Sofia Laiti

A Finnish immigrant who has lived in the U.S. since 1991, Sofia Laiti has shown much promise as a jazz singer and interpreter of lyrics. Laiti, who was originally from northern Finland and later lived in Helsinki, had sung with various Finnish players when she went to New York in September 1989 to record her debut album for CBS' Finnish division, Manhattan Memories, which featured saxman Scott Robinson, pianist Larry Ham, bassist Ray Drummond, and drummer Klaus Suonsaari. Laiti continued to live in Finland until 1991, when she made a permanent move to New York and tackled the Manhattan club scene. The distinctive vocalist, whose Scandinavian accent adds a certain smokiness to her work, followed Manhattan Memories with two CDs on her own Midnight Sun label: 1994's Inspira (which boasted John Hicks on piano) and 1995's The Midnight Sun Will Never Set. Recorded when Laiti was seven or eight months pregnant with her daughter, Susan, the latter was produced by tenor sax dynamo Houston Person and featured him prominently.