Clare Teal wins British Jazz Award for "Best Vocalist 2005"

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Jazz Star Clare Teal attended the re-launch of The British Jazz Awards in Birmingham last night. After an absence of 9 years, the British Jazz Awards returned to Birmingham last night. The city hosted the event from its inception in 1987 until 1995 when the then sponsors moved the event, known as “The Jazz Oscars”, to London. The event enjoyed a high profile, finding a home of The BAFTA Building in the Strand but, the sponsorship by Hamlet Cigars was withdrawn when the current legislation regarding tobacco advertising came into effect.

The British Jazz Awards acknowledges the excellence of British Jazz musicians in all areas of the genre. The awards presentation took place on Tuesday 5th July at The Moulin Rouge, sponsored by Cadillac, in Centenary Square as part of The Starbucks Birmingham International Jazz Festival and was attended by the UK’s leading jazz musicians and singers, including major label star Clare Teal who was there to collect a well deserved “Best Vocalist” award.

Twenty thousand voting forms were distributed throughout the country via the media, jazz clubs, record stores and Jazz festivals. There were sixteen categories with the vocal section, for the first time, dominated by women with new box office attractions Clare Teal and Claire Martin competing with the experience of Cleo Laine and Val Wiseman.

Clare Teal is without doubt the most successful young female jazz singer in the UK today. Recently signed to Sony Jazz in a deal that has broken records for a UK jazz singer, the talented singer and songwriter is poised to become a household name around the World. She has appeared on the Parkinson TV Show twice and is regularly featured on his Sunday Radio show “The Sunday Supplement”. Clare has appeared on ITV’s “Des & Mel” and “Christmas Mania” where she stole the show with her jazz version of “Winter Wonderland”. She has also recently worked with John Dankworth’s Big Band for Radio 2’s “Live From The Stables”, The BBC Big Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra’s “Friday Night Is Music Night”. She wowed thousands on the ONEWORLD Stage at Glastonbury, took the Edinburgh Fringe festival by storm and has toured all over the UK taking all most, if not all, of the major festivals. Her new album “Don’t Talk” shot straight into the national charts at no.20 making her the first UK female mainstream jazz artist to have a top 20 album in almost 30 years. She also has had her own BBC Radio 2 programme “After Seven..With Clare Teal” on Friday nights at 7pm returning for a second series in August this year and was given the honor of being the very last person to ever record a live session for Janice Long in the famous Pebble Mill Studio. After the ceremony Clare was joined on stage by several of the evening’s winners, including Alan Barnes (winner of Best “Alto Saxophone” and “Tenor Saxophone” Awards), Len Skeat (Best “Bass Player”), Steve Brown (Best “Drums) and pianist Gwilym Simcock (“Rising Star” for a stunning version of “Mood Indigo”.

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