Swing jazz singer will be featured

Small town atmosphere will get an infusion of big city attitude on Saturday, September 13, when the Sisters Jazz Festival spotlights Portland's Lily Wilde, backed by her 14-piece Jumpin' Jubilee Orchestra (JJO).

Wilde has been described as "sultry, sexy, and the definitive icon of a swing jazz vocalist."

She and the orchestra will be making their first appearance at the Sisters Jazz Festival, and will be featured for a 1-1/2-hour set at the Village Green venue on Saturday night.

The popularity of Wilde and the JJO has gone far beyond Oregon's borders with their popular swing jazz that appeals to dancers, listeners and all fans of timeless music played by great musicians.

Lily Wilde came to music as a child, via her father, Calvin Jackson, a pianist, composer and arranger. A Julliard School of Music graduate, Jackson scored innumerable musicals for MGM Studios and performed and recorded with many legendary musicians from the '40s to '60s.

As a child, Lily loved to lie under her father's piano while he played. Wilde started playing guitar when she was nine years old, and through secondary schools developed as a singer. She launched her professional singing career in New York, and her first big break came when she was chosen to be a member of Stevie Wonder's touring band Wonderlove.

She had musical career stops in Los Angeles, Dallas and Seattle and several years as a stage and photographic model before settling in Portland with an intense desire to perform swing music. With her husband, drummer Tom Royer, she established the first Jumpin' Jubilee Orchestra in the mid-1990s.

Wilde and the JJO were honored in 2002 with the first "Single of the Year" award by SwingTop40.com, an internet radio station, for their version of "Oh Babe," a cut from their hit CD "Insect Ball."

Lily Wilde and the Jumpin' Jubilee Orchestra are one of ten bands that will be featured on the stages of four venues at the Sisters Jazz Festival in September. Tickets for the Sisters Jazz Festival can be ordered by calling the festival hot line, 549-1332 or online at www.sistersjazzfestival.com.