Lila Ammons, a native of Chicago, has had many musical influences from family to a myriad of musicians and from the musical styles of Mozart to Monk. And she has inherited an illustrious legacy through the gifts of her grandfather and uncle: Albert Ammons (piano) and Gene Ammons (tenor sax).
Ammons was previously based in New York City where she attended graduate school at the Manhattan School of Music, and for 13 years performed opera, oratorio and recitals around the US and Europe. It was then that she began her international travels through music. But, she had other musical passions and decided that she needed to pursue them. In 1997, excited to work on her new craft, she packed up and left New York for Minneapolis, Minnesota to be near family and there, she has cultivated a career in jazz.
From 2007-2018 she has toured internationally singing classic blues and boogie woogie in major concert halls, international jazz and blues festivals, theaters and jazz clubs throughout Austria, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Brazil, Bulgaria, Italy, France, Belgium, England. In the US she performed in Chicago, New York City, Cincinnati, Ohio, Ann Arbor and Detroit Michigan, and Houston, Texas. Still not quite satisfied that she was realizing her dream, in 2015 Lila began reducing her classic blues touring to focus on the jazz music she truly loves. And in 2016 she began receiving international invitations to perform as a solo jazz singer in England, Ireland, France and Spain.
Since 2007, Ammons has worked with numerous internationally acclaimed musicians such as, Axel Zwingenberger, Charlie Watts, Ben Waters, Jools Holland, Chris Jagger, Judy Carmichael, Sonny Leyland, Bruce Barth, and Tony Sola, to name a few. In the Twin Cities, she performs with many of the area’s best jazz and blues instrumentalists.