Arianna Neikrug - Changes

After winning the 2015 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition then performing at the Montreal International Jazz Festival the following year, singer and songwriter Arianna Neikrug makes her grander introduction to the music world with the release of 'Changes' on Concord Jazz.

Produced by the Grammy-winning pianist and arranger Laurence Hobgood, 'Changes' displays Arianna Neikrug's gift for interpreting tunes from the Great American Songbook and more recent pop and R&B classics from the '70s. The disc also contains two originals that reveal some of Neikrug's journey from her hometown of Los Angeles to New York City.

Hobgood, who recruited his regular trio mates - drummer Jared Schonig and bassist Matt Clohesy - for 'Changes', describes Neikrug as an intellectual and complex person. I can honestly say that she's the most theoretically informed singer that I've ever worked with - in terms of just knowing music, Hobgood says.

'Changes' blends the right amount of reverence for the jazz tradition with a knowing glance to modern pop and R&B classics. It will delight both jazz purists and novices without making any unwise artistic compromises as she superbly negotiates the glories of jazz's past with a wide-eyed optimism that betrays her tender age.