Tessa Souter Band

“Astute and Expressive” — Nate Chinen, New York Times Critics Pick

“… a beguiling artist who infuses everything she interprets with voluptuous intelligence and keen emotional insight” — Andy Gilbert, KQED

Recently returned from her sixth appearance at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, where she was named by the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, from over 1,000 festival performers, as “the one concert not to miss”  for the entire nine-day festival, Tessa Souter’s “truly beautiful voice” (Sirius Radio) and penchant for exploring music mostly untouched by other singers have set her apart as “one of the finest and most fearless vocalists to have emerged in recent years.” (Boston Globe).

As a jazz vocalist with a sumptuous sound and an unerring ear for fresh and unexpected material Tessa Souter knows her way around the American Songbook’s backpages. But ever since the release of her 2004 debut Listen Love, the Anglo-Trinidadian singer has cast an increasingly wide net, often contributing original lyrics to jazz standards. On her ravishing 2012 masterpiece Beyond the Blue (Motéma) – a Sunday Times magazine Best Album of the Year – she even set lyrics to beloved themes from the European classical canon. Her upcoming new 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.