National Anthem FA Cup Final 2024
Zara McFarlane sings the British National Anthem live on International Television at the FA Cup Final on 25th May 2024 Manchester City v Manchester United in front of 85,000 people at Wembley Stadium.
Sweet Whispers: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan
This album honours the jazz great who inspired Zara on her own artistic journey and whose centenary year is marked in 2024.
Recorded analogue at Durham Studios, London. Giacomo assembled a stellar cast of musicians - Joe Webb on piano, Ferg Ireland on double bass, Jas Kayser on drums, Marlon Hibbert on Steel Pan and Gabriella Swallow on cello – to record 11 tracks live to tape; with minimal overdubs, the recording has retained a live, vintage feel.
Produced by Giacomo Smith.
Released on Eternal Source of Light
Glyndebourne - Agreed Opera
Zara McFarlane performed at the prestigious opera house Glyndebourne in the new Opera Agreed composed by Howard Moody in 2019. Her character Kronos was created especially for Zara fusing jazz, classical vocal styles.
Agreed featured a cast of professional singers, a chorus drawn from the local community, Glyndebourne Youth Opera, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Glyndebourne Youth Orchestra.
Royal Shakespeare Company
Zara McFarlane performed on stage for a full season of Anthony and Cleopatra both in the main theatre in Stratford Upon Avon and The Barbican in London with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2017/18.
The production was directed by Iqbal Khan and the music was composed by Laura Mvula, starring Antony Byrne as Antony and Josette Simon as Cleopatra.
In 2021, during the pandemic she was invited back to the RSC to perform in the new presentation of the fragments of the lost scripts of the1939 musical ‘Swinging A Dream’
A work in progress including original music and songs from the 1939 production. Presented by Kwame Kwei-Armah.
Telling the story of an intriguing Broadway musical adaptation of Shakespeare. This jazz-infused version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream opened in 1939 with a heady mixture of talent, including Louis Armstrong and Maxine Sullivan, and musical contributions from Count Basie and Benny Goodman.
In association with Royal Shakespeare Company and Theatre for a New Audience NYC.
Performs in BBC 1 Drama The Outcast
Zara was cast as ‘The Jazz Singer’ in the BBC 1 Drama The Outcast in 2015.
Judge on BBC Young Jazz Musician Awards
Zara was invited to be a judge on the BBC Young Jazz Musician Awards in 2018 and 2024.
Features on Grammy Nominated Album
Zara McFarlane features on house legend Louie Vega’s album XXVIII released on February 26, 2016 by Vega Records.
The album earned Vega a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album in 2017 and features other 28 vocalists including Caron Wheeler, Tony Momrelle, Jocelyn Brown and Lisa Fischer.
Disintegrated EP
Watch the award winning dance film.
This meditation of movement and sound, was commissioned by LA based experimental dance company Jacob Jonas The Company (JJTC) for Zara to compose, produce and perform the music for dance film DisInteGrated choreographed and directed by Wade Robson (choreographer of Britney Spears and NSync) and Tony Testa. The score has been created from her voice only, manipulating the sound to mimic a range of instruments.
EP released on Mama Done Music
Songs of An Unknown Tongue Album
Born out of an extended trip to Jamaica to research the early folk rhythms unique to the island. Zara’s new sound is the culmination of this research and weaves a subversion of the colonial legacy of slavery. Teaming up with London producers Kwake Bass and Wu-Lu to explore a meeting point between current electronic sounds and the traditional rhythms of Jamaica.
Released on Brownswood Recordings
Arise Album
An exploration of the meeting points between British Jazz sounds and the rhythms of Jamaica namely; Reggae, Kumina, and Nyabinghi. Produced by multi award-winning drummer Moses Boyd also of Caribbean descent, the collaboration has resulted in a very sophisticated, honest offering of socio- conscious lyrics and pulsating rhythm. The album, supported by funding from PRSF Women Make Music Fund, features a stellar line up of some of the key players on the London jazz scene; Moses Boyd [Drums], Binker Golding [Ten. Sax], Peter Edwards [Piano], Max Luther [D.Bass], Shirley Tetteh [Guitar], Nathaniel Cross [Trombone], Pete Eckford [percussion] and Shabaka Hutchings [Clarinet].
Released on Brownswood Recordings
If You Her Knew Album
The sophomore album, IF YOU KNEW HER, released on Brownswood Recordings in 2014, showcased a more ambitious body of work drawing from many influences; from the deep spiritual jazz reminiscent of the ‘spiritual jazz’ movement and of 70’s black America to soul, jazz, dub and reggae. It saw her blossom as a lyrically conscious songwriter and garnered further recognition winning 3 awards; a Best Jazz MOBO Award 2014, an Urban Music Award for Best Jazz Act 2015 and a Jazz FM Award for Vocalist of the Year in 2015.
Released on Brownswood Recordings
Until Tomorrow Album
The Debut Album
“Until Tomorrow is a delight ...filled with musical treasures, waiting to be discovered” - All About Jazz
“To my ears she seems exceptional....Brownswood are known for releasing cutting-edge material, but to me, releasing this wonderful CD...is their best statement yet” - Blues & Soul
“Zara McFarlane walks a fine line between jazz and the grown-up end of R&B...Delicate arrangements flutter and sparkle...McFarlane could not have asked for a cooler backdrop.” - Sunday Times
“What sets McFarlane apart from so much current jazz is her direct, intelligent songwriting” – Uncut (four stars).
Released on Brownswood Recordings