Nate Chinen - New York Times Critics Pick
" an astute and expressive jazz singer"

Dan Bilawsky - AllAboutJazz
"Everything from Joaquin Rodrigo's jazz-associated work to Tomaso Albinoni's off-the-well-known-path "Adagio In G Minor" are putty in Souter's capable hands, as she molds them into fine works of art. Beyond The Blue is a beyond-beautiful collection of music that bridges the classical-jazz divide without issue."

Siddhartha Mitter - Boston Globe
"... scintillating ... haunting ... poetic and concise, ... Souter ... writes in much the same way that she sings: with great poise, attention to space, and little ornamentation."

Victor L. Schermer - AllAboutJazz.com
"Souter is deservedly becoming treasured among jazz fans and musicians alike ..."

George Fendel - Jazz Society of Oregon
"A singer of lesser skills could not have dreamed of making this work, but Souter, a singer without fluff and frills, might well be the ideal voice for this project."

Charlene Gianetti - WomanAroundTown-DC
"... surprising, emotional, beautiful, thought-provoking, simply amazing."

Michael J. West - Washington City Paper
"Tessa Souter's contralto singing voice [has] got the sheen of a dark stained wood, glassy and unblemished ... startlingly fresh and poetic lyrics ... "

Christopher Loudon - JazzTimes
"...stunningly original."

Ken Dryden - New York Jazz Record
"...versatility and depth of feeling."

Andrea Canter - JazzPolice.com
"...clear articulation, resonant contralto... elastic phrasing... heartfelt story-telling... And the result? one wonders, what if these classical composers had the opportunity to hear jazz and to work with artists like Tessa Souter?"

C. Michael Bailey - AllAboutJazz
"... all classical elegance and grace."

Ron Netsky - Rochester City Paper
"This album is a bold move on Souter's part. The strange thing is, it works so well that if you did not know any better, you just might mistake these tunes for jazz standards."

Shaun Brady - Philadelphia City Paper
"Born to a Trinidadian father and an English mother, raised in London and based in New York, Souter knows a thing or two about cultural hybridity ... avoids the obvious jazz-classical crossover missteps ... [with] a strongly swinging band jamming on what an infomercial would call 'some of the world's greatest melodies'."

Brent Black - Critical Jazz
"...one of the most innovative vocal talents on the scene today ... the very heights of honest artistic passion ... as prime and as on point as vocal music gets."

Barry Bassis - New York Resident
"When it comes to jazz singing you can't do better."

Charlene Giannetti - WomanAroundTown-DC BLUES ALLEY, WASHINGTON DC
"... a perfect storm: beautiful music, heartfelt words, delivered by one of the most expressive and sensuous voices in the jazz world today. Seeing her perform songs from the new album was truly magical ... This is one talent not to be missed."

Sebastian Scotney - LondonJazzBlog 55 BAR NEW YORK
"Beyond the Blue could be the song to launch a thousand covers."

Brian Pace - The Pace Report - JAZZ STANDARD, NEW YORK
"Her live performances are both captivating and stunning."

Chris Parker - LondonJazzBlog PIZZA EXPRESS DEAN STREET, LONDON
"... ingenuous sincerity, a keen ear for a simple but deeply affecting melody, a genuine rapport with her bandmates."

Charlene Gianetti - WomanAroundTown.com-New York 55 BAR, NEW YORK
"...perhaps the best jazz vocalist on the scene today. To say that Tessa Souter sings jazz is to dramatically understate her performance. She wraps her voice around each note, infuses the lyrics with emotion, and, in the process, transforms even well-known classics into something different and quite wonderful"

Jeanie Barton - LondonJazzBlogspot PIZZA EXPRESS DEAN STREET, LONDON
"But what really draws you in is the warmth is her performance ... And she writes intense and evocative lyrics, putting words to the feelings we all share but cannot necessarily articulate."

Charlene Gianetti - Woman Around Town-New York JOE'S PUB, NEW YORK
"Jazz lovers in New York are blessed with many places to enjoy wonderful music in beautiful settings. Every now and then, however, someone comes along who is refreshingly different and raises the bar for every other singer. Tessa Souter is that performer....."

Ron Netsky - Rochester City Paper ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009, NY
"To say that Souter enchanted the audience would be an understatement. ...transfixed by Souter's gorgeous voice and wonderful personality. ... Souter's own 'You Don't Have To Believe,' with its Middle Eastern feel, its philosophical lyrics, and its chant-like vocal, drew perhaps the largest ovation of the concert. ... a great performance."

Don Heckman - International Review of Music CATALINA BAR & GRILL, LOS ANGELES, 2010
"Souter has a way of inhabiting a song, and this performance was no exception."

Ron Netsky - Rochester City Paper ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL 2007, NY
"Judging from the ovations she received [on] Saturday night, the entire audience felt the same way ... That kind of humor, combined with a gorgeous voice and eclectic repertoire, made Souter a festival favorite."

Japanese - Jazz Critque Magazine 55 BAR, NEW YORK

Don Heckman - Los Angeles Times CATALINA BAR & GRILL, LOS ANGELES, 2002
"Souter, whose musical sophistication gives her a significant advantage in the competitive clamor surrounding the current world of ambitious female jazz artists, also has the rare quality of authenticity."

Bill Leikam - AllAboutJazz.com BACH DANCING AND DYNAMITE SOCIETY, HALF MOON BAR
"... depth and passion... smooth, liquid phrasing."

Martin Johnson - Wall Street Journal
"There have been thousands of renditions of songs from the Beatles songbook, but few with the intense delicacy of Tessa Souter's 'Eleanor Rigby,'."

Paul Freeman - San Jose Mercury News
"... a rare blend of sensitivity, intelligence and emotion."

Shaun Brady - Philadelphia City Paper
"... crystalline clarity ... Her voice is sinuous and elastic, stretching and caressing a melody with an actress' sense of the emotional meaning of each lyric.'"

Bill Beuttler - Boston Globe
"Critics have been gushing about her live performances and her self-produced debut, Listen Love."

Tyran Grillo - ecmreviews.com
"It is not simply that words seem to flutter from her lips with all the shimmering delicacy of a Blue Morpho, but also that she spreads sentiments like pollen across a veritable field of musical touch points. "

Les Tomkins - The Jazz Rag Magazine (UK)
An interview with Tessa Souter

Jane Gordon - You Magazine, Mail on Sunday
"When Tessa Souter walks into the spotlight at London's Ronnie Scott's and begins to perform, she does so with such confidence, elegance and utter professionalism that it is impossible to believe she was ever anything but the self assured singer she is today. Nothing about her appearance or her performance in the world-famous jazz venue gives the enraptured audience any indication of the struggle she has had to achieve her dream."

Mike Joyce - Washington Post
"Striking, soulful, enchanting -- vocalist Tessa Souter's Obsession is likely to rank high on "best of" lists at year's end. Though the album brims with performances that reveal Souter's jazz sensibilities, listeners needn't have much interest in the genre to fall under her spell."

Christopher Loudon - JazzTimes
"Souter's crystalline contralto and impeccable phrasing are mighty arrows in her quiver, but it is her ability to become one with a song, finding its intrinsic core and allowing its sentiments to grow organically, that enables her to score successive bull's eyes...."

Karl Stark - Philadelphia Inquirer
"The best thing is that Souter sounds different.... Expressive ... full of passion ... while Love Theme from Spartacus - a brief and daring duet with guitarist Jason Ennis - reminds me that there really is a love song buried in there."

Ken Dryden - All Music Guide
"There is no room for debate about her handling of jazz material. Her subtle yet sizzling take of Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue" interweaves the bass line of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints"... while Souter shimmers in her performance of Kenny Barron's engaging "Crystal Rain" ("Sunshower") ... The vocalist also makes a major impression as a composer/lyricist..."

Tyran Grillo - ecmreviews.com
"Souter's originals are reason enough to become familiar with this album."

Seth Rogovoy - Berkshire Living Magazine
"A true jazz singer, she employs her voice as a musical instrument and as the member of an ensemble."

Peter Quinn - Jazzwise (UK)
"... compelling and utterly original... skip-proof."

Peter Bacon - thejazzbreakfast
"It all feels like an inspired path for a 21st-century jazz singer to take."

Chris Parker - www.vortexjazz.co.uk
"...centred by the sheer skill and vocal artistry with which she imbues everything she sings ... At once unassumingly virtuosic and uncontrivedly emotional, the Souter voice is simply one of the most attractive sounds in contemporary vocal jazz."

Richard Kamin - Hartford Courant
"... exciting, sensual, and satisfying ... really exemplary emotion and execution. One can easily get lost in Souter's rich alto vocals ... And, though one may have heard these songs many times before in their original versions or on remakes, here they seem fresh."

Jay N. Miller - Patriot Ledger
"Obsession... has so many indelible moments ... ...fearless song choices ... a very intimate sound, where Souter's clear contralto and its marvelous tone rings through in all its glory."

Zan Stewart - Newark Star Ledger
"... a beguiling, atmospheric singer with a bell-clear alto voice who finds intriguing ways to instill jazz sensibilities into pop, Brazilian and other material."

John Chacona - Erie Times
"Her diction is flawless, making every syllable count. It's an almost actor way of singing, so much so that I wrongly supposed that Souter had dramatic experience."

Barry Bassis - Town and Village
"My first reaction to hearing the opening track on Tessa Souter's new CD Obsession is "wow." The singer has a rich contralto and uses it to great dramatic and musical effect. She starts with the familiar 'Eleanor Rigby' in a completely fresh arrangement that she created ... Her rendition ranks up there with the Beatles' original and the classic one by Ray Charles."

Don Heckman - International Review of Music
"One of the few exceptional standouts in the crowded field of female jazz singers ... a gripping display of her ability to do it all ... the work of an artist with the talent and the imagination to match her compelling musical visions."

Joel Roberts - AllAboutJazz
"With her rich contralto and crystal-clear diction ... Souter knows how to get inside a song ... a deeply satisfying album of jazz and jazz-inflected music that should appeal to a wide audience."

Victor L. Schermer - AllAboutJazz
"Souter stands out in a large field of contemporary jazz vocalists because, unlike most of them, she thinks before she sings and never compromises the music with irrelevancies. This contemplative aspect, along with her unique style, precise articulation and her well-trained, stunning voice, make Souter a vocalist to reckon with and one whose development should be followed with great interest."

Japanese - Jazz Life magazine

Tyran Grillo - ecmreviews.com
"... a love letter to love letters -- in this case, thirteen standards, whose contours tremble with renewal in her breath... from the Braziliana of 'The Island' to Souter's drop-dead gorgeous rendition of John Lennon's 'Imagine'."

Ken Dryden - All Music Guide
"... a formidable singer ... gorgeous, natural vocals ... spacious, lovely performance ... at her most stunning when she tackles songs that one doesn't normally hear in a jazz setting. Tessa Souter will win you over, as well, if you give her the opportunity."

Keiichi Baba - Swing Journal [Japanese] GOLD DISC AWARD
"There are traces of Billie Holiday and Carmen McRae in her phrasing, and Julie London and Peggy Lee in her delicate breathing, which harbors a touch of sorrow....The very successful Japanese debut of an outstanding singer with a captivating voice."

Italian - Musica Jazz magazine
"Crystalline voice"

Suzanne Lorge - New York Jazz Record
"Tessa Souter excels at creating mood ... easy ... inviting and utterly indolent ... the vibe is so warm you can still feel the rays on the sand."

Marc Myers - Jazzwax.com CD DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK
"A gorgeous vibrato and a timbre that's warm and sweet. And she's one of the few vocalists around today who knows how to distill a standard, pop tune or rock ballad into a tasteful jazz rendition."

Gigi Razete - La Repubblica
"A special talent."

Donald Elfman - AllAboutJazz-New York
"Souter's ... rich, dark voice combines with her ability to see the shape of a tune and so the words seem to come from her soul."

Michael Harrington - Philadelphia Inquirer
"On her amazing album Listen Love, she delivers powerful versions of nonstandards ... in a crystal-clear voice with diamond-cut phrasing and a slight tinge of melancholy. She's a gem."

Tyran Grillo - ecmreviews.com
"'Caravan' glistens with Sephardic curves as it works its spell somewhere between sleeping and waking... Souter's gorgeous ad-libbing lights up the night with dance."

Will Friedwald - New York Sun
"Her rendition of Pharoah Sanders's 'The Creator Has a Master Plan' proves that it's possible to be spiritual and sensual at the same time."

Victor L. Schermer - AllAboutJazz
"She makes the song her own with subtle shifts of dynamics, timing, sonority and phrasing. That makes her a true artist. And as an artist, she is an impressionist and a minimalist, giving the music a modern feel."

WPKN-FM Radio
"The debut of an important new jazz singer ... she sings with the authority and passion that usually comes from long experience."

WNTI-FM Radio
"Ms. Souter dazzles and stuns with her vocal expertise on a potpourri of classics and a few that she adds her own lyrics to. It's a jam packed world out in jazz vocal land but Ms. Souter lends an innate musicality and tastefulness that separates her from the herd ... Caravan is done with a gorgeously referenced Middle Eastern feel that sounds more right than the original. Pharoah Sander's The Creator Has A Master Plan is even better as performed by Ms. Souter than Leon Thomas's version as she makes the music and lyrics come together with added depth to the spiritual aspects of the piece. An outstanding new release."

Rob Lester - Talkinbroadway.com
"... rich and ravishing ... so assured, so comfortable, so in command ... you put on and immediately think, "wow!" and know you can settle back and be bathed in a simply beautiful voice possessed by someone who has learned how to use it ... - she composes, too."

Scott Yannow - LA Jazz Scene
"Not many vocalists can sing Jimmy Rowles' The Peacocks with the beauty and effortless grace of Tessa Souter."

Sheila Jordan - Jazz Vocals
"At the top of my list of great talent. There aren't many, but Tessa is a natural born singer. She really moves me."

Dermot Hussey - Sirius XM Radio
"A truly beautiful voice and what she does with it really serves great lyrics, using the beauty of her voice to unearth and get to the core of great songs."

Kirk Silsbee - Los Angeles City Beat
"The phrasing is absolutely serpentine as it slithers around the melodic lines of a song."

Russell Davies - BBC Radio 2
"Unique ... elegant ... a voice that is both strong and sensitive at the same time."

Will Friedwald - Village Voice
"An Afro-British-Caribbean stylist who proves that the jazz singer's repertoire is no longer limited to the Great American Songbook. Direct and Soulful. Plus she's the only singer who can make sense of Pharoah Sanders, 'The Creator Has a Master Plan.'"

Mark Murphy - Jazz Vocals
"... a complete musician ... remarkable and very moving."

Howard Johnson - Jazz Tuba
"An important musician. Her brilliant lyrics and songs make her stand out from the pack so very much. And she creates a mood and an atmosphere when she takes the stage."

Jon Lucien - Soul-jazz Vocals
"Magnificent! I couldn't stop playing Listen Love over and over again. She blew me away."

Joe La Barbera - Jazz Drums
"Tessa is a unique voice in jazz"

Bob Craig - "Voices in Jazz", WRTI Radio, Philadelphia
"A real treasure amongst an avalanche of women singers today."

Brandt Reiter - Los Angeles Weekly
"Soulful. You'll be hearing more from this lady."

Time Out New York
"Tessa Souter brings new life to time-honored standards while also mining a creative spark from the unlikeliest quarters."

Ron Netsky - Rochester Festival Program
"One of these days Tessa Souter should sing 'Out of Nowhere' because that's where she came from. Now that she's arrived, everyone has the same assessment: 'wow!'"