In an age of cookie-cutter jazz singers, Sofia Laiti is utterly distinctive. Her voice - at once husky and silken, intimate and exotic - has won her the praise of critics, the affection of audiences, and the collaboration of such musicians as John Hicks, Craig Handy, John Stubblefield, James Weidman, Ray Drummond, and Houston Person. Her return to the stage in 2002 after a six years of full-time motherhood has been welcomed by fans eager to hear the next turn in this extraordinary jazz odyssey.

Sofia has traveled far to reach this point in her career. Born and raised in Lapland, the unique society in the northernmost arctic area in Finland., Laiti retains traces of her distinctive heritage. She pursued more formal studies of classical music in the Kuopio Music Conservatory in eastern Finland.

With this solid foundation, Laiti proceeded to jazz singing, and moved to Helsinki, the sophisticated capital of Finland. Throughout the 1980's, she made a significant impact there, winning major prizes and grants, and making triumphant appearances at top clubs and festivals, such as Pori Jazz International,

In 1991 - reversing the trend of Scandinavian-bound jazzmen like Dexter Gordon - Sofia moved to New York, aided by a grant from the State Music Council of Finland. She has since led ensembles at such venues as Birdland, The Village Gate, Visiones, The Squire, The West End Café, Tavern on the Green, and the Cornelia Street Café, as well as at Trumpets in New Jersey, Blues Alley in Washington, D.C.

Her debut album, "Manhattan Memories", was recorded in New York in 1989 for Finnish Columbia Records. Saxophonist Scott Robinson, pianist Larry Ham, bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Klaus Suonsaari join her in a program divided between compositions by Kivikataja and standards on which Sofia puts her inimitable stamp.

In 1994 she released her U.S.deput recording "Inspira", on the Midnight Sun Music label. Backed by John Hicks on piano, Craig Handy on tenor sax, Essiet Essiet on bass and Cecil Brooks III on drums, her vocalism was praised as "powerful" by Cadence and "charismatic" by Jazziz.

Sofia's 1996 album "The Midnight Sun Will Never Set" produced by Houston Person, featured Person on sax, James Weidman on piano, Essiet Essiet on bass and Mark Johnson on drums. Praising the "deep lilt of her voice" and her "dark, exotic sound" Cadence declared: "Sofia Laiti is maturing into a classic jazzpop chanteuse."

Now married with a young daughter, Sofia is comfortably New York centric. Asked what took so long between recordings (The Midnight Sun Will Never Set 1996 and You Don't Know Me 2004) saying: Sometimes it's good to be quiet. Even when I wasn't performing I was singing and playing piano at home. I knew I would come back when the timing was right." The call came and she's back in the game.

While critics cite the "smokiness", "lushness," and sultry glow" of her voice and the "smoothness" and "elasticity" of her phrasing. Sofia herself has best captured the secret of her appeal: "I naturally use my whole heart and soul when I sing. I think an audience loves to hear it - the communication of feeling through song."