Mitzi Zilka on vocals with Tony Pacini Trio are at Wilf's

If jazz is about emotions, Mitzi Zilka has found a way to pack a wallop by combining her talents as both a singer and a lyricist. The words she has penned to a variety of jazz instrumental classics including Monk’s Mood, Blue Bossa, Lament, Pent up House, Look to the Sky and Lady Bird, add a fresh dimension to the jazz tradition, says two-time Grammy winner, Peter Boe. “She not only has a great jazz voice, but also, the words she writes to original instrumental music and existing standards are among the best I’ve seen.”

A Portland native, Mitzi moved to L.A. with her family when she was 11 where she began her classical training as a singer. But says she fell in love with jazz the moment she heard Billie Holiday sing. “What got me about Billie Holiday is that you heard real stories about pain and love and I believed every word she sang.