Emily Saunders

The early 2010s found young British jazz vocalist Emily Saunders establishing herself across London through her sultry Latin-inflected grooves, refined approach to songcraft, and extraordinary command of extended vocal improvisation, drawing acclaim from both specialized outlets and broader media. Raised in a household steeped in music—her grandmother performed classical piano, her sister wrote compositions, and her father worked as a conductor and arranger—Saunders began piano studies and songwriting while still young, soon developing a passion for improvisation that led her to pursue jazz voice training at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London.

Throughout her teenage years and conservatory period she absorbed an eclectic range of influences spanning vintage soul and rock, reggae, and ambient techno, yet she formed the deepest connection with Brazilian jazz figures such as Hermeto Pascoal, Egberto Gismonti, and Airto Moreira, whose work shaped her own compositional explorations. Once her skills had matured, she assembled a group of accomplished improvisers drawn from the leading young talents in British jazz, among them trumpeter Byron Wallen and pianist Bruno Heinen, and began performing. Reviewers placed her alongside her Brazilian inspirations, lauding her gifts as composer and arranger while especially highlighting her warm, mellow timbre and distinctive vocalese improvisations, which they likened to those of Gretchen Parlato and Madeleine Peyroux. Her first album, Cotton Skies, appeared in July 2011.