Arianna Neikrug has spent years singing songs that generations of jazz musicians have lived with. The New York vocalist won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2015, then released “Changes” in 2018. With “The Choice,” attention turns toward her own material. That’s the part of this chapter I find interesting. An accomplished interpreter already knows how much a phrase can carry.
Writing it yourself adds a different kind of exposure: the sentiment, the wording, the decisions all become yours. Her forthcoming album “Deep Blue” takes that commitment across thirteen tracks, with Neikrug handling vocals, songwriting, arrangements, and production. Carole King and Laura Nyro sit among her influences, which gives useful context for this move into pop.
ADVERTISEMENT
EXCLUSIVE
ACCESS
Indie Boulevard Magazine
Discover the Indie Artists Shaping the World!
Unleash the Indie
Latest Issue
for just €2.99!
I’m particularly interested in how that independence develops. Neikrug has given herself responsibility for the whole record, and “The Choice” offers an introduction to the songwriter taking charge of those decisions herself.
