Madeleine Peyroux

From the streets of Paris's Latin Quarter, where she got her start, to the biggest studios, American singer Madeleine Peyroux has established herself as one of the great jazz voices of her generation. Born in Athens, Georgia, on April 18, 1974, she grew up between California and New York, before following her mother to Paris at the age of thirteen. It was there that her vocation as a singer was born, as she followed and eventually joined The Riverboat Shufflers, a group that played Dixieland jazz on the streets. Three years later, it was with The Lost & Wandering Blues & Jazz Band that she performed on stage for several years, interpreting standards on tours across Europe. Noticed by producer Yves Beauvais of the Atlantic label on her return to the U.S., Madeleine Peyroux recorded her debut album Dreamland (1996) with such luminaries as James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Marc Ribot, Leon Parker and Vernon Reid. The singer, now compared to Billie Holiday for her elegant, melancholy voice, devoted herself to touring, accompanying herself on guitar, before returning to the studio in 2003 to record Got You on My Mind, composed entirely by harmonica player William Galison. This was followed by her second solo album, Careless Love (2004), produced by Larry Klein and featuring covers of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Elliott Smith and Hank Williams. The revelation album, ranked No. 71 on the Billboard 200 (No. 2 in jazz sales) and almost everywhere else in the world, received several gold and platinum discs, and earned its performer a Victoire du jazz award in 2005. Madeleine Peyroux continues to record for the Rounder label, with albums Half the Perfect World (2006) and Bare Bones (2009), ranked respectively No. 33 and No. 71 in the U.S. and No. 1 in the jazz category. Returning to the Decca label in 2011, Madeleine Peyroux signed the Standing on the Rooftop album, featuring eight of her own compositions and contributions from Meshell Ndegeocello and Allen Toussaint, among others. In 2013, the following The Blue Room saw her sing with an orchestra led by Vince Mendoza, before being nominated for a Grammy Award. Still made up of unexpected covers, Secular Hymns (2018) blends jazz with blues and soul for the Impulse! label, while Anthem (2018) marks her return to Decca, with a reading of Paul Éluard's poem Liberté. The Covid-19 pandemic that followed was an opportunity for the artist to compose with multi-instrumentalist and arranger Jon Herington, before working with producer Elliott Scheiner on the album Let's Walk (2024), still a best-selling jazz album.