Leslie Vincent

Short Bio

Leslie Vincent is a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and bandleader whose work blends jazz, swing, blues, pop, and singer-songwriter traditions with the theatrical instincts of a seasoned storyteller.

A warm alto with a sharp sense of narrative, Vincent writes and interprets songs through the lens of dating, marriage, anxiety, memory, and modern relationships.

Her third album, Little Black Book — released April 17, 2026 via Jazz Is Cool Records — is her first full-length collection of original songs, recorded with her longtime working band and featuring Jeremy Messersmith, Stephanie Wieseler, Zach Marley, and Mary Alice Hutton.

One of the most recognizable jazz vocalists to emerge from Minneapolis, Vincent has earned praise from DownBeat, The Big Takeover, and Jazz88, which named her original “Icetown Blues” among its Best Jazz Songs of 2023.

Born into a military family and trained in musical theater, she spent years onstage before making jazz her primary focus.

“One of my missions onstage is helping people let go of the academics of it,” she says. “You don’t need to know why something is good to feel it.”

Medium Bio

Leslie Vincent is a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and bandleader whose work draws on dating, marriage, anxiety, memory, and modern relationships, delivered through a warm alto voice and a live presence shaped by years in theater. Blending jazz, swing, blues, pop, and singer-songwriter traditions, Vincent approaches songs as lived stories with sharply defined emotional points of view. “I’m more storytelling and narrative focused than bebop inspired,” she says. “Every standard that I do, I have a narrative. I try not to sing anything without specificity.”

That storytelling reaches a new peak on Little Black Book, Vincent’s third album and first full-length collection of original songs, released April 17, 2026 via Jazz Is Cool Records. Written across several years and recorded with her longtime working band — pianist/keyboardist Patrick Adkins, guitarist Blake Foster, bassist Matt McIntyre, drummer Ben Ehrlich, and trumpeter Mitch Van Laar — the album also features Jeremy Messersmith, Stephanie Wieseler, Zach Marley, and Mary Alice Hutton, with horn arrangements by Sam Charlton. Its songs move through digital exhaustion, dating-app repetition, ghosting, domestic intimacy, and anxiety, filtering present-day emotional life through jazz, swing, blues, and pop songwriting.

Over the past several years, Vincent has become one of the most recognizable jazz vocalists to emerge from Minneapolis while increasingly touring beyond Minnesota. DownBeat described her as “as much a storyteller as she is a jazz singer,” while The Big Takeover praised her “controlled and beautiful voice, one that sounds timeless.” Her 2023 album About Last Night mixed standards, vintage blues, and original songs, earning regional and national attention; Jazz88 named the original “Icetown Blues” among its Best Jazz Songs of 2023. At press time, Vincent had roughly 45,000 Instagram followers and 15,000 monthly Spotify listeners.

Born in Newport, Rhode Island into a military family, Vincent moved throughout the East Coast and the United Kingdom before studying musical theater and spending roughly a decade working professionally onstage. She learned jazz largely by doing it: booking musicians, building audiences, shaping arrangements, and holding rooms through a monthly Minnesota wine-bar residency that became a practical education. That background still drives her mission. “One of my missions onstage is helping people let go of the academics of it,” she says. “You don’t need to know why something is good to feel it.”

Long Bio

Leslie Vincent is a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and bandleader whose work draws on dating, marriage, anxiety, memory, and modern relationships, delivered through a warm alto voice and a live presentation shaped by years in theater. Blending jazz, swing, blues, pop, and singer-songwriter traditions, Vincent approaches songs as lived stories with sharply defined emotional points of view. “I’m more storytelling and narrative focused than bebop inspired,” she says. “Every standard that I do, I have a narrative. I try not to sing anything without specificity.”

Her evolution has culminates in 2026’s Little Black Book, Vincent’s third album and first full-length collection of original songs, released April 17, 2026 via Jazz Is Cool Records. Written across several years and recorded with her longtime working band — pianist and keyboardist Patrick Adkins, guitarist Blake Foster, bassist Matt McIntyre, drummer Ben Ehrlich, and trumpeter Mitch Van Laar. Guest contributors include Jeremy Messersmith, Stephanie Wieseler, Zach Marley, and Mary Alice Hutton, with a horn arrangements by Sam Charlton.

Over the past several years, Vincent has become one of the most recognizable jazz vocalists to emerge from the Minneapolis music scene while increasingly touring outside the state. DownBeat described her as “as much a storyteller as she is a jazz singer,” while The Big Takeover praised her “controlled and beautiful voice, one that sounds timeless.” Her 2023 album About Last Night mixed standards, vintage blues, and original songs, earning regional and national attention; Jazz88 named the original “Icetown Blues” among its Best Jazz Songs of 2023. At press time, Vincent had roughly 45,000 Instagram followers and 15,000 monthly Spotify listeners.

“I find I’ve funneled a lot of people into jazz that otherwise never would have found it,” Vincent says. “When I started, I’d do standards, but also throw in an ’80s cover or a Billy Joel song because that gave people a way in. Then suddenly they’re coming back to the club, and they’re curious about the music. One of my missions onstage is helping people let go of the academics of it. You don’t need to know why something is good to feel it.”

Born in Newport, Rhode Island into a military family, Vincent spent her childhood moving throughout the East Coast and the United Kingdom while her father served as a Navy JAG officer. Moving every few years proved destabilizing, and music became the constant in her life. “The lore of my family is that I’ve been singing since the time I could speak,” she says. “Anyone that would pay attention to me, I would sing for them.” She grew up listening to Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald alongside Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, while spending much of her time in choir programs, theater productions, and voice lessons. “I always got called an old soul,” she says.

By age 11, theater had become central to her life. “I was a weirdo at school,” Vincent recalls. “But when I went to the theater arts building, I was really a cornerstone of it. I was always there.” She later earned a Bachelor of Music in Musical Theater degree in Washington, D.C., then spent roughly a decade working professionally in theater, including dramas, comedies, musicals, before jazz gradually became her primary focus. By the time Vincent began working steadily in jazz, she already had years of stage experience behind her as a performer and storyteller. She moved to Minnesota for an acting job, met a premier pianist, and quickly found herself gigging.

Vincent learned jazz primarily onstage. An early monthly residency at an intimate Minnesota wine bar became a practical education in booking musicians, building audiences, shaping arrangements, and holding a room. “That gave me the best education,” she says. “I built a new show every month for two years.” 

Her next recordings pushed further toward conceptual arrangements and personal interpretation. One version of “Stars Fell on Alabama,” inspired by her grandparents, stretched and abstracted time to evoke memory loss and dementia, with the arrangement briefly snapping into clarity before dissolving again. “That was my first grappling with wanting to try different takes on these songs,” she says. Onstage, Vincent often reframed standards through personal stories about dating and coming out.

Original songwriting increasingly became the center of Vincent’s work. On About Last Night, she included two originals — including the blunt and humorous “Psychedelics With You,” inspired by taking MDMA with a close friend. “There were no metaphors,” she says. “I was just like, ‘I’m doing drugs.’” The response convinced her to keep writing.

Vincent cites artists such as Rickie Lee Jones, Nellie McKay, and Madeleine Peyroux as touchstones for their songwriting voices and stylistic freedom. “They’re putting out what they want to put out,” she says. “I’m just trying to tell my own story and share my own thoughts and curiosities with people.” Her career has evolved from humble wine bars to playing festivals and embarking on two East Coast tours — culminating thus far in Little Black Book.

Many of the songs began as voice memos captured while walking her dog or driving, eventually forming what Vincent first imagined as a one-woman show. 

The album moves from the digital exhaustion of “Analog Love Affair” to the dating-app repetition of “Tallying Strangers,” the aftermath of ghosting on “Till They Do,” the domestic intimacy of “You & I (Go Together Like),” and the anxiety at the center of “Rainy Days.” Throughout the record, Vincent writes about present-day emotional life through jazz, swing, blues, and pop songwriting.

Though Minnesota remains her home base, Vincent has begun touring more heavily through festival appearances, regional runs, and collaborations with artists around the country. “I am from the East Coast,” she says. “I just don’t have a lot of passivity inside of me. I’ll just put myself out there and see what happens.”

“I’m high energy,” Vincent says. “I like to foster warm audience feelings and vibes. We can start as a group of strangers, and by the end, we’re a  group that’s gone through something together.”