WICN Artist Of The Month – June 2025 Tierney Sutton
Written by Doug Hall on June 1, 2025
When you listen to a jazz vocalist for the first time, whether they have a local, national, or international reputation, chances are that you, as a listener, have both anticipation and expectation. As an avid listener with decades of experience, I know full well that, unlike instrumentalists, jazz vocalists cannot hide musically. Guitarists have block chords to retreat to if their solo strays, as do pianists. Bassists have standard scales to run to if they go off the mark. A drummer can correct the rhythm on the fly. Listening to Tierney Sutton, for the first time, on her cover of Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington’s Caravan, from her 1999 debut album Introducing Tierney Sutton, I was immediately taken by the clarity, range and tonal quality of her voice. She sings the verse impeccably, with total command, in the moment. Delivering. Again, you can’t hide.
Tierney has since earned nine Grammy nominations and has four Top 20 Billboard jazz albums to her name, including 2014’s intimate Paris Sessions with French guitarist Serge Merlaud. As stated in AllMusic’s biographical appraisal, she is “recognized for her pure, glowing vocals and lyrical approach to modern jazz and standards. Stylistically, she straddles the line between the cool approach of classic West Coast singers like June Christy and the more progressive contemporary artistry of performers like Sheila Jordan.”
Tierney released her 15th album, Paris Sessions 2, in 2022, following on the 2014 Grammy-nominated Paris Sessions, which was called “a bare-bones journey into the depths of musical intimacy” by AllMusic. She would coincidentally find an “indelible chemistry” with classically trained Parisian guitarist-arranger Serge Merlaud, who is now her husband.
On this follow-up release she was also joined by guest artist and flutist Hubert Laws.
Sutton has performed with the same lineup of musicians for twenty years, the Tierney Sutton Band, with pianist Christian Jacob, bassists Trey Henry and Kevin Axt, and drummer Ray Brinker. In parallel, in her personal life, Tierney has been a member of the Baha’i religion since 1981, which emphasizes unity. Her faith is reflected in the bond of the band and a relationship that clearly denotes a family of musicians. As stated by New York City Jazz Record, a monthly jazz newspaper, “The band is an incorporated unit and makes all musical and business decisions together.”
Performing regionally and locally with a variety of guest recording appearances, she has also graced historic venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Her involvement in several film score projects included her recording Screenplay in 2019, which spans the first century of American film music.
In 2016, she would come to the notice of legendary actor, jazz aficionado and director Clint Eastwood, who had attended several of her concerts, and would book Tierney to play for private “gigs” in his home. They would collaborate on the soundtrack for Eastwood’s film Sully, which was composed and arranged by pianist Christian Jacob. As Sutton posted on her website, “We went into the studio and went scene by scene, some of which we used the themes, others using our bag of tricks. Clint was there every step of the way. It was really collaborative. It was very much ‘Clint joins The Tierney Sutton Band.’ He doesn’t do it by micro-managing. He gives a suggestion and trusts that you’ll make the right decision. He respected us and we tried to do it the very best we could.”
(https://tierneysutton.com/tierney-sutton-discography/sully-soundtrack/)
Her latest single release, Good People (2024), performed with the San Gabriel 7 group,
is a musical and visual survey of a few events in America’s history as well as its present reality and addressed satirically—pointing at a lack of public awareness of these issues.
As stated by Tierney, “Many of the historical events in this piece are here because I only became aware of them in the last ten years–and kept asking: “How did I not learn about this in school?” Tulsa? Rosewood? Red lining? Freeway Construction in US Cities? Restrictive Covenants? The GI Bill? How was wealth accumulated in the United States?”
Outside of her recording and performance schedule, Tierney has remained in demand as both a studio vocal producer and vocal educator. In 2016 she worked with famed lyric soprano Natalie Dessay for Sony Pictures Classics’ “Pictures of America” and the soon-to-be-released “Between Yesterday and Tomorrow.”
Tierney has also been devoted to education and sharing her talent and musical passion. As a highly respected vocalist within the jazz community, Tierney taught for over a decade at USC’s Thornton School of Music and spent six years as the Vocal Department Head at The Los Angeles College of Music in Pasadena, CA. She has also taught and mentored some of the finest new generation of singers including Gretchen Parlato and Sara Gazarek. (https://tierneysutton.com/)
Tierney’s next major performance is Aug. 19 at Keystone Korner, 1350 Lancaster St., Baltimore.
