Tessa Souter Offers Some Enchanting Music from French Composer Erik Satie and More on "Shadows and Silence"

 

Tessa Souter-Shadows and Silence- The Erik Satie Project-NOANARA

The chanteuse Tessa Souter released her latest album Shadows and Silence- The Erik Satie Project on the NOANARA label on July 1, 2025. Having been a follower and fan of this stylistic vocalist, this may be the best of her releases to date.

Souter’s theme is the artistry of the classical composer/pianist Erik Satie, whose eccentric and minimalist approach to western music may have been an inspiration to the subsequent modal jazz and ambient music trends. Despite the influence to jazz and ambient genres, there is a great deal of classical, albeit modern, influence on this record.

Souter has the soul of a lyricist, and it is on display in spades on this album. She takes several songs from Satie-Gymnopedic No 1, No 2, Vexations, and No 3, Gnossienne No 1, No 2, and No 3- and retitles them with lyrics. She pens lyrics about love, loss, transience, fluidity, beauty and the futility of thinking you can capture the ever-changing present, and peace. This thoughtful compilation shows respect for the music of an artist whose work was so influential. My first exposure was back in the early seventies, when I fell in love with the Blood, Sweat, & Tears version of their Variations on Theme 1^st and 2^nd movements from Gymnopedic No 1, as arranged by multi-instrumentalist Dick Halligan and recorded by the jazz/rock band back in 1968.

On Souter’s version of this composition, she renames this lyric version “Rayga’s Song,” in dedication to the birth of bassist Yasushi Nakamura’s son, which happened during a snowfall. She is accompanied by Luis Perdomo’s delicate piano work and Steve Wilson’s soaring soprano saxophone. Bassist Nakamura’s plucky bass solo offers his own poignant comment. Souter’s lyrics and her sincere voice bring the element of hopeful love, to this piece that revels in the promise of a new life into this otherwise haunting piece.

Satie’s Gnossienne No1 was retitled with lyrics as Souter’s “A Song for You” (not to be confused by the Leon Russell song by the same name). On this one Souter tells the story of a disguised lover who hides his true intention and the effects it had on his befallen lover. Drummer Billy Drummond’s beat is hypnotic, Perdomo’s piano is splendid and Nakamura’s bass throbs like a beating heart.

Souter even knits in a song that recalls a Paul Gaugin painting of the same name “Du’O Venons-Nous” based on Satie’s Gymnopedic No3, which has some nice arco work by Nakamura and some airy soprano work by Wilson.

Clearly Souter’s exposure to Satie has been more studious and rigorous then mine. But this is not exclusively a Satie album. Souter finds other excellent pieces that seem to thematically weave into the fabric of this project seamlessly.  The Edith Piaf-inspired “Avec le Temps,” a Leo Ferre composition that Souter sings in French, with both emotion and verve, accompanied by Nakamura’s excellent bow and Perdomo’s crystalline piano.

Souter includes a Rod McKuen song, inspired by Jacques Brel titled “If You Go Away.” She does as an intimate duo with Perdomo in the intro, before she kicks it up a notch for a moment with her vocal energy, as she injects a cabaret feel. She follows with singing in French for a section before the trio takes the music to another level, eventually Souter returns to that intimate duo at the coda.

Jazzers should appreciate the song “Never Broken (ESP)” a collaboration written by vocalist Cassandra Wilson and saxophone/composer, legend Wayne Shorter. Souter is at her most fluid here. The trio percolates with Perdomo getting off on the zigzagging lines he introduces, as Nakamura and Drummond lock in like a fine-tuned timepiece, with Drummond getting a little freedom to offer some nice drum centric features on this one.

Perhaps one of my favorites is bassist Ron Carter’s “Mood,” which Souter’s worded version is called “Musica Universalis.” Instrumentally, this one includes a mesmeric metronomic beat that is laid down by Nakamura and Drummond, before Perdomo adds his own leading piano lines. The real tonal treat comes from Australian born New York-based Nadje Noordhuis’s moody muted trumpet lines as they interweave with Wilson’s sinewy soprano work, that at times almost sounds like a flute. The two show a great deal of magic and symbiosis when playing together. Souter’s vocal spells out the enchanting lyrics “Mood is a feather, just floating wherever, like change in the weather, all clouds in the sky’… “Now waits for no man, it’s gone in a moment, Belonging to no one.”  The lyrics nailing the transience, the fluidity, the beauty and the futility of never being able to keep things more than in the moment. 

Tessa Souter's Shadows and Silence- The Erik Satie Project is a splendid album that you will find yourself revisiting many times. 

Utterly Enjoyable: Tessa Souter's "Night of Key Largo"

Tessa Souter Nights of Key Largo Venus 

I was recently sent a copy of Nights of Key Largo, an album from the vocalist Tessa Souter. The album was originally released on the Venus label in Japan in 2008 and was re-released here in the United States this year.

Ms. Souter is a London born singer who took to singing late after a successful career as a copy editor, a freelance journalist and a mother. She moved to the US in 1992 and attended the Manhattan School of Music meeting and later being mentored by the late great Mark Murphy for four years. She has also studied with the NEA master vocalist Sheila Jordan.

Ms. Souter’s work is marked by one of the most natural voices in jazz today. Her delivery is clean, honest and emotionally sincere. She has what musicians call great ears and a superb taste when choosing material to cover. She often finds inspiration in re-imagining songs that do not fall into the repertoire that is generally associated with jazz. Some splendid examples of this woman’s musical creativity include her flamenco-fused version of Cream’s “White Room” and her treatment of the Beatles classic “Eleanor Rigby” both from here 2009 album titled Obsession. She extended her musical boundaries venturing into a successful fusion of jazz, pop and classical on her fine 2012 album Beyond the Blue, putting her own lyrics to jazz versions of Beethoven, Rodrigo and Chopin. 

On Nights of Key Largo, Ms.  Souter, along with producers Tetsuo Hara and Todd Barkan, assembled an intuitive group of musicians to accompany her on this outing. The inimitable Kenny Werner on piano and I assume arrangements, bassist extraordinaire Jay Leonhart, guitarist Romaro Lubambo, saxophonist Joel Frahm and drummer Billy Drummond all add significantly to the overall success of this effort.

Souter again finds some hidden gems that other singers seem to miss. There is something for everyone who loves great music on this album. Notable compositions  include Ivan Lins romantic “The Island,” where Ms. Souter’s breezy vocal and Frahm’s mellow tenor wrap you in a sensuous blanket.

Van Morrison’s folk/jazz/blues classic “Moon Dance,” is given to a jaunty treatment featuring Leonhart’s buoyant bass. 

Lubambo’s lush guitar chording is the perfect complement to Souter’s liquid vocal on “So Many Stars.” 

Werner’s beautiful piano accompaniment on Bachrach’s “Look of Love” is just transcendent and Souter knows how to make the most of it with her unadorned approach. 

On the cinematic John Barry theme to James Bond “You Only Live Twice,” Souter’s voice floats over Lubambo’s gentle guitar picking.

The oft neglected Benny Carter composition “Key Largo” features Ms. Souter’s voice at it’s most sultry.  This is adult contemporary at its best. Werner is superlative and Leonhart and Drummond keep the walking time impeccably.

Lubambo’s delicate guitar and Drummond’s shimmering cymbals introduce the Mancini classic “Slow Hot Wind” before Souter comes in with her telling reading of the evocative lyrics, as Frahm offers a sensitive tenor solo.  

The album continues with the lovely “Moon and Sand,” “I’m Glad There is You” -with an exceptionally  swinging solo by Frahm- “All or Nothing at All”, “Morning of the Carnival” -with some beautiful arco work by Leonhart- and ending with John Lennon’s wistful and hopeful “Imagine.”

I've listened to this album several times now and it is utterly enjoyable. If her previous work hasn’t convinced you to pay attention to this fine vocalist than the re-release of this hidden gem Nights of Key Largo should be all you need to sit down, listen and enjoy the compelling sound of Tessa Souter.

Trinidadian Songbird Tessa Souter plays Joe’s Pub to start New Year

January 2, 2010, New York, NY
Joe’s Pub is a lower east side jazz venue that has more of the feel of a theatrical venue then a jazz club. As you make your way into the performance space, with its high ceilings and multiple levels, you are ushered past the waitress station and can go either left toward the stage or right toward the elevated bar and lounge area. There is occasionally the sonic and vibratory presence of the subway that runs under the building, at times creating an uninvited rumble during the performances.

Tessa Souter is a tall, slender, elegant, sultry looking vocalist who has a pleasant countenance. She engages her audience with playful banter and a genuine smile.
On this occasion, her long strapless lame gown, her tightly coiffed hair and the pendulous earrings that dangled from her ears in elegant style accentuated her refined look.

Steeped in her British and Trinidadian heritage, she has a voice that is both a little proper and a little playful in a beguiling way. It has a warmed honey texture that is in the contralto range rarely stretching too far a field from her comfort zone. Her wording is precise and she uses no vocal gimmickry. Ms. Souter is most emotive when languishing in the lyrics of the sensitive songs from her repertoire, which she generally chooses with great care. She accentuates the mood she builds with a deft use of gentle pauses and well-timed refrains.

On this evening she was joined by Jason Ennis on acoustic guitar, Maryanne Sweeney on acoustic bass, Connor Meehan on drums and Victor Prieto on accordion. The one set show started with the Alex North composition “Love Theme from Spartacus”, made famous by the inimitable Bill Evans on his CConversations with Myself LP. Ms. Souter soulfully rendered this delicate jewel in an economical fashion, accompanied only by Ennis’s acoustic guitar and Sweeney’s arco bass. Less can sometimes be more.

On the Mongo Santamaria/Wayne Shorter montage “Afro Blue/Footprints”, Souter chose the rhythmic patterns of these songs, added her own inherent Caribbean sensibilities with her brooding vocal and created a uniquely moving hybrid. The highlight of the evening came with Ms. Souter’s rendition of Milton Nascimento’s soaring “Empty Faces” (Vera Cruz), which brought to mind the energetic and stylistic Mark Murphy’s rendition. Ms. Souter, while not as adventurous a vocalist as Mr. Murphy (with whom she has studied), showed a genuine affinity for the lyrics and rhythmic intensity of the song and delivered both brilliantly. She was equally impressive on her moving Obsession from her latest album of the same name. Ms Souter’s sensuality eliciting the anguish that only comes from someone who has lived through an all-encompassing love interest. Victor Prieto added an immeasurable poignancy to this music with a stirring and modulating solo on accordion that evoked a Tango Nuevo influence.

A quirky rework of the Lennon & McCartney composition “Eleanor Rigby” featured an exaggeratedly expressive vocal by Souter, as Ennis, Sweeney, Meehan kept the beat and Prieto went in and out with modulating accordion accents. “Avec le Temps” and the overdone Leonard Cohen’s “Send in the Clowns” were less thrilling. I was struck by how measured Ms. Souter was in her delivery. Having these wonderfully provocative bare shoulders on display, I was disappointed that she didn’t use them to accentuate the musical content in the classic chanteuse style.

On her self-penned “You Don’t Have to Believe Me” from her latest album, Ms. Souter returned to music that she does best. This time, with an exotic Middle Eastern flavor, supported by repeating the bass lines of Sweeney, an oud-like guitar solo by Ennis and a staccato treatment of percussion by Meehan, Souter shined. You could really see her being taken away by the snake charming rhythm of the music. Her voice modulated with vibrant harmonic utterances creating a hypnotic trance. Ms. Souter’s pure immersion with the music made all the difference in the world and the audience responded accordingly.

Ms. Souter rendition of the Miles Davis/Bill Evans “Blue In Green” fell short for me. Ivan Lins beautifully sensitive “The Island”, a seemingly perfect vehicle for Ms Souter’s evocative voice, disappointingly lacked the emotional depth of delivery that the song requires. Jason Ennis’s unusual Brazilian arrangement of the Jack Bruce rock classic “White Room” was a crowd pleaser. This type of re-working of a classic popular song does not seem to showcase Ms. Souter’s real appeal. Thankfully,on her final song of the set, Ms. Souter returned to her own material This time the chant-like “Usha’s Wedding” which she sang with a spiritual demeanor that evoked scenes of a sacred Native American ceremony, reaffirmed her affinity to the rhythms and music that she channels through her Caribbean roots. A legacy that embraces a myriad of ethnic influences and is a stronger influence on her than her more staid English heritage.