Biography

Clare Teal is the presenter of BBC Radio 2's Big Band Special with the BBC Big Band every Monday evening.

Yorkshire born Clare Teal has been able to sing in tune since the age of three. Growing up in Skipton she developed a fascination for jazz and jazz singers after listening to her grandmother's old 45s. After music lessons on electric organ and formal studies on clarinet, Clare took a music degree at Wolverhampton Polytechnic.

It was during her training that she realised that her prime ambition, to be a classical clarinettist, was unachievable, so she shifted her emphasis to singing. She became a jingle singer for commercial radio before 'getting a proper job' in the advertising business. Clare sang with jazz bands for beer money, entered a national contest to find the next Billie Holiday (she came second) and finally got a break when she filled in for a singer at a jazz festival. The feedback was so positive that Clare decided to follow her dreams and pursue a career as a singer, so sent a demo to jazz label Candid who offered her a contract.

Her debut album 'That's The Way It Is' was released by Candid in 2001 and now that she was reaching a wider audience Clare began to achieve the recognition she richly deserved. In 2002, she performed in Portugal as part of the Great Ladies of Jazz tour, with Stacey Kent and Cassandra Wilson and received the ' CD of the Week' review in 'The Observer', the front cover of 'Jazz UK' and a major article in the 'Guardian'. Her second album Orsino's Songs was released in 2002 attracting further critical acclaim and the attention of Michael Parkinson who played it regularly on his Sunday radio show.

For her third album 'The Road Less Travelled'. Clare turned to legendary music producer Tony Platt. Platt has worked with hundreds of major stars in all fields of music including Bob Marley, The Rolling Stones and Mercury Music Award nominee Soweto Kinch. 'The Road Less Travelled' featured two of Clare's compositions, the title track, an amazing blue note jazz waltz duet with the equally sensational Jamie Cullum and the beautiful ballad 'So Blue'.

In 2003 Clare was invited to perform with John Dankworth and Cleo Laine for Radio 2's 'Live at The Stables' and later that summer Clare performed on the One World Stage at Glastonbury, at the Edinburgh festival, at Ronnie Scott's and at the prestigious Marlborough Jazz festival and in November 2003 she was invited to appear for the first time on Michael Parkinson's Television show.

She was nominated in two categories at the BBC Jazz Awards, Rising Star and Best Vocalist. 2004 saw a bidding war between Sony and Universal with Clare choosing to sign to Sony in what was a record breaking deal for a UK jazz artist. Tony Platt was re-recruited as producer and Clare's fourth album 'Don't Talk' was released in October. Entering the UK pop charts at number 20 and the jazz charts at number 1, 'Don't Talk' balances jazz standards with classic pop songs, whilst showcasing Clare's exceptional song-writing.

On the album she brings new character to old favourites including Laura Nyro's 'Stoned Soul Picnic', Dusty Springfield's 'What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life?' and the standards 'Mellow Tone', 'The Music Goes Round And Round' and 'Mood Indigo'. Her own writing has been compared to the great Cole Porter and here we are given a glimpse of her versatility with the steaming big band number 'Messin' With Fire', the irrepressible samba of 'Everything is You', and the passionate ballads 'Falling For You' and 'You Bring The Best Out In Me'.

The plaudits have been incessant. Michael Parkinson declared it to be "the best record I've heard from an English artist since ... well, I can't remember when." 'The Independent ' crowned her as "The new first lady of Jazz". 'The Daily Mail' described it as "Fabulous" and the 'Daily Telegraph 'advised "In this overcrowded field, Clare Teal deserves special attention." Clare appeared as special guest with the BBC Big Band in April 2004 in a 'Big Band Special' recording for BBC Radio 2.

In August Clare presented her own series on BBC Radio 2 'After Seven with Clare Teal' and in October she performed a show-stopping performance of 'Messin' With Fire' on Michael Parkinson's ITV1 show and received the Marlborough Jazz Festival's Deacons Award for best live performer. In November Clare received the Arts and Personality Award at the Yorkshire Awards and the Achievement in Arts Award at the Yorkshire Young Achievers Awards. Clare stole the show on ITV1's 'Christmas Mania' when she performed a festive rendition of 'Winter Wonderland' and made a special appearance on BBC Radio 2's 'Friday Night Is Music Night', live from London 's Mermaid Theatre with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

She was also chosen by BBC Radio 2 to present their 40th anniversary celebration performance of Stan Tracey's 'Under Milk Wood' with Ruth Madoc, Philip Madoc and Victor Spinnetti providing the narration. In July 2005 Clare won "Best Vocalist" at the 17 th British Jazz Awards (The Jazz Oscars). 2005 brought even more excitement including a special charity concert at Bath with Jamie Cullum, The Tower Of London Festival with Katie Melua, a Regents Park "Open Air" concert, and BBC 'Proms in the Park' with the BBC Big Band in September which saw Clare perform in front of a crowd of 43,000. Her popular 'After Seven' show was re-commissioned and a second series of six programmes started on Friday evenings in September.

Clare was also asked to present a two part documentary to celebrate the 80th birthday of jazz legend Oscar Peterson. In January 2006 Clare completed the recording of the end title credit song 'Some Things Are Meant To Be' for the film 'These Foolish Things' - the soundtrack to the film was released in March. Two of Clare's songs 'Messin' With Fire' and 'Everything Is You' have been included in the soundtrack to the  British comedy film 'Confetti' starring Jimmy Carr, Alison Steadman, Martin Freeman and Jessica Stevenson. As well as her own tour of various UK venues, Clare has introduced the BBC Big Band in Birmingham and at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, as well as performing in 'Friday Night is Music Night', again in Cheltenham.

Find out about the rest of the Big Band Special team