FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Clare Teal
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m about to record an album and I’m doing a Friday Night Is Music Night with Michael Feinstein and the BBC Concert Orchestra.
When are you at your happiest?
I’m a family girl. So as long as I’m with my partner I’m really happy and now we have the dog, life is good.
What is your greatest fear?
Other than wasps, losing my voice.
What is your earliest memory?
I was about two or two and a half, sitting on the swing in the garden eating a sausage. It was at that age I discovered I didn’t like sausages. I’ve grown to love them now.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
I’m a bit of a control freak. I find it hard to delegate.
Who has been your greatest influence?
Ella Fitzgerald, the greatest singer that’s ever been. Her music was uplifting, and that’s something I try to bring out in my own music.
What is your most treasured possession?
I have a bit of a hook up with Doris Day through a lady called Annie. For my birthday Annie, one of Doris’s friends, got me a signed copy of the original sheet music of Secret Love.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Spitefulness.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I have short arms and flat feet.
What is your favourite book?
Lady Sings The Blues, Billie Holiday’s autobiography. It’s that opening: ‘Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was 18, she was 16, and I was three.’ If ever there was a page-turner…
What is your favourite film?
High Society. Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, Louis Armstrong and the score by Cole Porter.
Music to her ears: Lady Sings The Blues, Billie Holiday’s autobiography, birdwatching, the film High Society, and a bowl of cassoulet
And your favourite piece of music?
Impossible. There’s something I always go back to, however, an album by Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, called Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington, The Stockholm Concert, 1966. The whole set is completely and utterly magical. Everybody’s on top form, but Ella, she’s like a goddess.
What is your favourite meal?
One of the things that I’ve eaten and thought ‘I can’t not have this in my life ever again’ was cassoulet.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Ella, Cole Porter, Fred Astaire, Johnny Mercer.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has said to you?
When I had just started singing and somebody said, ‘It’s all very well singing songs by dead people, but it’s not going to get you anywhere, is it?’ It actually spurred me on.
Do you believe in aliens?
I think I do.
What is your secret vice?
Yorkshire Mixtures (sweets). I’m from Yorkshire and they are fabulous.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Not as many as I should, but I do try. I write thank-you emails, which is a bit rubbish.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
‘My absolute favourite’.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
A bit more sleep would be useful.
Tell us something people might not know about you.
I’m a bit of a twitcher. I love birdwatching. I love all birds and wildlife. Wherever I travel I always buy a bird book for the country I’m in and tick them off.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
‘Thanks for coming – CDs are available’.
Radio 2’s Friday Night Is Music Night: Michael Feinstein – Crosby & The Crooners is at the Hackney Empire on 18 March: 020-8985 2424, www.hackneyempire.co.uk
I’m about to record an album and I’m doing a Friday Night Is Music Night with Michael Feinstein and the BBC Concert Orchestra.
When are you at your happiest?
I’m a family girl. So as long as I’m with my partner I’m really happy and now we have the dog, life is good.
What is your greatest fear?
Other than wasps, losing my voice.
What is your earliest memory?
I was about two or two and a half, sitting on the swing in the garden eating a sausage. It was at that age I discovered I didn’t like sausages. I’ve grown to love them now.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
I’m a bit of a control freak. I find it hard to delegate.
Who has been your greatest influence?
Ella Fitzgerald, the greatest singer that’s ever been. Her music was uplifting, and that’s something I try to bring out in my own music.
What is your most treasured possession?
I have a bit of a hook up with Doris Day through a lady called Annie. For my birthday Annie, one of Doris’s friends, got me a signed copy of the original sheet music of Secret Love.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Spitefulness.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I have short arms and flat feet.
What is your favourite book?
Lady Sings The Blues, Billie Holiday’s autobiography. It’s that opening: ‘Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was 18, she was 16, and I was three.’ If ever there was a page-turner…
What is your favourite film?
High Society. Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, Louis Armstrong and the score by Cole Porter.
Music to her ears: Lady Sings The Blues, Billie Holiday’s autobiography, birdwatching, the film High Society, and a bowl of cassouletAnd your favourite piece of music?
Impossible. There’s something I always go back to, however, an album by Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, called Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington, The Stockholm Concert, 1966. The whole set is completely and utterly magical. Everybody’s on top form, but Ella, she’s like a goddess.
What is your favourite meal?
One of the things that I’ve eaten and thought ‘I can’t not have this in my life ever again’ was cassoulet.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Ella, Cole Porter, Fred Astaire, Johnny Mercer.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has said to you?
When I had just started singing and somebody said, ‘It’s all very well singing songs by dead people, but it’s not going to get you anywhere, is it?’ It actually spurred me on.
Do you believe in aliens?
I think I do.
What is your secret vice?
Yorkshire Mixtures (sweets). I’m from Yorkshire and they are fabulous.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Not as many as I should, but I do try. I write thank-you emails, which is a bit rubbish.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
‘My absolute favourite’.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
A bit more sleep would be useful.
Tell us something people might not know about you.
I’m a bit of a twitcher. I love birdwatching. I love all birds and wildlife. Wherever I travel I always buy a bird book for the country I’m in and tick them off.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
‘Thanks for coming – CDs are available’.
Radio 2’s Friday Night Is Music Night: Michael Feinstein – Crosby & The Crooners is at the Hackney Empire on 18 March: 020-8985 2424, www.hackneyempire.co.uk