Jasmine Kara

Of all the singers to have been touted as the 'next Amy Winehouse' since the English chanteuse died last summer, Jasmine Kara is one of the most convincing candidates. Born to a Swedish mother and Iranian father, the vocalist moved to New York when she was just 17, and was subsequently taken under the wing of influential industry bigwig Marshall Chess. Debut album Blues Ain’t Nothing But A Good Woman Gone Bad – for which Chess acted as executive producer – taps the spirit of blues belters like Etta James and Koko Taylor, and is sure to go down well when Kara makes her Japan debut at the Blue Note Tokyo this weekend. In a departure from the venue's usual scheduling, there'll only be one show each evening, with opening and closing DJ sets by a different club jazz DJ each time.