Emily Saunders

The young British jazz chanteuse Emily Saunders burst onto the London scene in the early 2010s with her sultry Latin rhythms, classy songwriting, and a remarkable ability for extended vocal improvisational technique that saw her widely praised by both niche and mainstream press. Born into a musical family — her grandmother was a classical pianist, her sister a composer, and her father a conductor and arranger — Saunders took to playing the piano and composing songs at an early age before developing a fascination with improvisation and going on to study jazz voice at London's Trinity Laban Conservatoire.

During her teens and her time at college, she cultivated a catholic musical taste encompassing everything from old-school soul and rock to reggae and ambient techno, but became particularly enamored of Brazilian jazz giants such as Hermeto Pascoal, Egberto Gismonti, and Airto Moreira, all of whom inspired her forays into composition. After honing her craft she took to the stage with a band of skilled improvisers which featured some of the most highly regarded young names in U.K. jazz, including trumpeter Byron Wallen and pianist Bruno Heinen. Critics judged Saunders fit to stand with her Brazilian heroes, raving not only about her skills as a composer and arranger, but primarily about her warm, mellow tones and remarkable vocalese improvisations, comparing her to the likes of Gretchen Parlato and Madeleine Peyroux. Her debut album, Cotton Skies, was released in July 2011., Rovi