Plus Investors Awards 2008

tuesday 29th april 2008 | the may fair hotel | stratton street | london w1

ENTERTAINMENT

CLARE TEAL

Voted Jazz Vocalist of the Year 2007 at the

British Jazz Awards, Clare was declared as

"The New First Lady of Jazz" by the

INDEPENDENT

"Wonderful. Worth raving about. One of the best vocal talents to emerge from the UK in a long, long while." SIR MICHAEL PARKINSON

"The New Queen of Swing" MAIL ON SUNDAY

"Clare has a timeless sound to her voice and classic touch and sound to her songwriting. Now hod modern is that? Music to melt to I'd say." JAMIE CULLUM

Clare Teal hails from a tiny village near Skipton in Yorkshire, and was born 34 years ago to a mother and father with a box full of 78s, and an attic in which to play them. She came to singing early, ridiculously so, and by three could hold a note and make it flutter, although she did so in the privacy of her bedroom. By her teens, she was proving curiously impervious to the joys of 1980s pop music - unmoved by the pleadings of Nik Kershaw, resistant to the charms of Simon Le Bon - instead turning her attentions to musical styles long since consigned to history.

In 2001, she inked a deal with independent label Candid, for whom she wrote and recorded three albums. By 2004, she had signed with the Sony Jazz label, which spawned what would become her breakthrough album 'Don't Talk', an exquisite record of tender jazz that perfectly exemplified just what a talent she was. Critical acclaim poured in from the broadsheets and, if you will, jazz mags, and most persuasively from Michael Parkinson who gave her heavy rotation on his Radio 2 programme, and invited her to perform on his ITV chat show. 'Don't Talk' topped the British jazz charts and cracked the UK Top 20, shipping 60,000 copies and winning several awards, among them 'British Jazz Vocalist of the Year 2005' and 'BBC Jazz Vocalist of the Year 2006', not to mention the Marlborough Jazz Festival's 'Best Live Performer' which she won two years running. At last, she was on her way.

2007 saw a move towards more mainstream pop music with the release of Clare's fifth studio album 'Paradisi Carousel' whilst Clare further strengthened her relationship with Radio 2 presenting 'The Big Band Special' series and 'Clare Teal's Jazz Divas'. In September, she was awarded 'Jazz Vocalist of the Year 2007' at the British Jazz Awards.

Visit Clare Teal's Website