Tawanda - Smile

Smile is the debut release from Tawana, winner of the 2020 Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Vocal Competition. Backed by a stellar band featuring Josh Nelson (piano), Tamir Handelman (piano), Kevin Axt (bass), Anthony Wilson (guitar), Gary Meek (saxophone), and others. It features a fresh and adventurous mix of standards and includes an 8-page booklet with essays by esteemed author James Gavin and producer George Klabin.

The opening medley Smile, tells of the need to soldier forth with hope in one’s heart. When the background turns to trio jazz and the song to “I’m All Smiles,” Tawanda floats over the chart’s rhythmic breaks as blithely as if she were taking a stroll in the park.

Several upbeat standards, including “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and “Out of This World,” are freshened up in adventurous yet respectful ways. Singing Sting’s “Sister Moon,” she elucidates a fairy tale about a spirit torn between his avowed love, the sun, and the moon, a temptress who obsesses him. She brings a resolute calm to “I’m Okay,” written by the Argentine composer-pianist Eddie del Barrio and recorded by Dianne Reeves, one of Tawanda’s key influences: “She’s graceful-strong. I’m aspiring to that.” The song, says Tawanda, “is about overcoming, and recognizing all the hardships you’ve gone through to get to the place you are now. It’s a solid, grounded song with a sense of strength and pride.” “A Child Is Born,” is a collaboration between trumpeter Thad Jones and lyricist Alec Wilder. It speaks of the loveliest of new beginnings, and Tawanda sings it with tenderness and wonder.

Tawanda effortlessly nails the tricky intervals and key changes in “Lucky to Be Me,” arranged by Hendelman in a version that overflows with jubilance. “Sack Full of Dreams” is a dignified call for unity and peace in a world of lost souls. It was composed in the late ‘60s by the outstanding but drug-addicted arranger, Gary McFarland, who died at 38; the words are by Louis Savary, a prolific author on spirituality. The piece was introduced by jazz drummer and singer Grady Tate and later recorded by Donny Hathaway. “It’s one of the songs I feel the world really needs,” says Tawanda. “How do we create a new vision of love and togetherness when people are so disconnected? How do we love bigger than this isolation we’re experiencing?”

“Bring Back My Dreamer” comes from Jeff Harris, the pianist, symphony conductor, and composer who for years accompanied Maureen McGovern; her 1998 recording was the touchstone for this track. The song’s yearning and desperation touched Tawanda, who couldn’t help but recall “the parts of myself that were lost over the last few years.”

Her skill at choral singing shines through in the closing “Smile,” an a cappella overdubbed solo quartet of Tawanda's, arranged by Nelson. TAWANDA Her listeners, especially the young ones, feel the same sense of discovery when she sings. “I’m always happily surprised when friends come to my shows and say, wow, I didn’t even know about jazz, and this was beautiful.”

Tawanda is determined, she says, to keep developing, and to “sing these different styles of music and honor the song while putting my own spin on things. I’ve been practicing a lot and trying to get more comfortable with jazz theory and expression. I want to be right there with my voice and storytelling.” She’s well on her way.

— James Gavin New York City, 2022