Christie Dashiell at Blue Note in Poznań

Singer and songwriter Christie Dashiell, the Washington, DC-born artist who released her fantastic album “Journey In Black” back in 2023, which was also nominated for a Grammy in 2024, and who also collaborated with Terri Lyne Carrington for the 2025 LP “We Insist 2025”, is on a short tour through Europe and made a stop at the Blue Note jazz club in Poznań last night. Primarily singing songs from that particular album, her vocal prowess was deeply felt from the beginning. Her rich timbre and smooth phrasing was at the forefront most of the time. At times she reminded me of Dianne Reeves, then again of Lalah Hathaway, always retaining her unique and really strong voice. She veered into socio-political terrain with “Brother Sister”, and moved into a super soulful direction with the beautiful “Thinking Of You”, which she recorded for her very first project “Time All Mine” (2016).

Christie even managed to bring more life into Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called To Say I Love You”. Being one of his biggest fans ever since “Songs In The Key Of Life” (yes we have tickets for his upcoming tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of that pivotal album), that particular song was never among my favorites. But she handled it extremely well and with a lot of passion and verve. I also enjoyed her fresh take on the standard “Invitation” where she added a lot of twists and spins and textures and thus, turned it into a modern, stylish tune. She also showed her scat versatility and enthusiasm on various pieces, like “Afro Blue” or “Ancestral Folk Song”. Pianist and keyboardist Danny Grissett (check out his brilliant 2025 album “Travelogue” with Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart) and bassist Reggie Washington both were superb accompanists and soloists (really liked the electric keys playing on the Nord Stage), with a drummer standing in for Yoran Vroom (sorry I couldn’t check who he was) who also made some strong solo points. The last time I saw her was at the 2025 North Sea Jazz Festival and after this highly satisfying and entertaining set in beautiful Poznań, it is clear that here’s an artist to watch out for in the future. Christie has currently one upcoming show on November 6th at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. She will also perform with Terri Lyne Carrington and their “We Insist!” project in Hamburg on October 24th (Elbphilharmonie).