The first thing that strikes you when listening to album opener ‘We Are’ on this impressive debut album from Texas-born, New Orleans-based vocalist Quiana Lynell is her gorgeous, lustrous timbre, closely followed by her exceptional storytelling gift on the Donny Hathaway/Leroy Hutson-penned ‘Tryin' Times’. Mentored by the great Terence Blanchard, who has called her “a unique talent”, and backed by an adroitly creative band that includes pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist George DeLancey and drummer Jamison Ross, Lynell delivers a beautifully phrased ‘Move Me No Mountain’ and soars majestically on Ellington's ‘Come Sunday’, which segues seamlessly into a compelling take on ‘I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free)’. Showing that she's entirely at home with the blues, Lynell's take on ‘Hip Shakin' Momma’ – a song previously covered by one of her musical touchstones, Irma Thomas, and one that Lynell sang when she triumphed at the 2017 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition – possesses an electrifying charge. The album closes in the most moving way imaginable with Joshuah Campbell's powerful protest song ‘Sing Out, March On’, in which Lynell is backed by a vocal chorus made up of four generations of her family.