When Sy Smith is not on the road with jazz trumpeter Chris Botti (which isn’t often, they play about 200+ shows a year), she likes to bring her own unique sound to cities like Los Angeles, NYC, and Chicago. She’s pleased to return home to DC and to Blues Alley. Experience An Evening With Sy Smith: Queen of Underground Soul
This daughter of The District moved to Los Angeles after graduating from Howard University and quickly became the go-to girl for supporting vocals. Having a voice that spans a Minnie Riperton-esque soprano but easily rides a funk pocket like Sly Stone, Sy has a musical flexibility that’s allowed her to play with an extremely wide array of artists. She began her musical career touring with Whitney Houston and went on to sing with the likes of Chaka Khan, Meshell Ndegeocello, Sheila E., Usher, DJ Quik, The Foreign Exchange and many more. While doing this, Sy became a driving force in the independent soul movement on the west coast, releasing four solo albums and a live DVD (featuring her former band members Thundercat and Kamasi Washington) to critical acclaim. Her music quickly became a major staple in the underground soul scene and she has taken her sound to such mainstream outlets as The Tonight Show, The Mo’Nique Show and the legendary Carnegie Hall where she recently paid tribute to iconic women of jazz. Sy is also a featured guest of Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Chris Botti (as seen on his Grammy-nominated “Live In Boston” DVD) with whom she currently tours performing almost 200 shows yearly! For this special engagement, Sy will perform many of her original songs (she’s an Emmy-nominated songwriter) including “Fly Away With Me”, “That Ring”, “Aquarius Rising” and many more that have become classics for her hardcore fans who have dubbed her the “Queen Of Underground Soul”!
