Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Homeward Bound

She may be Brooklyn-based, but songstress Jean Rohe’s musical influences stem mostly from South America. The young New Jersey native’s 2008 debut, Lead Me Home, updates traditional Brazilian and Afro-Peruvian melodies with soulful jazz stylings and lyrical storytelling reminiscent of North American folk music. The title track, for example, jumps from bright, soaring vocals to soft, introspective tones as Rohe considers freedom and death. And did we mention the tracks are multilingual, slipping from English to Spanish to Portuguese? No wonder Rohe was picked as the audience favorite in the Shure Voice Competition at Switzerland’s 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival. Bandmates Ilusha Tsinadze, Liam Robinson, Benjy Fox-Rosen and Aaron Shafer-Haiss help raise the rhythm this Thursday.