‘Jazz saved my life’: Electric newcomer Leslie Vincent brings warmth and connectivity to Pride, Twin Cities Jazz Festival stages

Like all great artists, Leslie Vincent contains multitudes. The two primary wolves fighting to be fed these days are the quirkily commercial classic jazz singer Americana Highways compared to “Amy Winehouse had she gone full-tilt jazz,” and the prolific, genre-free, would-be PJ Harvey of White Bear Lake who’s working on a new punk song.

“Oh, I want to try so many different things,” said the 36-year-old Vincent last week over a late lunch at Ingredients, her favorite diner near the home she shares with her wife of five years, Allison Vincent. “I want to try more abstract imagery. I want to try different perspectives. I want to try more storytelling songs. I love the idea of blending folk-style lyrics with jazz. I also write songs out of the jazz tradition, so I wrote a punk song recently.”

The song, “Counter-Culture Kid,” is about “how I always tend to love these things that ...