Sue Tucker - Back Home (2006)

An extraordinary jazz vocalist, Sue (Oatts) Tucker, comes from a family of known jazz musicians. She didn't have to look far for encouragement when her love for singing took off. "My father, Jack Oatts, was one of the first jazz educators in Iowa. Music was always around... mostly jazz." Her brothers, Jim and Dick Oatts, are also internationally known and respected jazz artists.

Before she took up singing, Sue was blowin' her tenor sax in jazz band and playing a duet with Clark Terry at a jazz festival on her clarinet. "I think playing a horn has had a great influence on my singing. I've tried to approach singing from an instrumental mindset. Space is just as important as sound."

After attending college, Sue began a studio career producing and singing jingles and industrials with a voice-over thrown in on occasion. She spent seven years teaching music theory, vocal studio techniques and was the coordinator of the ensemble dept. at McNally Smith College in downtown St. Paul. She's now the Assistant Director of Education at IPR (Institute of Production & Recording) in downtown Minneapolis. She's also a national member of JZVOC and is a board member of the Twin Cities Jazz Society. You'll find her at various night spots in the Twin Cities and beyond singing her cool jazz.

About this CD...
"I took a lot of time picking out the tunes for this CD. My criteria was threefold; great melodies with lyrics one can relate to today, songs that weren’t recorded by every Tom, Dick and Harry, and songs that leant themselves to the makeup of the band. The musicians on this CD are topnotch. To me, the chemistry they achieved on this project was amazing. Gary Raynor, whose such a warm, sensitive player, brought some “Prairie Home Companion” with him; Kent Saunders, whose been on all my CD’s, is like a rock when it comes to rhythm guitar; Luis Santiago brought that real “south of the border” feel to the Latin tunes; and Tanner Taylor is a force to be reckoned with...incredible sensitivity and chops from such a young jazz piano player."

This is Sue Tucker's 3rd CD and it's an absolute gem.