Lilian Terry (born Liliane Therese Cachia in Cairo, Egypt, on December 15, 1930) was the daughter of a British father and an Italian mother, raised in a household where music was a constant presence. At the age of nine, she began studying piano.

During World War II, the family listened to the American Forces Network radio station. “My attention was definitely caught by jazz, and by the time I was thirteen years old, I was singing more blues and jazz songs than playing Chopin on the piano,” Lilian recalled.

At seventeen, after moving with her family to Rome, she graduated from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. A few years later, Lilian became a regular guest at the Circolo del Jazz in the capital. In 1953, she participated in the radio program Chimere and became the first jazz singer to appear on Italian television, taking part in an experimental broadcast from RAI’s headquarters in Milan. Throughout the 1950s, she continued to appear in numerous radio and television programs, including Canta Lilian Terry, in which she was accompanied on piano by Romano Mussolini.

In 1957, the album "Romano Mussolini con Nunzio Rotondo e Lilian Terry," released by RCA Italiana, brought her to the attention of the general public. Her ability to project her voice while interpreting jazz standards such as “I’ve Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good,” “St. Louis Blues,” and “He’s Funny That Way” revealed a thoughtful adaptability in style.

In 1958, the same year Peggy Lee recorded the Davenport Coley hit “Fever” for Capitol Records, Lilian released her own version, arranged by pianist Enrico Intra for the Italian Liberty label. She handled the melody with sensitivity and warm clarity, while the bass, drums, guitar, and piano set the mood—until the horns entered, building toward a moving and intriguing climax that drove the performance to its close behind her voice.

During this period, she reached the height of her commercial success with the song “My Heart Belongs to Daddy,” included on her EP Lilian Terry – In Swing!, released by the CGD label. The EP also featured her interpretation of “Too Close for Comfort.” In this session, Lilian was accompanied by the Enrico Intra Quintet, with standout solo work by Oscar Valdambrini on trumpet and Gianni Basso on tenor saxophone. On “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” and “The Song Is You,” additional vocal backgrounds were provided by Quartetto Radar.

In the summer of 1960, bassist George Joyner (later known as Jamil Nasser) and drummer Buster Smith were part of the first American jazz group—alongside trumpeter Idrees Sulieman and pianist Oscar Dennard—to perform in the USSR during an official visit. Following that groundbreaking experience, Joyner and Smith remained in Europe to continue working, particularly in Italy. In December 1961, they joined Swiss pianist George Gruntz and Lilian Terry in Milan for a CGD recording session that produced two excellent singles: "Four of Us," Vol. 1 and 2. The selection of tunes —”Lover Man,” “That’s All,” “‘Round Midnight,” and “That Old Black Magic”— offers consistent delight, thanks to the superb rhythm section and Gruntz’s sensitivity as an accompanist. Lilian’s vocal artistry is delivered with elegance and ease, and the entire session swings from start to finish.

About the recording, Lilian Terry wrote in the EP liner notes: “I had a drag of a cold and my three colleagues had been up to all hours the night before, jamming (we didn’t cop out till 4 a.m.)… but we had our personal lucky charms for the session, such as one of my favorite singers, crazy Helen Merrill keeping her fingers crossed for me, and the surprise visit of the MJQ, on a brief concert in Milan! Now you may find this a cool record, or there again you may not dig it at all, but as far as we are concerned, I can only say that, creating it, the four of us had a ball!”

In 1962, Lilian hosted the television program Abito da sera, where she sang alongside a long list of Italian and international jazz musicians. “Judging our broadcasts with detachment, I have to acknowledge several things,” she said. “Personally, I tried an experiment. I literally translated some of my favorite songs into Italian. The fact that most of them come from Frank Sinatra’s repertoire is purely intentional—he has directly influenced my musical taste since 1944, and every one of my songs has always been dedicated to him in admiring homage. He is, without a doubt, the most wonderful thing that has happened to the world of pop music in the last thirty years.”

As a result, the album Abito da sera was released by CGD. Alongside tracks by other artists, Lilian performed “Misty” and “Goodbye” in English, and several songs in Italian: “Beviamo sopra” (“One for My Baby”), “Tutto succede a me” (“Everything Happens to Me”), “Io non posso amare” (“When I Fall in Love”), and the Italian original “Se lei verrà da te” (“La Montaña”). The album further confirmed that she was one of the very few female voices in Italian jazz who succeeded without ever renouncing her roots.

She also recognized the contributions of her collaborators: “The quality of Enrico Intra’s arrangements, the skill of his trio with Pupo De Luca and Pallino Salonia, and the undoubtedly European class of jazzmen like Basso, Cerri, and Piana.” The group contributed strong solos and much of the fine swinging that gives the session its character.

In August 1963, Lilian was invited to perform at the Comblain-la-Tour International Jazz Festival. The final two tracks on this compilation, “St. Thomas” and “Tune Up,” were recorded live during her performance and released on a 45 rpm single by the Belgadisc label. Lilian’s voice displays a wide range of nuances, while Intra’s group provides strong support. Notably, Piana’s solos on valve trombone highlight this underrecognized but highly deserving jazzman.

In 1965, she founded the Terry’s Mad Pad jazz club in Rome, further demonstrating her initiative and versatility within the jazz scene. By 1966, Lilian was already regarded as one of Europe’s most respected jazz singers. That same year, she performed to great acclaim at the Antibes Jazz Festival, accompanied by Catalan pianist Tete Montoliu’s trio, with Eric Peter on bass and Billy Brooks on drums. In 1967, she represented Italy at the Warsaw Jazz Jamboree and played a pivotal role in the creation of the European Jazz Federation, where she served as Vice President of the Division of Education.

In the late 1960s, her repertoire began to incorporate Brazilian music, particularly bossa nova. From the 1970s onward, while continuing to appear at international jazz festivals and host television and radio programs, she gradually shifted her focus to organizing events and educational projects aimed at promoting jazz awareness.

In the following years, she continued recording a few select albums, most notably "Lilian Terry Meets Tommy Flanagan" (1982), and “Oo-Shoo-Be-Doo-Be… Oo, Oo… Oo, Oo” with Dizzy Gillespie (1985). Unfortunately, Terry recorded infrequently over the years. After a long absence from the studio, she returned in 2000 to record “Emotions in Chicago” with her son Francesco Crosara, a renowned jazz pianist based in Seattle. The album, which also featured legendary tenor saxophonist Von Freeman, was released by the Swiss label TCB in 2003.

Over the years, Lilian Terry conducted several interviews with major figures of the jazz scene, including Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Dino Piana, Ornette Coleman, Ray Charles, Horace Silver, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Bill Evans, and Tommy Flanagan. In 1983, she founded the Dizzy Gillespie Popular School of Music in Bassano del Grappa, which remained active until 1997, three years after Dizzy’s passing.

In 2001, she retired to the Côte d’Azur, settling in the town of Saint-Laurent-du-Var, near Nice, where she built a new life and developed many meaningful relationships. During her retirement, in 2017, she published her book 'Dizzy, Duke, Brother Ray and Friends,' recounting her close friendships with several iconic figures of jazz history. Lilian passed away peacefully in Nice, France, at the age of 92, on June 29, 2023. She was loved by both the public and fellow musicians, and she will always be remembered for her honest and passionate contribution to spreading the love of jazz.

“Europe has produced many fine jazz instrumentalists but few vocalists. They face the problem of accent and the feel of American English, which is the only language for jazz. Lilian Terry sounds the most American of the handful of European singers who have made it in jazz, yet she has the most international background of them all,” said record producer George Avakian in 1982.

Lilian’s voice was pretty and expressive. She had the beat, the feeling, good intonation, and a flexible, intimate quality to her sound that made her unlike anyone else. For all these qualities—and for her contributions as a jazz artist—she is rightfully considered Italy’s First Lady of Jazz.

—Jordi Pujol (From the inside liner notes of FSRCD 1164)