I don’t consider myself a jazz singer… I’m a singer of songs,” said the vocal star, who won a Grammy in the Best Female Jazz Vocal Performance category.

Cleo Laine, whose husky contralto was one of the most distinctive voices in jazz and who was regarded by many as Britain’s greatest contribution to the quintessentially American music, has died.

A Briton with a smoky voice, she recorded albums across six decades, toured the world and acted in “Edwin Drood.”