Coming 12 years after her previous album, British Jamaican artist Alexia Gardner’s new record, Feeling the Love, Songs of My Mother, Songs of My Father, is a powerful look back on what it means to spend a life making jazz. 

Born and raised in Birmingham, Alexia Gardner’s life story is not dissimilar from the nature of jazz music itself. 

Hear us out. Having performed all over the world, worked from continent to continent, and produced excellent albums on the fleetingly rare occasions when she’s able to get herself and a band into the studio, her life story has been defined by unpredictability, spontaneity, fluidity, and a free-flowing sensibility. 

The jazz-oriented lifestyle is ultimately what has suited her best, however. The artist, born Alexia Elewise Benz-Gardner, first made her mark on the music and performance when she went on the British Cabaret Circuit beat in the 1990s, performing as a duo named ‘High Profile’ alongside her sister Paula. 

Following this - and following a stint where she worked as a secondary school teacher to ensure all bills were firmly paid - Alexia’s life was defined by constant change.

She was constantly on the move - employed one year on a cruise liner in the Mediterranean, then stationed as a singer at a boutique hotel in Far East Asia the following year. 

In taking on these high-profile gigs, she soon discovered that being a jazz artist with a flair for reimagining all the classics opened other doors, too; Alexia’s incredible singing led to her being asked to perform for the likes of Nelson Mandela (Kuala Lumpur 2001), Sir Sebastion Coe (Xintiandi, Shanghai 2005) and Sir Richard Branson (Singapore 2000) throughout her career. 

But the artist in her also wanted to record music, as well as perform it. Her debut album, the appropriately titled Rest of Your Life, came out in 2002. It was followed by four other albums, including the Grammy-longlisted Chasing Hope.  

Each album found Alexia physically, musically, and emotionally in a new place. She has lived in Shanghai, Switzerland, and New York City for two decades. In her description of her life story, she says that life “continues to be a musical journey for me,” with “journey” being very much the operative word there. 

In 2023, Alexia Gardner fans finally got the album they’d been waiting for for years. Feeling the Love, Songs of My Mother, Songs of My Father was shared in the year's second half. 

The album is a straightforwardly masterful work. It offers ten jazz interpretations of songs throughout music history. Many of these songs are associated with jazz music, while others might be called jazz adjacent. There are songs by Lauryn Hill. Songs by Ben E. King. Songs by Burt Bacharach. Nothing specifically threads the relationship of these songs - except that they all mean something significant to Alexia Gardner herself. This album is exquisite to listen to because it sounds like a singer and a backing band who have known these songs for so long that they can seamlessly slide into them - like a well-worn coat. 

From the moment each song plays, you can feel the warmth and chemistry between the musicians. It is top-notch music made by artists who are passionate about what they do. What better way is there to make an album? 

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