Two jazz artists make first-ever appearances at Timber Banks

BALDWINSVILLE – This winter the Persimmons Restaurant at Timber Banks Golf Club & Marina is continuing its increasingly popular Tuesday-night jazz series presented by CNY Jazz Central.
Among the performers booked this season are two very talented but very different lady jazz singers making their Timber Banks debuts — the youthful Mary Nickson, an emerging actress and vocalist from Syracuse, and Jill Mynié, a former Northern California yoga instructor now forging a second career as a jazzwoman here in Upstate New York.
Nickson is a 27-year-old graduate of North Carolina’s Elon University where she majored in musical theater. She has appeared in shows at The Redhouse in Syracuse as well as the Peninsula Players in Fish Creek, Wisconsin and performed in the ensemble of the first national tour of “The SpongeBob Musical.”
She’ll make her Timber Banks debut from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, at Persimmons Restaurant.
As a vocalist, Nickson specializes in the Great American Songbook and show tunes such as “’Til There Was You.”
“Mary is one of the most talented young triple threats on the scene today in Central New York,” said CNY Jazz Central executive director Larry Luttinger. “She’s getting busy in the theater scene across the Northeast as an actress as well. She really delivers with a powerhouse voice and great energy. We’re lucky to have her living in the area.”
Mynié was born in Syracuse where she studied classical piano, attended Iowa’s Grinnell College and then moved to California’s Russian River where she taught yoga and mindfulness for 25 years. Now she has relocated to the Syracuse area where she is focusing on music full-time as a jazz keyboardist and singer.
Before she left the West Coast, Mynié took private voice lessons and attended classes at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, and studied voice at The Stanford Jazz Workshop with her mentor, pianist-vocalist Dena DeRose.
Mynié will make her Timber Banks debut at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5.
The Persimmons Restaurant is located along the banks of the scenic Seneca River at 3536 Timber Banks Parkway in Baldwinsville.
The Timber Banks Jazz series showcases some of the finest local performers of jazz, blues, funk, R&B, Americana, country swing, Latin crossover and contemporary pop on a schedule that runs through May 21.
Admission is free, but reservations are strongly suggested; [email protected]; 315-635-8800.