VILLAGE OF BALDWINSVILLE – Ten years ago, after more than two decades as a well-revered yoga instructor in Northern California, Jill Mynié decided to forge a new career as a jazz singer.
Mynié was born in Syracuse where she studied classical piano as a child. She later attended Iowa’s Grinnell College before moving to California’s Russian River Valley where she taught yoga and mindfulness for 25 years.
Now she has relocated to the Syracuse area to focus full-time exclusively on music as a jazz keyboardist and singer.
This winter the Persimmons Restaurant at Timber Banks Golf Club & Marina is continuing its popular Tuesday-night jazz series presented by CNY Jazz Central.
Mynié will make her Persimmons debut from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5.
Before she left the West Coast, Mynié took private voice lessons and attended classes at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley.
She also and studied voice at The Stanford Jazz Workshop with her mentor, pianist-vocalist Dena DeRose.
Before she left Sonoma County, Mynié appeared at the Railroad Square Train Station in Santa Rosa and at the Fern Bar in Sebastopol, California.
Last year, after relocating in Central New York, Mynié performed several shows at Heuga’s Alpine Restaurant in Tully.
Mynié’s repertoire favors keyboard composers such as Fats Waller and Horace Silver. She often sings Silver’s “A Little Peace” and Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose.”
She also performs several familiar standards such as “On Green Dolphin Street,” first recorded in 1947 by the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.
And she also pays a warm tribute to talented vocalist Sarah Vaughan by covering “If You Could See Me Now,” the 1946 hit written by Tadd Dameron.
The Tuesday-evening performances presented by CNY Jazz Central continue on March 12 with singer Kirsten Tegtmeyer and E.S.P., March 19 with Simpatico and March 26 with Rick Montalbano and Julie Falatico’s Jazz Asylum.
The series continues through May 21.
The Persimmons Restaurant is located along the banks of the scenic Seneca River at 3536 Timber Banks Parkway in Baldwinsville.
Admission is free, but reservations are strongly suggested; [email protected]; 315-635-8800.