By J.D. Considine | Published January 2026
Domestic life doesn’t often get its due in jazz; childbirth and motherhood even less so. As such, there aren’t any obvious points of comparison for the maternally themed song cycle at the center of Sarah Elizabeth Charles’ Dawn: either lyrically or musically.
Inspired by Charles’ own experiences trying to grow a family with partner Jarrett Cherner, and recorded while she was pregnant with her second son, the songs are personal but not diaristic. She marvels at having brought life into the world (“Miracle”), delights in the physicality of pregnancy (“Kick”) and struggles with the loss of miscarriage (“Angel Spark”). One needn’t have been pregnant — or even a parent — to appreciate the emotions she evokes.
Credit much of that to the lustrous power of her voice, a rich, warm mezzo-soprano that exudes strength even when it barely rises above a whisper. But it’s Charles’ writing that completes the picture, effortlessly tuneful and blessed with a harmonic palette that deftly supports the vocal lines while leaving plenty of grist for improvisation. Even though Charles is unmistakably a jazz singer, there’s such a resolute sense of melody to her writing that even when she’s clearly improvising, as in the overdubbed vocal chorale in “Discovery,” the notes hit with the ear-worm charm of a pop hook.
Like reproduction itself, Dawn isn’t a solo show. Though Cherner’s string arrangements may beautifully frame Charles’ melodies, it’s her interplay with the rhythm section — particularly bassist Linda May Han Oh — that ultimately lifts these songs to another level.
