Sonya Kitchell

Though Sonya Kitchell released her debut album at the tender age of 16, the singer’s warm, smoky vocals and sensual, relaxed songwriting style offered little evidence of her youth. Admirers quickly began lining up to work with the precocious talent, among them jazz legend Herbie Hancock, who offered her a spot in his touring band. Compared by critics to earlier wise-beyond-their-years artists Joni Mitchell and Fiona Apple, Kitchell’s work is at once virtuostic and sophisticated.