| Tessanne Chin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Tessanne Chin |
| Born | September 23, 1985 |
| Origin | Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae, reggae fusion, rock, soul |
| Instruments | Vocals, acoustic guitar |
| Website | [1] |
Tessanne Chin (born September 23, 1985, in Kingston, Jamaica) is a Reggae fusion recording artist, best known for her hit singles Hideaway and Messenger. Hideaway was featured on VP Records' Reggae Gold 2007.[1] She has already opened for famous acts such as Patti Labelle, Peabo Bryson and Gladys Knight, and toured for 3 years with Jimmy Cliff.
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Her father, Richard Chin, is of Chinese descent with Cherokee ancestry and her mother, Christine Chin is of half Afro-Jamaican and Afro-European ancestry. Her older sister Tami Chynn is also a singer.
Tessanne was introduced to music at a very early age by her parents.[2] Her mother was the trumpeter/ singer in her band called the "Carnations" and her father was the drummer. The family has a recording studio in their home in Jamaica. Tessanne started performing when she was 6 years old with Cathy Levy's "Little People and Teen Players club", one of Jamaica's top performing arts schools. Most of her vocal coaching came from her mother and also from noted vocal coach Lecie Wright.
Tessanne learned firsthand about cultural diversity when she moved to England at age 12. She coped with the move by devoting a lot of time to writing songs.
Tessanne recently married Michael Cuffe.
Upon her return to Jamaica, Tessanne joined the Jamaican Rock Band, "Mile High" and performed for crowds at numerous local venues including Jazzfest, Rockfest, an RETV Unplugged. Their style, rock reggae, was unique. After going on tour for 3 years with Jimmy Cliff as a back-up singer, she decided to launch her solo career.
After Tessanne left Mile High, she started writing songs for her debut CD. Rudy Valentino and Paul Kastick are her producers. Her debut single, Hideaway, received heavy rotation on Jamaican radio and select stations in New York.[3] Both the single and its music video were very popular. Since then she has released two more singles, Messenger and Black Books, both available for sale on her website.
She has performed at several live shows, including The Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival 2006, the Deck cafe, The Port Royal Music festival, ABC Slim Traxx and her very own show "Arabian Night".
Her mixed style is influenced by singers such as Skunk, Pat Benatar, Diana King, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Bob Marley and Mahalia Jackson.[4]
Tessanne has collaborated with fellow Jamaican artist Shaggy ("Never Let Go"), the Trinidadian Soca band Kes (band) ("Loving You") and was featured in a track; by the Legendary Jamaican band Third World (band), titled ("By My Side").
Other noted tracks by Tessanne are remakes of other famous artists and bands such as Foreigner's "I Wanna Know What Love Is", The Who's "Love, Reign o'er Me", and Phish's "Free". A remake of Bob Marley's "Could You Be Loved" which Tessanne performed with her band "Mile High" also circulated through the internet early in 2006. Other works include a live performance of "You and Me" performed and written with her older sister Tami Chynn.
On December 6, 2010, Tessanne released her debut album available for digital download entitled "In Between Words".