“QUEEN” MAXINE OSBOURNE: As Mrs. Anancy, entertaining a group of children at the 2023 Anancy Festival. PHOTO COURTESY OF JUNETEENTH BEACH BASH

She’s a Grammy winner. A Golden Globe winner. An Oscar Nominee. So Andra Day was the perfect superstar artist to kick off the 2024 Blue Note Jazz Festival New York City.

Crowds lined up early Monday night May 2nd in the heart of Greenwich Village to grab the best seat at the Blue Note New York jazz club. Fans were eager to hear the torch song chanteuse as the world-famous vocalist hasn’t been on tour in years.

She did drop a new album, “Cassandra (Cherith),” on May 10. So audiences, who’ve been waiting a long time for Day’s new music, were primed and ready to see her live.

Day’s debut album, “Cheers to the Fall” in 2015 was her last solo effort. Her participation on the soundtrack record “The United States vs Billie Holiday,” which accompanied the movie of the same name, won the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media in 2022.

Her golden voice has been noted and rewarded, and there she was in a small, intimate club. A place so cozy, it’s as if the artists are singing to you in their living room.

After her musicians assembled on stage, Day walked on behind them, to a standing ovation. For the next hour or so, she mixed jazz, soul and pop music into a very fresh mix. A vibe somewhere between D’Angelo and Sade. Urban, rhythmic, passionate and as authentic as a singer can be. She was more than willing to share her life experiences and why she wrote certain tunes.

“I had a lot of things in mind when I wrote this song. Mainly my ex!” And so, she began the night with a blend of love songs, laments and songs about moving on.

New tunes from her recently released album included “Where do we Go,” a love ballad; “Heavy on my Mind,” a mid-tempo number; “Probably;” a dirge about an old lover she hates; “Chasing,” an alluring pop song; and the very funky “Champagne Flutes,” a tune Chaka Khan would love.

Day’s voice is as clear and nuanced as it’s ever been. Her lyrics still thoughtful and contemplative. The jazziest one, “Bottom of the Bottle,” recollects a man who left. “It’s you I see at night. When I close my eyes. At the bottom of the bottle.”

She’s very circumspect when she shares her personal yet universal experiences. “I’m living in abundance. I love life.”

Then escaping for a moment, from reflections about desire and romance, she visits the side of her repertoire that tends to be socially conscious. Day’s speeded-up version of “Mississippi Goddam” shows her political point of view. She dedicated the classic song to its writer and original singer, Nina Simone.

The audience was enraptured. Love was in the room. That’s the emotion folks wanted to feel. A spirit that was being dispensed through the voice and soul of Cassandra Monique Bati, aka Andra Day. Born in Edmonds, Washington and raised in San Diego, Calif., she attended the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts.

Then one day, while singing in a mall, she was discovered by Stevie Wonder’s ex-wife Kai Millard, who made a fated connection to her husband for a young singer looking for her big break.

Day was in a darkened, packed room, wooing the audience who attentively sat through her set. Most waiting for her to sing her signature song, “Rise Up.” And at the end of the evening, she did. Supported by her outstanding band and a throw-down trio of backup singers, she crooned, then gospelized the song that started her on the road to Grammys, Golden Globes and Oscar noms.

“You’re broken down and tired. Of living life on a merry-go-round … And I’ll rise up. I’ll rise like the day. I’ll rise up. I’ll rise unafraid. I’ll rise up. And I’ll do it a thousand times a day…” What a way to start the 2024 Blue Note Jazz Festival New York City, which runs through the month of June and has venues all over New York. Artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Corrine Bailey Ray, The Soul Rebels and even Rita Moreno will perform. And the sun and stars will shine on all of them because Andra Day blessed, graced and inaugurated the festival with her alluring voice and uplifting performance.

Visit the Blue Note Jazz Festival New York website at bluenotejazz.com/jazzfestival-nyc/. Dwight Brown video at facebook.com/100011065748818/videos/404116642463017/