Joan Watson-Jones

Orbit | Updated: October 7, 2026

Born: September 24, 1974

Joan Watson-Jones Releases Fifth Album, LOVE SINGS

There are vocalists and there are singers. A vocalist hits every note perfectly and has honed his or her craft to sonic perfection. A singer simply sings songs. The goal is not perfection, but communication. The vocalist is a high wire performer, while the singer tells stories closer to the earth. Joan Watson-Jones is a singer,' says jazz journalist Eugene Holley, Jr. in the liner notes to the singer's fifth album, Love Sings, set for release on Friday, September 18.

For three decades, Watson-Jones, the New York City-born, Derry, New Hampshire-based artist has been independently building herself into an endearing and entertaining singer/lyricist, as evidenced by her other four albums: One More Year (1996), I Thought About You (2006), Quiet Conversation - A Duet (2013) and Choices (2021). Buoyed by the piano and tap dance lessons she received as a child growing up in Harlem, along with her master's degree in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Watson-Jones, who also hosts the podcast, The Jazz Room, tells syncopated stories about life and love that everyone can relate to.

'Love Sings was a response to the beginning of the COVID period in 2020, when we were in quarantine. We were in confinement, and I'm not one to sit still,' Watson-Jones says. 'So musically, the first thing I started doing was listening to everything outside, because that was my stimulus. So, I had the birds.'

For Watson-Jones, the compositions on this recording reflect a life cycle that occurs in middle age, a time for reflection and refinement. 'There were things I feel folks have missed, and are missing out on,' she relates, 'and there are some things in life that should never change just because you're too busy or you're too preoccupied. And right now, we are being distracted, too well, and since this is the '2.0' of life for us being in this insane time, I just want people to hear … to remember what life is really all about.'

Love Sings radiates with Watson-Jones' compositional and lyrical skills, which came to light when she met songstress extraordinaire Dianne Reeves. Compositionally, Watson-Jones draws from the composers of the American songbook, which includes the Gershwins, Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart to name a very select view. Her lyrical prose is guided by her influential experiences as an educator.

'I used to teach first and second grade, and the best thing you could do for first and second graders is pull out a little book and read them a story,' Watson-Jones fondly recalls. 'And one thing I learned was, human beings do not change. The child that I knew in first, second and third grade… I run into them now. And the thing is: when I'm performing, everybody wants to sit down and listen to a good story.'

Joining Watson-Jones in her storytelling with soul and syncopation are pianist Frank Wilkins, bassist Dave Zox, drummer Alvin Terry and saxophonist Bobby Tynes, all based in Boston, where she attended jam sessions in the late 90s.

Supported by Wilkins' pristine and propulsive pianisms, Zox's sumptuous basslines, Terry's in-the-pocket drumming and Tynes' lyrical sax lines, Watson-Jones' breathy, light as a feather vocals christen and caress the CD's 11 tracks. Save for an intimate piano/vocal duet rendition of the Gershwin classic 'Someone to Watch Over Me,' the rest of the selections on this splendid recording are all originals.

Love Sings opens with a cymbal-shimmered, Coltranesque introduction pulsed by an Ahmad Jamal 'Poinciana' beat, contrasted by whimsical waltz, 'A Kiss in the Morning' and the atmospheric, 'There's a Hard Wind Blowin'' enhanced by the sound of an Australian didgeridoo. Watson-Jones' wordless vocals and zesty scatting illuminate the Latin tinged selection, 'Words Escape Me,' while 'The Quiet Life,' and 'I Choose to Have a Good Day,' showcase her skills as a balladeer. 'I'll Cry Tomorrow' and 'Movin' On' bop with an R&B bounce.

The emotional zenith of this recording is 'Mountain' a medium tempoed composition with a theme of overcoming adversity in a peaceful setting complete with an evocative video version of the song. 'The selection is inspired by an actual place: the Ben Cruachan mountain in Loch Ective, Scotland,' Watson-Jones says. She and her family would go there to visit her mother and father in-law in the highlands. 'Every time we went there, it was total peace. My husband and I would go sit on a rock. All you heard was wind blowing and the seagulls making their sounds. It's just very peaceful, comforting and a good place to go and get centered again.'

Watson-Jones' songs of love and peace reflect an artist who is comfortable in her own septuagenarian, sepia-toned, skin. 'The songs show how much I care about all the people around me,' Watson-Jones declares, 'and all the people I've had in my life. A lot of people go through the same things that I went through, so I'm hoping that one or two of my songs might help someone get rid of their anger or heal pain.'

For more information, visit joanwatsonjones.com.