Sidney Ellis

Sydney Ellis
"One of the Premier Jazz and Blues voices on the scene today" Entertainer-Singer-Songwriter African-American Folk Music Classic Jazz, Blues, Gospel Spirituals

“The blues is not the creation of a crushed-spirited people,
it is the product of a forward-looking, upward-striving people.”
Albert Murray 1916-2013

Sydney Ellis and her Midnight Preachers Bad Reichenhall, Magazin4 ~ 2017

New CD July 2017 "Sydney Ellis Another One-Nighter"

  E-Mail: Sydney@SydneyEllis.com

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...on the road, Sydney's international schedule	Black Wallet Records Sound bytes and CD info	Photo Gallery

Sydney Ellis
DSL Video Presentations
for
"Windows Media Player"

Sydney Ellis	Windows Media Player
Ten Minutes Of Sydney
Touring and Performing History
Sydney Ellis and her Midnight Preachers
Sydney Ellis In Concert 2012
Rudlof Mazac Big Band "Kentonmania" with special guest Sydney Ellis"	Fever My Funny Valentine In The Stone What A Wonderful World
Black Wallet Records

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E-Mail: Sydney@SydneyEllis.comng

Career History

Sydney began her singing career in the Los Angeles area when, on the day after her 44th birthday, in 1991, she got her nerve up and climbed up onto a session stage. The dream comes true. Since then, her singing has blossomed into an obsession for what Sydney calls, her "Cultural Heritage" , or "African-American Folk Music" . The rest of the world calls it "Blues, Classic Jazz, Gospel, Spirituals, New Orleans Jazz & Blues, R & B, Chicago Blues, & Kansas City Blues". This obsession has taken her in 3 short years from the Los Angeles area to Europe. Since 1995, Sydney has performed over 1,300 concerts in 27 countries. Scheduled venues for 2017 include; Germany and Switzerland. Past years have given Sydney the opportunity to perform in Spain, Danmark, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Georgia, Finland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Tunisia, Slovakia, The Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, The Czech Republic, Sweden, Italy, France, Croatia, The USA and Ireland. Checkout Sydney's newest CD, "Just Before Dawn", availible through CD Baby or directly from Sydney........

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Live Performance Information

Sydney draws from a repertoire' of about 200 songs by about 50 different singers and artists. Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Sippie Wallace, Ann Rabson, Bessie Smith, Jeannie Cheatham, John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner, ZZ Hill, Willie Dixon, Lou Rawls, Jay McShann, Earl Thomas, Louis Armstrong, Woody Herman, Delbert McClinton, Reverend Gary Davis, and a host of standards that could be attributed to people like Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr. or even Tony Bennett.

E-Mail: Sydney@SydneyEllis.com

To Sydney 's Schedule, "On The Road"........  

"Just Before Dawn"

"Just Before Dawn" is Sydney's 5th CD. Recorded live while on tour in Europe with her "Yes Mama Band" in the Autumn of 2010. "Just Before Dawn" captures "That" live feeling and excitement perfectly. The instrument line-up is: drums, e-bass, guitar and for the first time organ. The two original songs, "Just Before Dawn" and "Was It A Whisper?" are supported by a selection of blues songs most blues listeners will be familiar with. Throughout this live performance Sydney shows that vocal strength and power she has become famous for. The band is tight and expressive. Eleven songs, eleven different grooves and feels.

"Just Before Dawn" BWP1008A JumpFor Joy Fishin' Trip Oh Yeah ~ part 1 Stormy Monday Blues Troulbe In Mind I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home Was It A Whisper? You Gotta Move Oh Yeah ~ part 2 "The Sequel" See Lyin' Woman Tired Of That Just Before Dawn I've Got My Mojo Working For credit card buyers click here CDBaby.com

"Tug River"

Sydney's 4th CD, "Tug River", released in January 2003, draws from Sydney's live performances. Recorded live in the studio on Sydney's 55th birthday, many of the songs on the Tug CD are songs Sydney has been performing live for most of her singing career. Songs from Willie Dixon, Preston Foster, McKinley Morganfield, Elmore James, Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham, Edward Ellington, Rev. Gary Davis, Jimmy Reed plus one original from Sydney. Instrumentation for the recordings are: piano, contra bass, drums, guitar and tenor sax.

"Tug River" BWP1005A Twenty Nine Ways Spoonfull Shake Your Money Maker I've Got To Use My Imagination Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On Great Change Since I've Been Born Tug River Blues I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues Rollin' & Tumblin' You Hurt Me Baby What You Want Me To Do Just Like I Treat You I've Got My Mojo Working For credit card buyers click here CDBaby.com

"Ask A Woman Who Knows"

1998 started with the release of Sydney's third CD, "Ask A Woman Who Knows". Recorded live in the studio in The Netherlands, it focuses on slow blues, slower blues, ballads and torch songs. Subtlety and sophistication. Songs from Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, Ann Rabson, Lou Rawls. This CD features Hollis Gilmore on tenor sax whose contribution and sound will some day be legend. Piano, contra bass and drums fill out out the rest of the band.

"Ask A Woman Who Knows" BWP1004A This Bitter Earth In The Dark Ask A Woman Who Knows Don't Explain Willow Weep For Me Lover Man, Oh Where Can You Be Teach Me Tonight Another You You Don't Know What Love Is Nobody's Fool For credit card buyers click here CDBaby.com

"Amazing Grace"

Sydney's second CD, "Amazing Grace", recorded live in the studio in Munich in 1995 is a collection of Gospel and Spirituals. Recorded with the concept of a "Blues Band and Blues Singer", performing Gospels and Spirituals, or to coin a phrase, "Holy Blues". Also features Hollis Gilmore on tenor sax.

"Amazing Grace" BWP1003A Didn't It Rain Precious Lord Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho Nobody's Fault But Mine Walk All Over God's Heaven Motherless Child Canaan Land Swing Low Sweet Chariot Yes, God Is Real He's Got The Whole World In His Hands Trouble Of The World Amazing Grace For credit card buyers click here CDBaby.com

"Goin' Home"

In 1994 Sydney released her first CD, "Goin' Home". Recorded live in the studio in the Los Angeles area. The CD has eight originals and three cover tunes. This being her first CD and knowing that she would be gauged, categorized and labeled by this CD, Sydney deliberately wrote a wide range of styles in her original songs. Slow Chicago, New Orleans romps, slow New Orleans Blues, standard jumps, New Orleans street cadence, and Graveyard Blues that could best be called a "Blues Spiritual" with only Sydney and bass.

"Goin' Home" BWP1002A Summertime Bitch With An Attitude Graveyard Blues Piece Of Crap The Blues Have Got Me Again Trouble In Mind Cryin' The Blues Nobody's Fault But Mine Fireplace Blues Ain't As Bad As You Think You Won't Do Right For credit card buyers click here CDBaby.com

 

Personally

The gratitude that Sydney expresses everyday is directed to the music and the people who have come to see over the years. The music has given her that "Obsession" that only a few people get to experience in their lives. The support the people have given her has allowed her the opportunity make friends from all over the world, to travel and see places that many only dream of. "Lucky" cannot begin to describe the way she feels about what the music and the people supporting her and her music have given her.

Personal History

Born in Red Jacket, West Virginia in 1947. Sydney grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, where she married and had five children. She is now married for the second time (31 years and counting) and has four granddaughters and three grandsons and one great-granddaughter. Sydney currently lives in a very small village in Germany where she maintains her European office and enjoys the quietness and privacy between road trips and tours.

To Sydney Ellis Photo Gallery



To Sydney 's Schedule, "On The Road"........
  

Click here for sounds samples from each of Sydney's CDs.

E-Mail: Sydney@SydneyEllis.com