Robin McKelle

8108 fans

I'm back and 100% swinging with a new album on the way JUNE 2023

From country music to rhythm and blues, Robin McKelle has made an entire career exploring the rich vastness of American music. With Impressions of Ella, McKelle returns to her traditional jazz roots and finds herself right at home.

“There was a part of me that wasn't writing so much,” says the seasoned vocalist. “I wasn't singing a lot, and I really missed [performing] live music. When I [started] to think about what I wanted to do for my next project, there was just so much of a feeling over the time of COVID; this feeling of nostalgia and longing for what felt like home. I felt it was the right moment to change gears and get back into that traditional swing and everything that helped me break into my career as an artist.”

Introducing Robin McKelle, her eponymous 2006 debut, delved into a dozen timeless standards of the swing era (“Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Night and Day,” “On the Sunny Side of the Street”). For her latest effort, McKelle draws from only one source and perhaps her greatest artistic influence, Ella Fitzgerald. “The concept of the music of Ella came about because she was my first introduction to vocal jazz. I learned so much from her singing — the style of her swing feel and her singing resonates [with] me.”

To help bring her concept to life, McKelle enlists a brand new trio of venerated jazz players: Kenny Washington on drums, bassist Peter Washington, and NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron on piano. “I wasn’t intimidated to make music with them, but [their] résumés were like, ‘Wow!’ [Am I] going to be good enough? Are we going to connect? The exciting thing was having the opportunity to sing over them as a trio; that was such a huge joy.”

Impressions of Ella finds McKelle a little older and a lot wiser. More than 15 years since her first album, she finally feels ready to tackle the emotional heft behind these jazz standards. “My voice has matured, and I have grown so much as a woman. I felt like I was really at a point in my life where the lyrics resonated with me, and I could sing these stories because I had lived them. It wasn't like me as a 20-year-old singer [who] really wouldn't understand or maybe haven't had the loss of love or true love at that point in my life. And so I felt like at my age now and my maturity, I was ready to return to this music and this repertoire.”

Impressions of Ella features selections from an extensive catalog, including duets with the Oscar Peterson Trio. However, it is far more than a tribute album. McKelle wisely eschews Ella’s scatting and note-bending style in favor of thoughtful arrangements and keen musicianship that revivify these timeless standards.

The bond between a vocalist and an accompanist is perhaps one of music’s most profound and extraordinary unions. Barron, a living jazz piano virtuoso, keenly understands this more than most. Cutting his teeth as a sideman for Philly Joe Jones and Dizzy Gillespie, Barron has recorded more than 50 albums, spanning over five decades, as leader. On “Lush Life,” Barron opens with warm restraint, reminiscent of predecessors Duke Ellington and Red Garland. Staying close to the original ballad, alongside Peter and Kenny Washington, the trio supports McKelle as she relishes the palpable ache of Billy Strayhorn’s tune still felt decades later.

Countervailing the earlier track, “Embraceable You” shifts the album’s overall mood. A widely recorded Gershwin standard, McKelle takes the reins of this redolent ballad in her command and approach. From the arrangement to its arresting lyrics, an overwhelming heft is felt almost immediately, as if McKelle and the trio members are collectively drawing from their experiences to bring out the song’s emotional gravitas.

“I Won’t Dance” features Grammy Award winner Kurt Elling as a guest artist. McKelle credits Elling as a champion and mentor since the beginning of her career. An homage to the many celebrated duets Ella recorded with Louis Armstrong, Elling and McKelle retain the charisma and whimsy of the original tune, sounding more like two old friends after a long absence.

Perhaps the most unrecognizable of the standards is “April in Paris,” as McKelle transforms it into a slinky bossa nova. It marks such a departure that during the recording, McKelle shared that Kenny Washington had never played the tune as a samba before. After recording it, however, he quickly said, “I like that!”

With Impressions of Ella, she doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel or limit her potential for creative expression. While it lauds our “First Lady of Song,” the album also marks an inevitable coming of age for McKelle’s career in jazz, as the fruits of her hard work and years of training finally ripen and bear fruit.
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Top tracks

01
It's Your Thing
Robin McKelle
It's Your Thing
03:31
Composers: Ronald Isley - O Kelly Isley - Rudolph Isley
01
Do You Believe (Eric Legnini Remix)
Robin McKelle
Do You Believe (Eric Legnini Remix)
03:31
Composers: Robin McKelle
05
Born to Die
Robin McKelle
Alterations
05:32
Composers: Elizabeth Grant - Justin Parker
01
Mean To Me
Robin McKelle
Mean To Me
02:27
Composers: Fred E Ahlert - Roy Turk
05
Cheek to Cheek
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
03:46
Composers: Irving Berlin
07
Cry Me A River
Robin McKelle
Mess Around
04:39
04
How High the Moon
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
02:50
Writer: William Lewis / Composers: Nancy Hamilton
09
Lullaby of Birdland
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
03:28
Composers: George Shearing - George David Weiss
08
No Ordinary Love
Robin McKelle
Alterations
05:25
Composers: Stuart Matthewman - Sade
01
Abracadabra
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
03:34
Composers: Steve Miller
02
Comes Love
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
03:24
Composers: Lew Brown - Sam H Stept - Charles Tobias
02
My One and Only
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
02:48
Writer: Ira Gershwin - Guy Wood / Composers: Robert Mellin - George Gershwin
03
Head High
Robin McKelle
Alterations
03:39
Composers: Robin McKelle
02
Bei Mir Bist Du Schön
Robin McKelle
Introducing Robin McKelle
03:37
Composers: Sholom Secunda - Sammy Cahn
03
Lush Life
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
05:51
Writer: Billy Strayhorn / Composers: Billy Strayhorn
05
I Won't Dance
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
04:17
Writer: Jerome Kern / Composers: Dorothy Fields
01
Old Devil Moon
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
04:19
Writer: Burton Lane / Composers: Yip Harburg
01
Back to Black
Robin McKelle
Alterations
05:14
Composers: Mark Ronson - Amy Winehouse
05
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Robin McKelle
Melodic Canvas
05:38
Composers: Public Domain
01
I'm Confessin That I Love You
Robin McKelle
I'm Confessin That I Love You
04:45
Composers: Chris Smith - AI J NEIBURG
06
Jolene
Robin McKelle
Alterations
04:59
Composers: Dolly Parton
07
Do Nothing Til You Hear from Me
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
07:01
Writer: Duke Ellington / Composers: Bob Russell
11
Remember
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
04:39
Composers: Robin McKelle
10
I Just Want To Make Love To You
Robin McKelle
Mess Around
04:25
01
Do You Believe
Robin McKelle
Melodic Canvas
03:27
Composers: Robin McKelle
05
You Brought a New Kind of Love
Robin McKelle
Introducing Robin McKelle
02:52
Composers: Sammy Fain - Irving Kahal - Pierre Norman

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  • Discography
Albums
DOXIE RECORDS
02-06-2023
Impressions of Ella
01
Old Devil Moon
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
04:19
Writer: Burton Lane / Composers: Yip Harburg
02
My One and Only
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
02:48
Writer: Ira Gershwin - Guy Wood / Composers: Robert Mellin - George Gershwin
03
Lush Life
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
05:51
Writer: Billy Strayhorn / Composers: Billy Strayhorn
04
How High the Moon
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
02:50
Writer: William Lewis / Composers: Nancy Hamilton
05
I Won't Dance
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
04:17
Writer: Jerome Kern / Composers: Dorothy Fields
06
Embraceable You
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
04:40
Writer: Ira Gershwin / Composers: George Gershwin
07
Do Nothing Til You Hear from Me
Robin McKelle
Impressions of Ella
07:01
Writer: Duke Ellington / Composers: Bob Russell
Access the complete album info (11 songs)
(P) 2020 Doxie Records
14-02-2020
Alterations
01
Back to Black
Robin McKelle
Alterations
05:14
Composers: Mark Ronson - Amy Winehouse
02
Rolling in the Deep
Robin McKelle
Alterations
04:30
Composers: Adkins Adele - Epworth Paul
03
Head High
Robin McKelle
Alterations
03:39
Composers: Robin McKelle
04
Don't Explain
Robin McKelle
Alterations
05:43
Composers: Arthur Herzog - Billie Holiday
05
Born to Die
Robin McKelle
Alterations
05:32
Composers: Elizabeth Grant - Justin Parker
06
Jolene
Robin McKelle
Alterations
04:59
Composers: Dolly Parton
07
River
Robin McKelle
Alterations
05:30
Composers: Joni Mitchell
Access the complete album info (10 songs)
(P) 2018 Doxie Records
20-04-2018
Melodic Canvas
01
Do You Believe
Robin McKelle
Melodic Canvas
03:27
Composers: Robin McKelle
02
Lyla
Robin McKelle
Melodic Canvas
05:54
Composers: Robin McKelle
03
Come to Me
Robin McKelle
Melodic Canvas
05:29
Composers: Robin McKelle
04
Your're No Good
Robin McKelle
Melodic Canvas
05:12
Composers: Robin McKelle
05
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Robin McKelle
Melodic Canvas
05:38
Composers: Public Domain
06
Simple Man
Robin McKelle
Melodic Canvas
05:29
Composers: Robin McKelle
07
The Sun Died
Robin McKelle
Melodic Canvas
04:23
Composers: Hubert Giraud - Ann Gregory - Ray Charles
Access the complete album info (10 songs)
2010 E1 Music
20-01-2010
Mess Around
01
Mess Around
Robin McKelle
Mess Around
04:34
02
I Can't See Nobody
Robin McKelle
Mess Around
03:53
03
Never Make A Move Too Soon
Robin McKelle
Mess Around
04:22
04
Everybody Knows
Robin McKelle
Mess Around
05:06
05
Angel
Robin McKelle
Mess Around
06:08
06
Until The Day I Die
Robin McKelle
Mess Around
04:58
07
Cry Me A River
Robin McKelle
Mess Around
04:39
Access the complete album info (11 songs)
2008 Robin McKelle
25-04-2008
Modern Antique
01
Abracadabra
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
03:34
Composers: Steve Miller
02
Comes Love
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
03:24
Composers: Lew Brown - Sam H Stept - Charles Tobias
03
I Want to Be Loved
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
03:38
Composers: John W Green - Edward Heyman - Billy Rose
04
Lover Man
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
04:42
Composers: James Davis - Roger Ramirez - James Sherman
05
Cheek to Cheek
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
03:46
Composers: Irving Berlin
06
Day by Day
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
03:26
Composers: Sammy Cahn - Axel Stordahl - Paul Weston
07
Save Your Love for Me
Robin McKelle
Modern Antique
06:16
Composers: Buddy Johnson
Access the complete album info (11 songs)
2021 Robin McKelle
02-05-2006
Introducing Robin McKelle
01
Something's Gotta Give
Robin McKelle
Introducing Robin McKelle
03:13
Composers: Johnny Mercer
02
Bei Mir Bist Du Schön
Robin McKelle
Introducing Robin McKelle
03:37
Composers: Sholom Secunda - Sammy Cahn
03
Night & Day
Robin McKelle
Introducing Robin McKelle
03:50
Composers: Cole Porter
04
For All We Know
Robin McKelle
Introducing Robin McKelle
04:43
Composers: Fred Coots - Sam Lewis
05
You Brought a New Kind of Love
Robin McKelle
Introducing Robin McKelle
02:52
Composers: Sammy Fain - Irving Kahal - Pierre Norman
06
Dream
Robin McKelle
Introducing Robin McKelle
02:59
Composers: Johnny Mercer
07
Yes, My Darling Daughter
Robin McKelle
Introducing Robin McKelle
02:24
Composers: Jack Lawrence
Access the complete album info (12 songs)
Singles
2025 Robin McKelle
16-05-2025
It's Your Thing
01
It's Your Thing
Robin McKelle
It's Your Thing
03:31
Composers: Ronald Isley - O Kelly Isley - Rudolph Isley
2025 Robin McKelle
25-04-2025
Mean To Me
01
Mean To Me
Robin McKelle
Mean To Me
02:27
Composers: Fred E Ahlert - Roy Turk
2025 Robin McKelle
21-03-2025
Never Can Say Goodbye
01
Never Can Say Goodbye
Robin McKelle
Never Can Say Goodbye
04:23
Composers: Clifton Davis
2025 Robin McKelle
21-02-2025
I'm Confessin That I Love You
01
I'm Confessin That I Love You
Robin McKelle
I'm Confessin That I Love You
04:45
Composers: Chris Smith - AI J NEIBURG
2025 Doxie Records
14-02-2025
Do You Believe (Danny Waters Extended Remix)
01
Do You Believe (Danny Waters Extended Remix)
Robin McKelle
Do You Believe (Danny Waters Extended Remix)
05:14
Writer: Robin McElhatten / Composers: Robin McElhatten
2025 Doxie Records
14-02-2025
Do You Believe (Danny Waters Radio Remix)
01
Do You Believe (Danny Waters Radio Remix)
Robin McKelle
Do You Believe (Danny Waters Radio Remix)
03:20
Writer: Robin McKelle / Composers: Robin McKelle
2025 Robin McKelle
24-01-2025
Everything Must Change
01
Everything Must Change
Robin McKelle
Everything Must Change
05:29
Composers: Benard Ighner
DOXIE RECORDS
24-02-2023
My One and Only
01
My One and Only
Robin McKelle
My One and Only
02:48
Writer: Ira Gershwin / Composers: George Gershwin
02
Taking a Chance on Love
Robin McKelle
My One and Only
03:48
Writer: Vernon Duke / Composers: John La Touche - Ted Fetter
DOXIE RECORDS
27-01-2023
Taking a Chance on Love
01
Taking a Chance on Love
Robin McKelle
Taking a Chance on Love
03:20
Writer: John Latouche - Ted Fetter / Composers: Duke Vernon