| Jazz |
A Voice That Shines Through the Standards: Tracing the Artistic Journey of Jenna McLean
by Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, May 18th 2025
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Jenna McLean – Brighter Day
We first encountered Jenna McLean under a blaze of brilliance on the album Tenor Madness by the Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra, featuring jazz stalwarts Don Aliquo and Jeff Coffin. McLean’s performance on that recording was nothing short of dazzling, an arresting vocal presence that lingered long after the track ended. It was the kind of musical moment that leaves critics and listeners alike asking, “Who is she?” A few months later, our curiosity was rewarded with a copy of her 2019 debut album Brighter Day (Moddal Records), and then, in early 2025, her latest work For Your Love—a pair of releases that together offer a revealing portrait of an artist charting her own deliberate course through the often turbulent waters of vocal jazz.
Where many emerging jazz singers attempt to announce themselves with maximalist flair, complex arrangements, virtuosic displays, and an insistence on original compositions, McLean’s Brighter Day is striking for its restraint, clarity, and focus. On the surface, it may seem like a collection of well-worn standards, but a closer listen reveals something far more sophisticated. McLean isn’t merely revisiting the canon, she is interrogating it, finding spaces within these familiar songs to explore and test her unique vocal instrument.
In tone and phrasing, there are moments that call to mind the lighter-than-air delivery of Michael Franks, not in genre, but in that same breezy, unforced way she suspends her voice across time and harmony. The influence of groups like Manhattan Transfer also flickers at the edges of her style; not in mimicry, but in the structural precision and jazz fluency with which she approaches the material. There is a kind of studied elegance to her choices, each word and note placed as if with jeweler’s tweezers, a hallmark of an artist who knows exactly what she wants to communicate.
The track list reads like a reverent nod to the greats, Wayne Shorter, Tommy Dorsey, and, in a standout moment, Joni Mitchell. In her rendering of Mitchell, McLean does something rare: she doesn’t simply interpret the song, she transforms it. Her version is arguably more emotionally resonant, more ethereal and haunting than Mitchell’s own. It is in moments like these that McLean’s dual gifts, as a vocalist and as an interpreter, become unmistakable. She approaches each lyric like a line of poetry, not to be recited, but excavated for emotional truth.
The album’s lone original composition, “Brighter Day,” is both an anchor and a quiet manifesto. It hints at the creative voice that McLean may yet reveal more fully in time, but for now, its presence serves as a point of origin, a glimpse into the musical identity she is still carefully shaping. That she chose to include only one self-penned piece speaks volumes.
Rather than rushing to establish her songwriting credentials, McLean seems intent on mastering the landscape first. Her approach is that of a craftsman, or more precisely, a jeweler: refining, reshaping, polishing each facet until the full brilliance of her artistry can shine without obstruction.
Brighter Day is, in this sense, more than a debut album, it is a document of artistic formation. For those curious about McLean’s trajectory, it offers a foundational text, rich with clues about her method and her ambition. It’s also a reminder that sometimes, the most revealing creative statements come not from invention, but from interpretation, from the willingness to engage deeply with what has come before, and to find within it the threads of one’s own voice.
There is little doubt that McLean’s moment will come, that future albums will unveil a deeper catalog of original material and solidify her standing as one of the most compelling vocalists of her generation. But Brighter Day proves something equally valuable: that she is an artist who understands patience, reverence, and the slow, intricate work of making music that lasts.
Tracklist :
Intro
Long Ago And Far Away
Lover Man
Gentleman Friend
Strong And Wrong
Fee Fi Fo Fum
Brighter Day
I’m Glad There Is You
Sunday
Musicians :
Jenna McLean, vocals
Steve Kovalcheck – Guitar
Tom Amend – Piano
Seth Lewis – Bass
Brian Claxton – Drums
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Jenna McLean – For Your Love
Self released – 2025
A Voice of Her Own: How Jenna McLean’s Second Album Carves a New Space in Contemporary Jazz
Jenna McLean’s second album marks a striking evolution from her debut—an artistic pivot that both affirms her place in the contemporary jazz scene and hints at a creative trajectory worth watching closely. While this new record, like her first, contains a fair number of reinterpretations and covers, it’s not just a continuation, it’s a declaration. McLean, it seems, is no longer simply interpreting the standards; she’s reshaping the contours of the genre with her own voice.
Three of the tracks, “For Your Love,” “In Time,” and “Just the Same”, are original compositions, and they don’t just stand out; they dominate. These songs offer the clearest glimpse yet into the artistic soul of McLean: intimate, inventive, and thoroughly grounded in the 21st century. Musically and lyrically, they reflect a depth of poetic ambition and emotional subtlety that set her apart from the crowd. Her writing is not only contemporary in its themes and structures, it’s elegant, modern, and unmistakably personal.
Stylistically, McLean moves with ease through the soft undercurrents of jazz balladry, punctuating her vocal lines with moments of scat that reveal the extent of her improvisational fluency. It’s a performance style that feels as if it’s drawn from deep within, never flashy, never forced, but luminous in its restraint. Her voice has a filigreed clarity, an aerial precision that lifts each phrase just slightly above the expected, as if she were threading silk through air.
What is perhaps most remarkable about this album is not only McLean’s increasing confidence as a composer and interpreter, but her impeccable choice of collaborators. If her debut was backed by a more traditional ensemble, solid, masterful, but stylistically safe, this new record finds her surrounded by musicians whose complexity and texture better complement her evolving sound. The result is an ensemble that doesn’t merely accompany her but engages in a kind of conversational interplay, building atmospheres that feel bespoke.
And then there’s “For Your Love”, a track that could, in another timeline, become the anthem of a thoughtful summer. Catchy but not shallow, accessible yet rich with nuance, it encapsulates what McLean does best: merging lyrical introspection with melodic radiance. It’s a song that invites repeat listens not just because of its musical hooks, but because its meaning deepens over time.
Still, this is not easy-listening jazz. Both of McLean’s albums require a certain degree of musical literacy and a sensitivity to vocal nuance. They reward the listener willing to listen attentively, to dwell in the silences between phrases, to follow the arc of a melodic idea as it curls inward before blooming into something unexpected.
Looking ahead, it will be fascinating to watch how McLean continues to shape her artistic identity, through collaborations, future albums, and the steady sharpening of her creative tools. But one thing seems clear: Jenna McLean is no longer emerging. She has arrived. And if the trajectory of her work continues at this pace, her name will soon be written in bold across the landscape of modern jazz.
Tracklist :
The Sweetest Sounds
For Your Love
In Time
Just The Same
I Must Be In Good Place Now
Send For Me
When The Sun Comes Out
It Never Was You
Musicians :
Jenna McLean, vocals
Jean McManaman, guitar
Matt Smiley, Bass
Chris Smith, drums