Lauren Henderson is an American jazz singer, composer and producer known for her smooth mix of jazz and soul with Latin influences. With her smoky, expressive voice and bilingual repertoire in English and Spanish, she brings warmth, intimacy and openness to every performance.
Just as Stockholm started to get truly colder, along came Lauren Henderson, warming up a beautiful Saturday evening. The most noticeable thing about Henderson is the perfect sync between her cat-like presence and her cat-like voice. Half whispering, half breathing out every word of the intro, she set the stage for a promising night of heartfelt jazz.
Early on, she introduced the band members through solos to set the tone. NY-based Henderson brought along an international crew, featuring Sammy Lukas on the piano from Berlin, Jason Clotter on the bass from the Bronx, Elio Coppola on the drums from Naples and Nick Tannura on the guitar from Chicago.
She opened her first set with a mix of originals like Spells and classics such as Cole Porter’s I Concentrate on You. And she certainly did concentrate on the audience! Lauren Henderson promised to read as many of us in the audience as she could and, throughout the night, she looked into people’s eyes, searching for connection and smiled directly to the cameras if she spotted them in the limelight.
Then, Henderson added some Latin flair, delivering a live performance of her own Spanish-language creations Vida, Venas and others. Her lifelong connection to the Spanish-speaking world truly shone through, making the audience feel a bit more in a vacation mode.
While singing, she seemed touched by every word and transmitted each meaning to the audience, no matter the language. In general, Henderson maintained an open, welcoming and cosy vibe on stage, offering many words of appreciation and gratitude to both the audience and the organisers.
In the second set, Henderson doubled down on the warmth and that cosy nougat-like feeling with all-time favourites like Perfidia, The Look of Love and Bésame Mucho. It might seem easier to perform the well-known songs and stay two steps ahead in connecting with the audience. However, the real connection happens when the artist brings something of their own to the table. This way, her renditions of these classics had a more gradual, evolving tone that felt like a giant hug.
