[9] During this time, she won Best Vocalist at the Essentially Ellington festival, a high school competition hosted by Jazz at Lincoln Center.

[13] Friends there introduced her to the recordings of great jazz vocalists including Sarah Vaughan and Fitzgerald,[14] and such instrumentalists as Kenny Washington, Jon Faddis (with whom she studied),[15] and Ingrid Jensen.

[16][17] Working with producer and eventual manager Matt Pierson, she recorded her self-titled debut album while still in college,[11] graduating magna cum laude in 2021.

[23] In an interview, film director Regina King called her "a young woman who seems like Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald are both living in her body.

[39] The album features drummer Kenny Washington, guitarist Pasquale Grasso, pianist Ben Paterson, and bassist David Wong.

[40][41] Her bookings for Winter 2022 included singing with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on its Big Band Holidays tour.