Quiana Lynell

Vocalist Quiana Lynell is gifted jazz performer with a bent toward standards, blues, contemporary gospel, and New Orleans R&B traditions. Emerging in Louisiana in the 2010s, Lynell came to wider recognition after winning the 2017 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. Her debut album, A Little Love, arrived in 2019. Born in Tyler, Texas, Lynell spent much of her youth in Abilene where she grew up singing gospel music in church. After high school, she moved to Baton Rouge where she attended Louisiana State University on scholarship, graduating with her B.A. in Vocal Performance. While living in Baton Rouge she sang classical music, and was a member of the St. James Episcopal Church choir. However, after having a child, she initially gave up performing. It was during this period that she befriended Janelle Brown, lead vocalist for the eclectic Zydeco and R&B ensemble 2 Da T, who encouraged her to return to performing and exposed her to a mix of jazz and other New Orleans sounds. Lynell began performing with 2 Da T and started leading her own jazz groups. She eventually relocated to New Orleans to pursue her passion for jazz. There, she further honed her skills working with artists like Aaron Neville, Germaine Bazzle, and Wendell Brunious. In 2016, she released the EP Loving Me. A year later, she gained wide acclaim after winning the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. Since then, she has performed and/or worked with Terence Blanchard, Nona Hendryx, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Marvin Sewell, Eric Harland, Herbie Hancock, Bilal, Ledisi, and many more. In 2019, she released her debut album, A Little Love, on Concord Records.
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