Terez Montcalm, a Canadian jazz guitarist and singer, achieved international success in 2007. She was born in Quebec, Canada. She grew up bilingually in a French-speaking family, where English and French were used interchangeably, and music was an important part of her life. Her father, an English-speaking native speaker from Toronto, was a jazz lover who loved Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole. She was the youngest of five siblings. Her brothers were fans of Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and her sisters were big fans of Edith Piaf and The Beatles. Montcalm also had her own favorites, including Annie Lennox, the Eurythmics’ lead singer. She was a strong vocalist from an early age and attended music school. In 1994, her first full-length album Risque was released on BMG. Risque, which was sung in French, included original material and covers by Charles Aznavour, Tom Waits and other artists. Montcalm received a Prix Rapsat Lelievre in 1995. Parle Pas Si Fort was her second album. She then retreated from the market for a time and did not release Terez Montcalm until 2005. Montcalm’s fourth album, Voodoo was released in 2006. The album is almost entirely cover songs and was produced by Michel Cusson, a former Uzeb jazz-rock guitarist, and released on the Universal subsidiary label GSI Musique. Voodoo reached number 43 on the French Albums Charts a year after its release.
