a certain way and maybe change or enhance whoever they are as a person, and that's what this music is about," she said.
Since her debut, Horn has put out many more recordings, including her fourth leader record Messages, released in October 2024.
Songs heard in this episode:
- "Tight"
- "What's Going On"
- "I Remember You"
