Only five years after her first professional performance, Boston newspapers were complimenting Tierney Sutton with comparisons to the great Ella Fitzgerald.

In 1998, she was a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition. Her first solo CD, Introducing Tierney Sutton (1999), was released to rave reviews and nominated for a 1999 Indie Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

Later that year, Tierney signed with the Telarc Jazz label. On Unsung Heroes , released in March 2000, Sutton took popular jazz standards that are usually performed instrumentally (Joe Henderson's “Recordame,” Clifford Brown's “Joy Spring,” Wayne Shorter's “Speak No Evil,” Dizzy Gillespie's “Con Alma” and others) and recorded them with vocals. Soon Tierney became one of the critics' most talked about jazz musicians.