Tessa Souter

As a jazz vocalist with a sumptuous sound and an unerring ear for fresh and unexpected material, New York-based jazz vocalist-songwriter, Tessa Souter, knows her way around the American Songbook’s back pages. But ever since the release of her flamenco-tinged debut Listen Love, the Anglo-Trinidadian singer has cast an increasingly wide net, often contributing original lyrics to jazz instrumentals. On her ravishing 2012 masterpiece Beyond The Blue (Motema) – a ‘Best Album of the Year’ in the London Sunday Times – she even set lyrics to beloved themes from the European classical canon. Her upcoming album Picture in Black and White is her most personal and universal yet, a riveting musical account of the journey launched by her discovery at age 28 that her father was black. It’s another revelatory step by an artist on a decidedly unconventional path.