Champian As Producer: A STRIKING DEBUT FROM CHICAGO-BASED JAZZ VOCALIST ISABELLA ISHERWOOD THE SWEETEST SOUNDS
At just 23, jazz vocalist, pianist, and actor ISABELLA ISHERWOOD steps onto the national stage with THE SWEETEST SOUNDS, a debut album that reveals a mature artist with a strong command of lyrics, tone, and narrative. The album draws from the Great American Songbook, modern jazz repertoire, and select contemporary material, unified by Isherwood’s clear, warm alto and actor’s sensitivity to language. THE SWEETEST SOUNDS was produced by Champian Fulton, whose work as both pianist and vocalist has earned consistent recognition from the Jazz Journalists Association and DownBeat critics.
A Chicago native, Isherwood’s musical gifts run deep. She began studying classical piano at age four and grew up immersed in jazz recordings through her grandfather, Jerry Libby, a Detroit-based pianist and club owner whose independent label, Sabrina Records, was founded in 1964. Today, Isherwood helps steward the label’s legacy. In tribute to Libby, the catalog number of The Sweetest Sounds is 063, marking June 3, Libby’s birthday.
Despite her young age, Isherwood has already built a résumé that spans concert halls, festivals, and international touring. She has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall and Ravinia, appeared at the Chicago Jazz Festival, and toured extensively throughout Europe. Parallel to her music career, she is also an accomplished actor and co-founder of a theater company, bringing a distinctly dramatic and textual awareness to her vocal interpretations.
Joining Isherwood on THE SWEETEST SOUNDS are three outstanding Chicago musicians. Guitarist MIKE ALLEMANA, formerly a member of Charles Earland’s quartet, has shared the stage with Dr. Lonnie Smith, Von Freeman, and Jimmy Cobb, and co-founded the George Freeman/Mike Allemana Organ Quartet. Bassist JOE POLICASTRO, a writer and arranger, leads the Joe Policastro Trio and has performed and recorded with artists including Diane Schuur, Jeff Hamilton, Phil Woods, Tim Ries, Ira Sullivan, and Billy Hart. Drummer ALEJANDRO SALAZAR has toured extensively throughout Europe and the U.S., performing with Bobby Watson, Jon Faddis, Emmet Cohen, and many others.
The title track, “The Sweetest Sounds,” serves as the album’s emotional and conceptual anchor. “These songs aren’t only about romantic love,” Isherwood explains. “They’re about the creative act, the music that exists inside you before it becomes real.” That philosophy shapes performances that feel lived-in rather than ornamental, with each lyric treated as a piece of storytelling.
Three of the album’s twelve tracks are intimate duets with individual band members, underscoring Isherwood’s emphasis on musical dialogue and trust. Highlights include a stripped-down, rhythm-forward take on “Till There Was You,” a spare and emotionally charged reading of Thelonious Monk’s “’Round Midnight,” and a haunting interpretation of “Time Heals Everything” from the musical Mack and Mabel. Isherwood also delivers a solo piano-and-voice performance of “My Buddy,” revealing both restraint and emotional gravity.
The album opens with a bold 5/4 arrangement of “Devil May Care” that reveals Isherwood’s confident maturity. Isherwood reframes Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” as a song not just about a failed relationship but about forgiveness and the freedom it brings. “This Time the Dream’s on Me” receives a contemporary update perfectly suited to her plaintive delivery.
A devoted admirer of Nancy Wilson, Isherwood channels that influence on a fiery rendition of “The Song Is You.” “It captures the euphoria of falling in love for the first time—or experiencing love more deeply than ever before,” she says. Her effervescent take on “Teach Me Tonight” is a perennial audience favorite. A proud lifelong Chicagoan, Isherwood closes THE SWEETEST SOUNDS with “I Love Being Here with You,” which she calls “a love letter to Chicago—the clubs, the city, the musicians who raised me, my band, and the audiences who come out to listen.”
While the repertoire ranges from buoyant swing to blues-tinged introspection, including a striking version of Amy Winehouse’s “Love Is a Losing Game,” the album never feels eclectic for its own sake. Instead, THE SWEETEST SOUNDS presents a cohesive artistic statement: a young artist using classic material to articulate a personal, contemporary voice.
With inventive arrangements, seasoned collaborators, and a vocalist who approaches every song as a dramatic role, THE SWEETEST SOUNDS marks the arrival of Isabella Isherwood as a serious new presence in jazz, one whose artistry extends beyond genre, geography, or age.
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THE SWEETEST SOUNDS will be released April 3, 2026 on Sabrina Records. Physical and digital editions will be available via isabellaisherwood.com, Bandcamp, and all major streaming platforms.