Born in Dayton, Ohio, and raised in Hollywood, Florida, Banu studied dance from the age of three and voice from the age of nine. A natural performer, she sang in a variety of school musicals, graduated from college with a degree in music and theater, and started working professionally as a dancer while still in her teens. She was exposed to traditional jazz while working as a singer and dancer opposite the great Dixieland trumpeter Phil Napoleon at Jackie Gleason's Joe The Bartender room in Miami Beach. Banu moved to New York City to work with the road band of Your Father's Mustache, and traveled the continent from Victoria, B.C. to Guantanamo, Cuba. After a period working at Disneyland in The Class of '27 show, she moved to New Orleans where she formed the New Orleans Hot Jazz Band in 1981.

Since then, Banu and her sextet have been featured at numerous concerts, jazz festivals and on recordings. She has been on radio and television broadcasts: PBS television series Dixieland Jazz from New Orleans; Joan Lunden's syndicated show Everyday, twice; three times as American Public Radio's featured vocalist on Riverwalk. Live from the Landing; sang the title song for the Great Chefs of New Orleans series and was seen on Entertainment Tonight. In 1986, Banu toured Europe with the late cornetist, Wild Bill Davison. She has continuously performed abroad with her band in Germany, England, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and with a contingent of her band in Australia.

Other high points include performing in Dick Hyman's Jazz in July in 1991, and her band's appearances with many symphony orchestras including the St. Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, Sacramento, and New Orleans symphonies, and a three-night concert at the Hollywood Bowl with John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra.

With a repertoire of over 350 songs in the 1920 to '40 period, Banu's performances cover many highlights of America's golden age of popular music. Not content to copy the past, Banu Gibson & the New Orleans Hot Jazz Orchestra are creative within the boundaries of the genre. They consistently invent fresh and imaginative variations of songs as old as 60 years, giving new life to timeless, unforgettable music with their irresistible presentation.

Banu/Bah'nu/n (Banu Gibson): 1. Female jazz singer indigenous to New Orleans. tharacterized by a clear powerful voice and a gutsy, free-wheeling style. 2. Internationally arclaimed recording artist featured on the Emmy award winning PBS television special, RiverboatRagfest and DixielandJazz from New Orleans and Great Chefs of New Orleans. Also seen on Joan Lunden's Everyday television show. 3. Band leader of The New Orleans Hot Jazz - often found performing on stages around the world. 4. Recently sited performing with the St. Louis, New Orleans and Tucson Symphonies.

BANU GlBSON's life ambition has been to entertain peaple. And entertain she does! In a review of her symphony performance, The Arizona Daily Star calls an evening with BANU GIBSON AND THE NEW ORLEANS HOT JAZZ " The best time you can have in a room full of people..."

Singer Gibson's classic jazz recalls sounds of Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Fats Waller, George Gershwin and Hoagy (armichael, but is always delivered with a distinctive energy and style that's pure BANU.

Hometown celebrity, Pete Fountain says "She's keeping jazz alive in New Orleans."

BANU and her New Orleans Hot Jazz win praise from entertainment afficionados and jazz purists alike. Whether the band takes front stage playing hat jazz solos or accompanies BANU's banjo and cameo tap dance numbers, the audience is right there with her.

But most of all, it is BANU's singing that 'brings 'em to their feet.' BANU GIBSON, QUEEN OF NEW ORLEANS JAZZ! She's the hottest jazz in town!