Laura Fygi (born 27 August 1955) is a Dutch jazz singer. Fygi's father was a Dutch businessman, a director of

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

, and her mother an Egyptian belly dancer. She was raised in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, until her father's death in the late 1960s, when she moved back to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

with her mother. She was then under the care of a French-speaking

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

before being adopted by the principal of her school. During the 1980s, she was a member of

Centerfold The centerfold or centrefold of a magazine is the inner pages of the middle Folio, sheet, usually containing a portrait, such as a pin-up or a Nudity, nude. The term can also refer to the model featured in the portrait. In saddle-stitched maga ...

, an all-female Dutch disco band which was popular in the Europe and Japan. In the early 1990s, she began a solo career and recorded her debut album with

Toots Thielemans Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...

. During her career, she has worked with

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist, and singer. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to ma ...

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948� ...

and the

Pasadena Roof Orchestra The Pasadena Roof Orchestra (PRO) is a contemporary band from England that specialises in the jazz and Swing music, swing genres of music of the 1920s and 1930s, although their full repertoire is considerably wider. The orchestra has existed s ...

and considers

Julie London Julie London (born Julie Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch song, torch singer noted for her contralto voice, London recorded over thirty album ...

one of her influences. She has sung in English, Chinese, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Discography

* ''Introducing'' ( Mercury, 1991) * ''Bewitched'' (

Verve Forecast Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * '' The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee h ...

, 1992) * ''The Lady Wants to Know'' (Verve Forecast, 1994) * ''Turn Out the Lamplight'' (Mercury, 1995) * ''Watch What Happens When Laura Fygi Meets Michel Legrand'' (

, 1997) * ''Live'' (Mercury, 1998) * ''Dream Your Dream'' (Mercury, 1998) * ''Laura Fygi's Tunes of Passion'' (Z Music, 1999) * ''The Latin Touch'' (Mercury, 2000) * ''Change'' (Mercury, 2001) * ''Laura Fygi at Ronnie Scott's'' (

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * '' The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee h ...

, 2003) * ''The Christmas Album: The Very Best Time of Year'' (Verve, 2004) * ''Rendez-Vous'' (Universal/Verve, 2007) * ''The Best Is Yet to Come'' (T2/Out of the Blue, 2011) * ''Flower'' (Starsing/Gold Typhoon, 2012) * ''Jazz Love'' (Universal, 2016) * ''Laura Goes East'' (2021)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fygi, Laura 1955 births Living people Dutch adoptees Dutch jazz singers Dutch people of Egyptian descent Singers from Amsterdam Torch singers Dutch women jazz singers English-language singers from the Netherlands French-language singers of the Netherlands Portuguese-language singers of the Netherlands Spanish-language singers of the Netherlands