Miss Sandra Kaye - Women in Jazz

Sandra Kaye was born on November 4, in Dallas, Texas. The only daughter of a minister, she grew up singing gospel music and was often featured in church socials as a young girl with various choirs and girl groups.

Sandra started her professional career by winning an amateur contest at the West End Cabaret Dallas, in 1986. She established herself as the consummate artist. She attributes her success to having a good rapport with great musicians, many hours of practice, countless gigs and frequent visits to open mic nights of local night spots and other American cities.

Her first experience of big band was with the Shelley Carroll Big Band and she has been featured with the Curtis Bradshaw's First Reunion Orchestra, The Dallas Jazz Orchestra, The Galen Jeter Orchestra and the Vecho Vecencio Group.

Kaye performed at The Dallas Museum of Art, The Caravan of Dreams, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, The African American Museum of Art and Culture, The Sammons Center for the Arts, The Morton Myerson Symphony Hall, The Botanical Gardens, The Women's Museum, The Texas Stadium, Eastfield College, Richland College, The University of North Texas, The University of Texas at Arlington, The University of Texas at Dallas, The South Dallas Culture Center, The Mesquite Arts Center, The Dallas Theatre Center (Kalita Humphreys), The Bob Hope Theatre @ Southern Methodist University, The Marshall Texas Civic Center and the Preservation Hall in Fort Worth, Texas.

In 1991 and 1992, Sandra performed for the Duke Ellington Birthday Celebration in conjunction with the Forth Worth Jazz Society and in 1994, Sandra Kaye was the key performer for the launching of the Anthony Mark Hankins Design Company at the Hall of State in Fair Park Dallas, Texas. Also, in 1997, Sandra was the key performer for the Beaux Arts Ball held at the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas.

Sandra has performed, internationally, in France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey, China, Japan and West Africa. She was the opening act and has performed on stage with David "Fathead" Newman, Onzy Matthews, Shelley Carroll, Brad Leali, Roy Hargrove, Monty Alexander, Dr. Dwight Dickerson, Michael Carr, Dionne Warwick, Roger Boykin, Claude Johnson, Carl Patterson, Joe Johnson, Al Dupree Johnny Taylor, Marchel Ivery, James Clay, Yarbrough and Peoples, George Tallifierro, (formerly of the Marcels), The Platters, The Drifters, Tanya Tucker, Antonio Fargas and the famed comedians, George Wallace and Shucky Ducky.