Sybil Gage

Compared to Eartha Kitt, Dinah Washington, and Pearl Bailey, singer, songwriter and musician Sybil Gage grew up in the uptown New Orleans Jazz scene. "My grandparent's property had a bar on the first floor and you could always hear the music upstairs. It was where musicians would hang out and play the Blues." Watching the scene at Rosy's on Tchopitoulas , Jimmy's on Willow and Tipitina's on Napoleon Ave only endeared her to music that surrounded her each and every day. "New Orleans has a un...

Compared to Eartha Kitt, Dinah Washington, and Pearl Bailey, singer, songwriter and musician Sybil Gage grew up in the uptown New Orleans Jazz scene. "My grandparent's property had a bar on the first floor and you could always hear the music upstairs. It was where musicians would hang out and play the Blues." Watching the scene at Rosy's on Tchopitoulas , Jimmy's on Willow and Tipitina's on Napoleon Ave only endeared her to music that surrounded her each and every day. "New Orleans has a universal love for good music and good food. I was influenced by my neighbors, the Neville Brothers, and kicked up a friendship with the sensational pianist James Booker, while chumming around with Henry Butler. My sister would go with me to Rosy's to see Professor Longhair more often than we went to church, and we came out of that place sanctified." After beginning stints as a DJ in New Orleans ( WYLD), she headed to Chicago and then to New York where she earned her degree in Fine Arts from NYU. She honed and developed her talents by doing gigs at small clubs like the Village Door in Queens and leaned on actor Gregory Hines for advice and support. "He's the one that kept me focused," she says of him. Sybil moved to Florida and quickly developed a large and devoted following with her own Blues & Jazz style. Her CD 'Red' took the public by storm and left them clamoring for more. She peppers her repertoire with jazzy blues numbers like "Stormy Weather" , Alberta Hunter's " My Castle's Rockin" and New Orleans favorite " Hip Shakin Mama" as well as original tunes like "Red" which is a nightly request. Her latest CD NOLA Calling only a few weeks fresh, is already receiving rave reviews.