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Sounds Of Syracuse
by CHUCK SCHIELE
Diana Jacobs Talks About the Soul of her Music As a winner at the 2018 and 2020 SAMMY (Syracuse Area Music) Awards, Diana Jacobs is a versatile vocalist, pianist, percussionist, songwriter, and producer who throws a knockout punch of funk... while soothing your soul with a sweet groove. Diana explores her love of many genres through a variety of collaborations. Along with her husband, Mettis Jacobs (bassist/guitarist), Diana founded the Diana Jacobs Band, a high-energy funk, soul, R&B horn band comprised of stellar players from all over CNY. Their all-original album, Good Metticine, earned them the 2018 SAMMY Award for Best R&B Recording. Diana’s blues collaboration brings together some of Syracuse’s finest blues players to present a unique mix of blues and jazz. She released an album with this project that recently received the 2020 SAMMY award for Best Blues Recording. This all-original album, What She Needs, also features a performance by Grammy-winning trumpeter/ flugelhornist, Randy Brecker! With these groups, Diana has performed at some of the biggest festivals in CNY including The Great NYS Fair, Oswego Harborfest, and Alexandria Bay’s Blues in the Bay Festival. Diana has also been a part of several regional shows as a backing vocalist and as a lead vocalist, most notably the 2019 Rochester Hall of Fame Show (singing behind Gary Wright, John Hall of Orleans, and Al Jardine of The Beach Boys), the 2019 Lou Reed
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Sammy award winning vocalist, pianist, percussionist, songwriter and producer, Diana Jacobs.
Tribute Show at the Syracuse Area Music Awards Ceremony (original members of his late 70’s band), Paulie Cerra’s Hometown Showdown 2017 and 2018, and The Great Salt City Blues Show 4. Additionally, she has recorded backing vocals in the studio for various projects including the SAMMY-nominated Chris Terra album, Lady Luck, as well as studio tracks for Little Georgie & the Shuffling Hungarians. And Diana brings it all down to a low simmer when in more intimate settings with her duo or her jazz trio. Let’s meet this special lady! Chuck Schiele: First things first: Congratulations on your recent win at the SAMMYs! Diana Jacobs: Thank you, Chuck. CS: Tell me a bit about the album.... how it came together... the story.... DJ: Well… my full band, Diana Jacobs Band, had evolved over the course of several years from playing a pretty balanced mix of blues and R&B to focusing more on funk, soul, and R&B… which I love! It is very much the right genre for our band as a whole, and it has been exciting to watch our musical personalities grow together into what we are as a collective entity ORDER ONLINE NOW! today. I can’t say enough about how much I love 315-343-2671 OR 315-343-1247 being part of DJB. But that transition left me missing playing and singing the blues. Also, as my husband, Mettis and I did a lot of casual jamming at open mics and private jam sessions over several years, we gained some dear friends who are stellar musicians. I saw a blues/jazz recording project as a chance to work with some of these players. But it wasn’t until our friend, Irv Lyons Jr, said to me, “I want to write a song with you” that the ball really got rolling. He had come up with a great hook and a chord progression for the tune, “Your Love Is All I Need,” and he kind of let me take it from there. We jumped into the studio with Edgar Pagan, Richie Melito and Nate Felty, who was in town from Nashville at the time, and we recorded three tunes at More Sound Studios. It was magic. I know that sounds silly, but that was how it felt for me. Something happened that was really beautiful and What She Needs was born as much by happenstance as by design. Other musicians (the list is long) were willing to join in as I added songs, while
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