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Terri Walker Biography

With a classically-trained voice that could cross over into any genre, she initially wowed some of the brightest talents in the UK garage scene such as 187 Lockdown and TNT, but Terri grew up with her mum's soul and jazz collection, and ultimately Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Chaka Khan and Aretha Franklin would be bigger influences.

So on her new album we can hear traces of those soul legends with the gorgeous ballad What The Hell, where there is a tantalising power lurking beneath her restrained, buttermilk vocal. "I don't want to be a pop diva, I just want to do the music that I love," says Terri. "You know, that I can listen to and touches me."

Similarly (the odd awards ceremony aside) Terri isn't chasing a lifestyle that will make her an instant celebrity, and you'll find her where she feels comfortable, chilling with friends locally, or with her sister and fellow musicians at the Monday night jam sessions at London's R&B club 10 Room.

"I'm terrible, I'm a bit of a recluse, I think," Terri laughs. "When people see me I'm loud and brashy, but I go out once in a blue moon. The scene I go to is the kind of scene where there's a lot of unsigned singers, just normal people." So far, though, no one has persuaded the singer who's brought the house down at the London Jazz Café and the Forum, not to mention venues across Europe, to get up on stage. "It's really bad, when they call me I run away. You know, by then I've been drinking, and I'll have to remember the words of the song, and I really don't want to embarrass myself."

Four Mobo nominations, a Mercury Prize shortlist and now a collaboration with some of the hottest producers and remixers in the world… there's no chance of that.page << 1 2 3 4 >>

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