Vocalist and composer Robin McKelle (Rochester, 1976) skilfully combines jazz, soul, pop, gospel, blues and so-called. American songbook. Among her early influences were Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner and Janis Joplin, but when she became more interested in jazz, she naturally turned to Ellie Fitzgerald. In Mckelle’s performance, the strong character of the early models is perfectly blended with Ella’s refined jazz, and this combination allows her to easily exchange different musical worlds.
She made her discographic debut in 2006 with the album Introducing Robin McKelle , with a standard jazz repertoire accompanied by a large orchestra. In the same manner was the next achievement Modern Antique (2008), while on the third album Mess Around (2010) he appears for the first time accompanied by a small band, combining jazz, soul and pop. On the next three albums, soul is more prevalent, accompanied by The Flytones. The album The Looking Glass (2016) is the first work with exclusively her songs, and on Melodic Canvas (2018) she deals with more difficult topics for the first time – politics, faith and social problems. Two years later, the album Alternations was released , on which he gives an authentic view of tracks by famous female authors (Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday, Dolly Parton, Adele…)
Current release Impressions of Ella (2023) is what we’ve been waiting for, recognizing the similarity of her warm alto to Ella Fitzgerald’s voice. She got the idea feeling nostalgic and longing during the covid pandemic: she wanted to return to her roots in the swing waters. On the album, she is accompanied by the famous pianist Kenny Barron, and the brothers Peter and Kenny Washington on bass and drums. The program includes a number of tracks that Ella made famous, such as April in Paris , Embraceable You , How High The Moon and Lush Life , as well as I Wo n’t Dance , in which she was joined in the studio by Kurt Elling. He will present this repertoire at his first performance in Serbia, accompanied by first-class rhythm players from the French jazz scene.