Tim Hughes talks to one of the greats of jazz, singer Stacey Kent.

ONE of the world’s greatest jazz singers, Stacey Kent has toured the world and worked with many of the greats. Yet, of all the great cities this Blue Note records star has performed in, one holds a special place in her heart – Oxford. For it was in the City of Dreaming Spires that the young American academic met her soulmate, tenor saxophonist Jim Tomlinson. And, as a result, where she decided to become a singer.

“Oh my God! Oxford is the single most significant city for me,” admits the self-confessed romantic. “I came here not to get away from America, but to discover more things. I was overwhelmed by a very concentrated period of life academically. I was tired and I needed a break. “So it was that I happened to be in Oxford. I came to visit some friends, and that’s when it happened,” she gasps. “I met Jim, who was a graduate in PPE at University College. We fell in love immediately and I decided to hang around.”

The language student and her new lover vowed to pursue their love of music together. And they’ve hardly been apart since. “Music was our passion,” she adds, coyly. “If you were fatalistic you would say everything was leading to this path.” After a year at the Guildhall School of Music, Stacey set about honing her skills on the London scene.

A demo tape, sent to Polygram, Candid Records and late legendary broadcaster, Humphrey Lyttelton, secured her a role in Ian McKellen’s film version of Richard III, a recording contract and national airplay. Her first album, Close Your Eyes – a heartfelt reinterpretation of classic love songs – was released in 1997, followed by six more best-sellers, including The Boy Next Door and latest album Breakfast on the Morning Tram, both of which have gone gold. She also scooped a string of awards, including a British Jazz Award and BBC Jazz Award for Best Vocalist. Jim, who still accompanies Stacey, has also garnered critical acclaim – not least for his album, The Lyric, on which Stacey is the featured vocalist.

“Everything has grown at a very organic pace,” she explains. “It’s very real. It’s not like someone has grabbed me and said ‘I’m going to make you a star’. It’s nicer than that, but the pace has been gathering momentum.” While earning comparisons with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, Stacey’s influences are diverse. “I have been influenced by so many different people, and I’ve loved music since I was a kid,” she says. “I’d come home from school, kick off my shoes, run to my room and listen to music. It was more than a hobby. It was a passion, and I had a voracious appetite. “I’d listen to jazz classics, but also Prokofiev, Debussy and Chopin, Brazilian music, Willie Nelson, Cat Stevens, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Paul Simon, folk, pop and songs from movies. It depended what frame of mind I was in.”

As every jazz-lover knows, the genre’s history is one of decadence and debauchery. Many of its greatest proponents have fallen foul of the ravages of heavy-drinking, drugs and legendary partying. From Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrain, to Sidney Bechet, Art Blakey and Chet Baker, the list of fast-living, jazz geniuses goes on – many cut down in their prime as a result. “I’m a health fanatic!” Stacey laughs.

“I don’t drink, I’m a vegan and I exercise. So I am not that wild girl! I can’t really say if I have any vices. “There’s an awful lot of complexity in my life, but one of my greatest joys is making music and communicating with people. I have a real need to make music and get myself through this life. “Sometimes I have nothing in common with people yet everything in common with them,” she goes on. “We are all in the same boat, and there’s a lot of sadness out there in my life and their lives. And that’s why we need music.”

Stacey and Jim have played in 27 countries. Celebrity fans include Michael Parkinson and David Frost, both of whom asked her to sing on their respective radio and TV shows; novelist, Kazuo Ishiguro, who contributed towards the songwriting on her latest album; and Clint Eastwood, who invited her to sing at his 70th birthday party. Oh, and Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler – who recently admitted that she was among his favourite singers. Yet she modestly brushes off the trappings of success.

“My life is not just about my career,” she says. “It’s about leading a peaceful life. My personal life and my musical life are intermeshed. Jim and I are together 24 hours a day. We are musical partners, a married couple and best friends. And yes, you could say we are soulmates. We’re very lucky. I’m never blasé” She adds: “I never wanted to give up my academic life and it has remained important to me all this time.”

So keen is she to carry on studying that she and Jim took the summer off to study Portuguese together. And she still holds Oxford responsible for its role in changing her life. “It’s the place that brought us together,” she says. “It’s where it all happened, which is why we love coming back to play and see friends. I’m very excited about returning. I won’t be rushing in and out. The place is too important for that.” Stacey Kent and Jim Tomlinson play the Oxford Playhouse on Thursday. Tickets are £12-£19. Go to oxfordplayhouse.com