Jazz vocalist and songwriter Leslie Vincent is celebrating the release of her third album, “Little Black Book,” which arrived in April via Jazz Is Cool Records. The album marks a significant milestone in Vincent’s career as her first full-length collection of original songs recorded with her longtime working band.
Vincent’s music blends jazz, swing, blues, pop, and singer-songwriter traditions with what she describes as “the theatrical instincts of a seasoned storyteller.” The new album draws heavily from her real-life autobiographical dating history, capturing the full spectrum of emotions from her search for love.
Watch Out Interview – We Play Samples of Two Tracks!
“So Little Black Book is comprised of tunes based around my real autobiographical dating history,” Vincent explained. “So spanning my search for love, men that broke my heart along the way, meeting my wife, getting married, and realizing what love really means.”
The album features contributions from with her longtime working band — pianist/keyboardist Patrick Adkins, guitarist Blake Foster, bassist Matt McIntyre, drummer Ben Ehrlich, and trumpeter Mitch Van Laar — as well as contributions from Jeremy Messersmith, Stephanie Wieseler, Zach Marley, and Mary Alice Hutton, with horn arrangements by Sam Charlton. The effect is a sound that reflects both romance and harder emotions including sadness, anger, longing, and humor. One track even addresses shopping at IKEA as “the cornerstone of a couple taking the next step in their relationship.”
Going Analog in a Digital World
One notable track from the new album is “Analog Love Affair,” which explores Vincent’s feelings about digital interruption in modern life. The song emerged during a car ride when she began improvising lyrics about what she was feeling and wishing for.
“Yeah, this is something that I’ve just felt for a long time. I always go back to this memory of when I graduated college, which was many, many years ago. I was like, ‘I’m getting off the grid. I don’t want to be on the internet.’ And at that time, I didn’t even have a smartphone yet, if that gives you any idea of where I was.”
Vincent continued, “And so I’ve never quite loved just how interruptive digital pieces can be in our lives. I hate being out to dinner and someone gets a notification. It just changes the whole vibe. I would love to live a life that is completely analog. It sounds so fun, so present, so juicy.”
She emphasized that everything she writes reflects her genuine feelings. “Everything I write are my real feelings, at least at this point in my career. And so these are beliefs I hold very dearly.”
Midwest Tour Dates and Special Performances
Vincent has packed her schedule with performances throughout the Midwest. On August 15, she brought her full band to Glenwood City, Wisconsin, performing at Everwood Farmstead—a special venue where she wrote much of the new record during a residency program.
“We’ll do tunes off the new record. We have some jazz standards that we have arrangements of. And then we’re always cooking, so we have some new things that we’ve been working up,” Vincent said about her performances.
Her tour continues with several August dates in Minnesota, including August 23 at The Hewing on the rooftop with Americana songwriter Sarah Morris, followed by August 26 at Maggie’s Lounge at Crooners in Fridley as part of Music on the Lawn, and August 28 also at Crooners.
Maggie’s Lounge represents a unique opportunity for Vincent to experiment with new material. “Those are the types of gigs where I’m the riskiest. So that’s where you can see me trying new tunes, trying new scat solos, trying new things. It’s hard to put your risky stuff if someone’s paid $40 for a ticket. You want to practice and get some good reps. And so if you want to see me do things that are more, yeah, just not quite as polished, not quite as ready, every now and again I’ll take a request. Maggie’s is the place to do it.”
Shania Twain Night Tradition
On August 29, Vincent heads to the Turf Club for the annual Shania Twain Night, a tradition that brings together musicians for Shania in the summer and Dolly Parton in the winter. Vincent describes it as “such a joy.”
“I have made so many friends. And I love the jazz community, but our community in Minnesota is so rich. And so this show has given me friends and rock, folk, Americana,” she said. “Every year we just see each other, we share glitter, we pump each other up. We wear ridiculous outfits and we sing Shania Twain with a house band.”
For this performance, Vincent will sing “Honey, I’m Home” and “Giddy Up,” a more recent single. “Even if you’ve never heard it by the end of the song, you can sing along. It is perhaps her worst lyrics. You can’t even believe she put these lyrics out, but it is such a bop.”
The event serves a charitable purpose as well.
“The whole point, the other point of this is that [Shania] has some different political views,” said Vincent. “And so we do this to raise money for different causes that she probably wouldn’t like.”
Honest Truths and Artistic Expression
Another track from “Little Black Book,” titled “Harriet the Spy,” explores Vincent’s ongoing struggle with truth-telling and judgment. The song reflects her experience adapting from East Coast sensibilities to Midwest culture.
“Yeah, so Harriet the Spy is something I’ve thought about basically since I saw the movie as a kid, which was what is an appropriate truth to think about or say out loud when it comes to other people? So I am from the East Coast. I was raised to be judgmental. And as I adapt to Midwest sensibilities, it’s always hard for me to understand what is worth saying out loud and what is not worth saying out loud.”
The chorus poses a question she considers regularly: “The world doesn’t have the room for all our truths. Better to keep them close to you. Your petty observations and your honest revelations, what good could they do?”
Vincent acknowledged her own lack of filter sometimes. “I definitely, I have one of those mouths that I just say stuff. I don’t have a lot of filter sometimes, and I’m an external processor. And so yeah, I probably shouldn’t be thriving as much in Minnesota as I am, honestly.”
Upcoming Wisconsin and Beyond
Vincent will continue her tour through fall with additional Midwest dates. She returns to Madison’s North Street Cabaret on September 17, performing with a full band including piano, bass, drums, and trumpet. She notes that Madison crowds differ notably from Twin Cities audiences.
“A Madison crowd is wild. In the cities, everyone is reserved, everyone is chill. In Madison, they are really vocal in the best way, laughing. Yeah. Kind of like Shania, honestly, hootin’ and hollering, which you don’t really get in jazz.”
On September 18, she will perform with the Leslie Vincent Quartet at Milwaukee’s Bar Centro. On October 8, she’ll be in Des Moines, Iowa at Noce.
Connecting with Leslie Vincent
Fans can find tour dates, tickets, and updates at https://lesliedellavincent.com, where they can also sign up for Vincent’s newsletter for complete information about upcoming performances. Vincent maintains an active presence on TikTok as Leslie Vincent Jazz.
“Little Black Book” is available now via Jazz Is Cool Records, featuring the collaborative work that has made Leslie Vincent one of the most recognizable jazz vocalists to emerge from Minneapolis in recent years.
