Having started out playing piano and singing in the church choir of her hometown of Roanoke, Virginia, Jackson took early inspiration from the likes of Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone, and it’s the long-standing influence of these artists that inform My American Songbook.

Featuring smartly arranged, free-flowing reworkings of standards, including My Baby Just Cares For Me, Come Rain Or Come Shine and Stormy Weather, as well as Randy Newman’s Baltimore and The Beatles’ Here Comes The Sun, the album showcases Jackson’s masterful technical ability and the complex depth of emotion she brings to her vocal performances.