Clare Teal, the Kildwick jazz singer tipped for the top by Michael Parkinson.

Let's be blunt, why jazz?

"It kind of chooses you. I was seven at the time, and corny and clichd as it sounds, there were these big stacks of old 78s and my grandmother's Dansette record player in the attic - big band stuff, Glenn Miller, Peggy Lee, Doris Day, The Jordannaires, and Geraldo - and it just immediately hit home."

That sounds uncannily reminiscent of Jane Horrocks's character in The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice...

"...The first time I saw Little Voice I was terrified! I thought 'what a freak'. But then I loved black and white movies too, and I then I remember hearing Ella Fitzgerald singing Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall with The Ink Spots on The Singing Detective soundtrack, and that was it. That was the song that said this is what it's all about."

Shouldn't you have been listening to pop music?

"I did try, and I think my mum and dad were a bit worried when we'd go into Woolworths and my mum would say 'What record do you want?' and I would say 'Hollywood Hits'.

"I did buy Smash Hits, but I knew all the words and none of the songs: I'd keep secret pictures of Fred Astaire underneath the cover."

When did you start singing jazz?

"I never sang solo at school because I was shy and never thought anyone would be interested anyway. But when I got to university in Wolverhampton... well, there has been a series of events in my life, and I am sure it's the same for everyone, where something happens to you, and what happened was that I was practising the piano and didn't have my clarinet with me when I was told 'Your practical exam is in 20 minutes' time'.

"So me and a friend and Weasel from the university thrash metal band played together and I got far better grades for my singing and piano than I ever had with my clarinet."

In May you signed a multi-album deal with Sony Jazz; your Friday evening show on BBC Radio Two, After Seven, starts tonight; and you have signed sponsorship deals with JVC and Yamaha. Why do you think your time has come?

"It goes back to being in the right place at the right time; there are so many talented jazz singers, it's nothing to do with who's good. I'm no oil painting, I'm 31 and I'm quite surprised that I got the deal in the first place, though I'm not complaining.

"The whole jazz scene has changed. It was hideously unpopular when I started - and I've only been singing professionally for four or five years - and I was aware that jazz had been a dirty word, a four-letter word for a long time, but people are getting fed up with pigeonholing and now anything goes. It's trendy to listen to something different to your friends."

Just as she was doing in the attic, when she was seven.

Clare Teal plays Harrogate Theatre, at the Harrogate International Festival, tonight (30th) at 8pm, sold out; Grand Opera House, York, October 20, 8pm, tickets £16.50 on 0870 606 3595

Updated: 15:48 Thursday, July 29, 2004