Lauren Henderson, a vocalist of refined artistry, draws upon jazz, flamenco, R&B, and Latin traditions for her distinctive voice. As founder of Brontosaurus Records, she has received recognition for her cross-genre albums A la Madrugada in 2015, Armame in 2018, and The Songbook Session in 2020, the last recorded with pianist Sullivan Fortner. Close work with vibraphonist Joel Ross and pianist Sean Mason has yielded La Bruja in 2022, Conjuring in 2023, and Sombras in 2024.
Born in 1986 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, she began piano lessons in childhood and sang regularly in church and school choirs. Her parents’ record collection fostered an early interest in jazz. After secondary school she enrolled at Wheaton College, completing a Bachelor of Arts that combined music and Hispanic studies. While there she directed the gospel and R&B vocal ensemble VUJ (Voices United to Jam), performed in the jazz band, and studied classical voice and musical theater; private lessons and master classes with Barry Harris, Jane Monheit, and Paquito D’Rivera further shaped her skills. Her debut arrived in 2011 with the standards album Lauren Henderson.
Building on these pursuits, she studied traditional Yucatán music at Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla in Mexico and later explored flamenco and jazz at La Universidad de Córdoba in Spain, ultimately earning an Executive MBA from Brown University in Rhode Island and IE Business School in Madrid. Under her own Brontosaurus Records she released the sophomore album A La Madrugada in 2015, mixing standards and originals sung in English and Spanish.
Subsequent projects have continued to merge jazz, R&B, and Latin styles, including Armame in 2018 and Alma Oscura in 2019, the latter featuring contributions from Sullivan Fortner, Michael Thurber, Mark Dover, and others. In 2020 she reunited with Fortner for The Songbook Session and issued her first holiday collection, Classic Christmas.
La Bruja followed two years later, supported by vibraphonist Joel Ross, guitarists Nick Tannura and Gabe Schnider, pianists Sean Mason and John Chin, and drummers Eric Wheeler and Joe Dyson. A similar ensemble appeared on the 2023 magic-themed album Conjuring, which paired standards with original songs. With Sombras in 2024 she returned to Latin-inflected material, again accompanied by Ross, Dyson, Mason, and bassist Jonathan Michel.
