Born of Trinidadian and English parents, New York-based vocalist, composer, and lyricist Tessa Souter (soo-ter) uniquely infuses jazz with the soul and passion of flamenco, Indian and Middle Eastern music. "One of the most imaginatively programmed vocal sets of recent memory." said the Los Angeles Times, in one of many rave reviews she has received since she started singing professionally in 1999. The Rochester City Paper said of her 2007 debut at the Rochester International Jazz Festival. "It's one thing to hear a superb set from a known giant like Randy Brecker; it's a different, particularly exhilarating feeling to witness a great performance by a relatively unknown singer like Tessa Souter. Judging from the ovations she received Saturday night, the entire audience felt the same way."

Her first CD, ‘Listen Love’, won critical raves for her “crystal clear voice and diamond cut phrasing…” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and “direct, soulful sound…” (Village Voice). Her sophomore CD, ‘Nights of Key Largo’, recorded on the Japanese audiophile label, Venus, with Kenny Werner, Billy Drummond, Jay Leonhart, Joel Frahm, and Romero Lubambo, won the coveted Gold Disc review in January 2009’s Swing Journal, which said of her, “… there are traces of Billie Holiday and Carmen McRae in her phrasing, and Julie London and Peggie Lee in her delicate breathing, which harbors a touch of sorrow.” Her third CD will be released this summer.

A singer of great depth and soul, Tessa has headlined and sold out houses from the Blue Note and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola in New York, to Pizza Express, Dean Street and Ronnie Scott’s in London. Her Russian debut at the 1700-seat Moscow International Performing Arts Center in November 2007, earned a standing ovation, and she has been enthusiastically received on two Russian tours since then.

Tessa was encouraged in her early teens to pursue a singing career, but took a detour - early motherhood and journalism. In 1992, she moved to San Francisco, where she wrote for British Vogue, Elle, The Guardian and The Times, among others, and became one of the original six members of The Writer's Grotto, including Po Bronson (who cites her life-change in his best seller What Should I Do With My Life). After moving to New York in 1996, she started sitting in at jazz jams, before winning a scholarship to study at New York's Manhattan School of Music in 1998. She left to study privately with jazz legend Mark Murphy. Since her professional debut in February 1999, Tessa has performed and/or recorded with some of the world's jazz greats, including Mark Murphy, Joe La Barbera, Marvin Sewell, Larry Koonse, Bobby Sanabria and jazz tuba legend Howard Johnson.

To quote guitarist Larry Koonse, "Tessa Souter has all the qualities I value most in a musician: great time, beautiful phrasing, gorgeous sound, a respect for silence, an emotional connection to the moment, and a wonderful ability to tell a story. She is the 'real thing' in every way."