When the iconic Ms. Lisa Fischer sings, she brings a joyous sense of discovery to every song. The Grammy and Oscar-winning powerhouse vocalist is at the peak of her powers, blazing her own path, reveling in the chance to dive into every vocal possibility. While she carries traces of the legendary stars with whom she’s collaborated over four decades, Ms. Lisa Fischer is a constellation in her own right, singing songs with “amazing power, energy, and projection,” enthuses Keith Richards, after 26 years of musicmaking with Ms. Lisa Fischer in the Rolling Stones.

At first glance, Fischer might seem like a paradox. She spent much of her career exulting in the role of the ultimate team player as an elite backup singer for artists such as Luther Vandross, the Stones, Sting, Tina Turner, or Nine Inch Nails. Even after the Brooklyn native scored a chart-topping R&B hit, “How Can I Ease the Pain,” and a 1992 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, she decided to focus on her already thriving career supporting the world’s biggest acts. But when her story was featured in the Oscar-winning 2013 documentary 20 Feet From Stardom, Fischer experienced a course-changing epiphany. “I was always looking at the next tour, the next gig,” she said. “The film gave me a chance to take stock and realize I could start defining my own path.”