A Kildwick musician has signed a multi-million pound record deal said to be the largest ever by a UK jazz artist.

Clare Teal, pictured above, has landed the major recording contract with music giant Sony, after performing at a special concert in Milton Keynes several weeks ago. She is now due to play a sold-out home-coming gig at Silsden Methodist Church, on Saturday, at 7:30pm.

The former South Craven School pupil said: "This is a fantastic opportunity and I still can't believe it that I share a label with the likes of Billie Holliday, Harry Connick Jr, Barbara Streisand, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and George Michael.

"I'm very much looking forward to working with Sony on my next album and building a catalogue with them, and it's really nice to be able to afford to spend more time on writing songs."

Her parents, John and Mary Teal, still live in the Kildwick area. Retired John said: "Clare now lives in Bath but pops up to visit or stays with us when she's playing a concert up north. Her passion for music really took off and developed when doing a music degree in Wolverhampton, but she's not changed a bit."

Clare's first three albums, all on the Candid record label, have proved popular with both critics and the public.

The 31-year-old first came to the attention of Sony when Michael Parkinson championed her second album, "Orsino's Songs", which contained one of her popular numbers "California Dreamin".

This led to regular plays on Radio 2, work with the BBC Big Band and many other high profile bookings, such as the Glastonbury Festival.

Following her third album, there came a television spot on the Parkinson Show, which sparked even more interest in her talents.