Sylvia St. James is an American gospel and soul singer, recording artist, and entertainment host. She is best known for her time as the Mistress of Ceremonies of the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at Ha ...

Sunday Gospel Brunch, and her appearances in her signature long, white embroidered dress with a wide, feathered hat. St. James has performed solo and as a leader of the St. James Gospel Choir on the television show

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

among others and with artists including

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fr ...

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

, Stevie Wonder, Harry Connick Jr.,

Connie Stevens Connie Stevens (born Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia; August 8, 1938) is an American actress and singer. Born in Brooklyn, New York City to musician parents, Stevens was raised there until age 12, when she was sent to live with family friends in r ...

, Sammy Davis Jr.,

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

Eddy Arnold Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...

, and

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

Early life and education

Born in

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, Illinois, St. James was introduced to music at a young age. She learned to sing gospel music from her mother, who was the church pianist and first soprano vocalist in the choir. Her grandparents, who also sang in the church choir, allowed her to join them during services. At the age of 15, St. James was offered a scholarship to study opera at The Chicago Conservatory of Music but before she could accept the scholarship, her family had to relocate. St. James continued performing in jazz fusion groups throughout the Midwest.

Career

1970s: Side Effect

St. James moved to California, where she lived in an Ashram for a year and a half. She was hired by the Mike Curb Congregation which led to recording sessions with artists including George Duke,

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...

Willie Bobo William Correa (February 28, 1934 – September 15, 1983), better known by his stage name Willie Bobo,Biography ''AllMusic'' was an American Latin jazz percussionist of Puerto Rican descent. Bobo rejected the stereotypical expectations of Lat ...

, Frank Zappa,

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

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, Ronnie Laws, and Wayne Henderson. St. James joined the band

Side Effect In medicine, a side effect is an effect, whether therapeutic or adverse, that is secondary to the one intended; although the term is predominantly employed to describe adverse effects, it can also apply to beneficial, but unintended, consequence ...

as lead singer. Under an agreement with

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its invest ...

, the band recorded the albums, " Goin' Bananas" (1977) and " Rainbow Visions" (1978), both produced by Wayne Henderson. For the 'Goin Bananas' album cover, St. James dressed in a

Carmen Miranda Carmen Miranda, (; born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, 9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress and film star who was active from the late 1920s onwards. Nicknamed "The Br ...

costume, and

had the album pressed on yellow vinyl. 'All In Your Mind', a track off 'Goin Bananas', reached number 18 on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart . St. James was called "The Queen of Side Effect".

1980s: Solo career

Side Effect moved to Elektra Records, where St. James was signed as a solo artist. Sylvia St. James released two albums, "Magic" produced by

Larry Dunn Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone ...

and Lenny White, and "Echoes and Images" produced by Andre Fischer. The single "Behind My Back", written by St. James, was a Billboard single pick.

1990s-present: The St. James Gospel Choir and educational pursuits

Sylvia St. James is original Mistress of Ceremonies for the

Sunday Gospel Brunch. She produced and directed the event. Her appearances are in a signature long, white embroidered dress with a wide, feathered hat. The Sunday Gospel Brunch was hosted at House of Blues venues across the United States in major cities such as Houston, Orlando, Chicago, New York, San Diego, Vegas, and Dallas. On choice of repertoire, St. James was quoted as saying: Following the close of The House of Blues, Lance Sterling, owner of The Rose in Pasadena, brought St. James in to emcee The Rose's Soulful Sunday Brunch, adding live soul and Motown music along with gospel choir. St. James is the leader of The St. James Gospel Choir, recording and performing at different venues and on television programs including Next ( MTV) and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. St. James taught a class at Musicians Institute of Hollywood, where she coached children in the contemporary and traditional elements of gospel music. She also performed as the headlining act at a Juneteenth celebration in Maui in 2018.

Discography

Solo

* 1980: ''Magic'' ( Elektra) * 1981: '' Echoes & Images ''(Elektra)

As group

With Side Effect * 1977: Goin Bananas (

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

) * 1978: Rainbow Visions (Fantasy) With others * 1977 – Gabor Szabo : ''Faces'' (

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

) * 1978 –

: ''Hell Of An Act To Follow'' (

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

) * 1978 – Wayne Henderson : ''Living On A Dream'' (

) * 1982 –

Jeff Lorber Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for ''Prototype'' ...

: ''It's A Fact'' (

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

) * 1987 – Bernie Taupin : ''Tribe'' * 1994 – George Duke : ''Three Originals'' ( Verve) * 2003 – Harry Connick Jr. : '' Harry For The Holidays'' (Sony) * 2005 – All Nations Choir : ''Whole New Day'' * 2009 – Sylvia St. James and

Roxanne Seeman Roxanne Joy Seeman is an American songwriter and lyricist. She is best known for her songs by Billie Hughes, Philip Bailey, Phil Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, The Sisters of Mercy, The Jacksons, Jacky Cheung, and in ...

: Wailin' (Noa Noa Music) *2010 –

Jacky Cheung Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Dubbed the " God of Songs", he is regarded as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong pop music. Cheung is known for his technically skilled vocals, lengthy tours, and ...

: ''

Private Corner Private Corner is a studio album by Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung (Cantonese pinyin: Hok Yau)（中文名：张学友）, known as God of Songs and one of the Four Heavenly Kings. It is the first jazz album of Cantopop, a concept album recorde ...

'' (

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

) *2014 – Jacky Cheung : '' Wake Up Dreaming'' (Universal Music)

Recognition

Timeout wrote, "5 Things We'll Miss Most About The House of Blues on Sunset: Sylvia St. James, the iconic buxom figure and the original mistress of ceremonies, earned her and HOB a page in The Gospel Music Encyclopedia. For almost two decades, the blinding light of her long, white, embroidered dresses and matching wide-brimmed feathered hats had people praising the holy spirit between spoonfuls of grits. Hallelujah."

References

External links

sylviastjamesmusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:St. James, Sylvia Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American gospel singers Singers from Illinois