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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."
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