Exciting Jazz-Vocal Discovery Tawanda, Winner Of The 2021 Sarah Vaughan Competition, Releases Much-Awaited Debut Album 'Smile' On Resonance Records

On October 28, 2022, Resonance Records, the acclaimed jazz label, will issue the first album by one of the most promising young jazz singers to emerge in years: Tawanda Suessbrich-Joaquim, known simply as Tawanda. The Los Angeles-based vocalist, 26, sings in a cloudless alto with a crystalline shimmer, effortless but unfussy jazz feeling, immaculate musicianship, and a maturity that few of her contemporaries possess.

In June of 2021, Tawanda tied for first place with Gabrielle Cavassa in the 9th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, held in Newark, New Jersey. (The competition was originally slated to be held in 2020 but delayed due to COVID. The winner of the 10th annual competition was also announced in 2021). Her performance—judged by a panel that included singers Carmen Lundy and Vanessa Rubin and bassist Christian McBride—was all the more impressive given that Tawanda had performed her first full show just a year before.