Cynthia Utterbach

Cynthia cites as her main inspiration Sarah Vaughan, and certainly she has a comparable warm sonority in the low register. Another influence was the highly distinctive Morgana King, who sang with a remarkable range, great tenderness, elegance and grace, excellent diction, and a strong sense of the dramatic.

Her Mother was a church choir organist and pianist and had an extraordinary voice. She was teaching her daughter in the beginning, who also became a music major in school. She learned theory and sight-reading, and planned originally to become a classical singer, but when she started scatting to Madame Butterfly, the professor thought that maybe she should pursue another career. Cynthia grew up listening to the Supremes and other girl groups, so when I started as a singer, it was mostly Top Forty music. Then in the early eighties, she decided to change over to Jazz.