A life lived through music, art and experience.
Singer • Artist • Storyteller • Working Musician
Soulful, sophisticated, and completely her own. Start with the record that introduced her voice to Europe, then follow the thread wherever it goes.
1997 • Remastered 2023
Her debut, cut in Europe with the band she worked with night after night. The remaster brought it back to streaming on Last Kind Jazz — and a deluxe vinyl edition is in the works.
Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube, Deezer and more — all fourteen tracks.
Meet Cynthia where the music lives. Live performances, shared stories and gatherings that bring the community together.
Cynthia Utterbach joins the Eric Jones Trio for a jazz brunch honoring the voices of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and more.
Sunday, November 15
Sonesta Resort and Spa
130 Shipyard Drive
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
$75 per person
Concert + Southern brunch buffet.
Cash bar available.
Cynthia and Huxsie Scott joined the Savannah Jazz All-Stars to celebrate Teddy Adams’ 85th birthday at District Live, Plant Riverside District.
Read the Savannah Tribune recap ↗
July 25, 2026 • SavannahAn evening at Nickel & Oak Lounge, 111 W. Congress Street. The performance ran 7:30–9:30 PM, with doors at 6:30 PM.
View the original Eventbrite listing ↗Stay close to the music.
Join Cynthia’s Circle for new dates, stories and releases.
Listings checked September 15, 2026. Visit the organizer’s listing for current ticket availability.
Don't Explain — featuring Alex Sergueenko
Friday Wind Down — with Reggie Carson, WSAV Savannah
Decades of rooms, stages and people on three continents. What follows are glimpses on purpose — Cynthia is writing the rest herself.
She landed in Los Angeles at the end of the seventies, when a whole community of singers and players was building something around Leimert Park that people still talk about. She knew them. She worked with them. Some of those names you already know.
Story in progressA decade in Europe — festivals, clubs, radio, television — and six straight years in a Hamburg musical. There was also community work in that city she has never talked about publicly. Not yet.
Story in progressIn Margarethe von Trotta's Rosenstrasse she is the singer in the club. One of the two songs she performs on screen carries her own lyrics. Most people who have seen the film never realized both were true.
Verified • 2003Her father was the trumpeter Demas Dean. The Discography of American Historical Recordings puts him on cornet behind Bessie Smith in February 1928, and on trumpet with Noble Sissle's orchestra through the 1930s. Her own first record came in 1967, credited to Cynthia Gudger. The jazz was in the house before she got there.
Noble Sissle and his International Orchestra — from the 1934 session Demas Dean is documented on.
There is a great deal more, and she is putting it in a book. Consider this the trailer.
Music is not the only way she works. Original paintings, limited prints and signed editions will be available directly from this page. Sign up and you'll see them first.
One-of-one pieces, released as they are finished.
Numbered runs from selected originals.
Signed by the artist, in small quantities.
Powered by G.U.M.M. magazine
Real-world knowledge for serious artists, from someone who has actually made a living at this for decades. Not how to sing. How to work.
The things music school doesn't teach you.
This is being built out as a guide, not a blog post — written from the inside, for musicians who already have the talent and are tired of learning the business the expensive way. The first installment arrives with the October issue of G.U.M.M.
New music, new stories, artwork releases and Working Musician drops — sent before they go anywhere else.
Booking, media and LK Jazz inquiries — appearances, interviews, music and collaborations.
Contact / Booking
Los Angeles | Redlands | Phoenix | Memphis | NYC
Follow us: @GemworkTV | Contact: info@gemwork.tv