Sylvia Howard was born Sylvia Dianna Sanders, on an April night in Indianapolis, Indiana (U.S.A.); the bouncing baby girl of Elder D. L. and Jeanne Sanders. She was raised the middle child of seven children. I can remember we dubbed ourselves "The Magnificent 7", after the movie with Yul Brynner. There were the three older, Davina, Gearld and Terry and the three youngest, Yvonne, Dawn and David Jr. At the tender age of four, Sylvia along with her parents and six brothers and sisters moved to a warmer climate; Los Angeles, California. Here, the family resided for eleven and half years and managed to move thirteen different times before coming face to face with an exceptionally large earthquake. The earthquake quickly convinced her parents it was time to return to their roots. And so, in 1971 the Sanders family returned to Indianapolis. Home.

I can remember life being so completly different from our lives in L. A. From the way we dressed to the way we talked and all of the things we were no longer allowed to do. We were no loger allowed to watch the television or listen to the radio. When we lived in L. A. there was the influence of jazz and blues and all of the Motown you could ask for. All coming from the radio or 45's and albums or those big, clumsy 8 track tapes from back in the day. But we returned to Indianapolis, something definitely changed. We were no longer allowed to listen jazz or the blues or even Motown. This was now known as " The Devils music " by our parents and elders and it was a bis no, no to disobey that law. No. Only gospel would be heard around the Sandres home. Although I didn't really understand why we were so restricted (other than it was "God's Will") it was okay with me because I loved the music and I loved singing in the choir. I quickly understood that the influence of jazz and blues and all of the music we heard, could still be sensed in all that I sang and it would never die.

Life in Indianapolis was different too because for the time that I could remember, we were surrounded by family ! There were aunties and uncles and scores and scores of cousins and it was like they could all sing or play an instument ! At the Sanders Temple Church of God In Christ, where her Uncle James was pastor, Sylvia was on the usher board and sometimes worked with the children in the in the Sunshine Band, but her joy was singing every Sunday morning in the church choir and often led the choir in song.

*********

Eventually she did move from Indianapolis and found herself living in Phoenix, Arizona. She got the name "Howard" after marrying Stanley Howard in Phoenix... Both from Indianapolis, they remained together for tweve years before divorcing and going their separate ways. She did however keep the name... Howard.
While living in Phoenix, Sylvia enjoyed working with Black Theatre Troop and other community theatres and often found herself on both sides of curtain. Stage manager, props manager, background voice and finally she was on stage and played several roles. The best thing that could have happened during that time was when she met Charles Lewis and Margo Reed. " I learned so much from both of them ". It was Charles that offered her her first voice lessons and her first gig on the jazz scene. He also taught her who to listen to and what she was listening for. But it was Margo that she first saw on stage backed by a jazz trio. She remember Buddy Weed was on piano. Margo sang so beautifully and it seemed to Sylvia that Margo met every word in every song she sang. It was also Margo that first coaxed Sylvia on stage. Sylvia remember singing " The way we were " and the applause and wanting more.
One night while working at the Jazz Corner in Phoenux, Sylvia was approached and asked if she would be interested in working for three months at a five star hotel in Singapore. " I never regretted saying "yes" to this offer". And so, it was in 1989 she made her first trip abroad. She returned to Arizona after that three months contract at the Westin Plaza Hotel in Singapore and competed in the "MS" Black Arizona pageant. She won first runner up, Best Model and Best Talent in that competition. She returned to the Westin Plaza Hotel in Singapore nine months later. Upon completion of that second contract, she stayed in Southeast Asia and from that first fabulous experience of living out the U.S., Sylvia spent ten years moving from Southeast Asian country to Southeast Asian country, from island to island and of course from contract to contract, performing in some of the world's finest Five Star Hotels. When she was convinced she had made a name for herself, the idea of experiencing Europe would not leave. The adventure of crossing the Atlantic for the first time became one of her greatest Challenges, and so, in september of 1999 she made her big move.

Sylvia visited several countries surrounding France such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, England and Italy before deciding to call Paris home.
She graced the stages of several of the more respected jazz clubs in Paris, conducting workshops for the Banlieues Blues Festivals in 2001 and 2002. She was honored with a major Write-up in november 2001 issue of Amina magazine.

Eventually she was called upon to write songs for films by famed French director Cedric Klapish. "Peut-etre" en 2000 and "Ni Pour Ni Contre" in 2003.

The summer of 2004 was also good to Sylvia. At the Chedigny Blues Festival she opened for Lucky Peterson in front of 5 000 blues enthusiasts. Her week of concert at Muddy Waters Blues Club in Oslo, Norway, and her performances at the Enghein-les-bains and the Colmar Jazz Festival were great successes among so many others ! Yes, the summer of 2004 was filled with travel and song...

In 2006, Sylvia returned to Southeast Asia for the first time since September 2001. She arrived at the end of August to start her three months contract with the Hotel Shangri-La in Jakarta, Indonesia. "I was just about to finish my last set and had planned on having dinner with friends that were waiting for mr when the music was abruptly stopped and all eyes were on the television watching in horror as the second tower was plungid into. Americans everywhere were in shock and with Indonesia being the most populated Islamic country, she found herself under uncertain circumstances. She did however complete her contract and returned to France safely.

From October 2006 to March 2007 she spent five wonderful months working at the hotel Lebua at the State Tower in Bangkok, Thailand. High up on the 64th floor where the air was warm and the music was hot six nights a week. An unbielievably elegant setting and she looks forward to returning. She was however happy to return to her friends in Paris and continue her work, especially with the Laurent Mignard " Duke " orchestra.

And so, the adventure continues...

Copyright MasterDi