Zara McFarlane
Jazz
Zara McFarlane is the UK’s foremost black, jazz vocalist. With two critically acclaimed albums to her name, she inhabits an unusual musical landscape, fearlessly exploring original material and reworking well known classics from the worlds of jazz and Jamaican music.
In 2010, Zara issued her self-produced EP, Until Tomorrow, catching the attention of Gilles Peterson who released her debut album of the same title on Brownswood Recordings the following year. Her next album, If You Know Her, released in 2014, showcased work drawing from many influences, from the deep ‘spiritual jazz’ movement of 70’s black America to soul, jazz, dub and reggae. In September 2017 she released her third album, Arise, produced by multi award winning drummer Moses Boyd.
Zara recently won Jazz FM Vocalist of the Year for her new album and Worldwide FM Session of the Year. She achieved a debut season with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Anthony and Cleopatra and is currently writing a musical inspired by a Caribbean folk story set in colonial Jamaica.
