Mrs. Stephanie Burks (Woods) was born in Cleveland Ohio, and has been studying music and performing arts since the age of eight. She has been performing jazz the last five years.
She studied classical piano, music appreciation, and theater at Andrews School for Girls in Willoughby Ohio. Later education was at Cuyahoga Community College, Lorain Community College and the Cleveland Settlement of Music. During her high school and college years, Ms. Woods studied in many theaters and performed in musicals. The Hanna Theater was her first paid performance, Karamu Theater and Cleveland Convention Center.
A big influence in Ms. Wood’s music was her mother, who listened to great jazz singers like Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Bessie Smith, and Nina Simone. Her mother also listened to classical, country and gospel music.
Ms. Woods has put together her own jazz band as well as her own entertainment agency, “ALL THAT JAZZ PRODUCTIONS”. Currently she is working on her own recording studio. On February 11th, Ms. Stevie put together and performed her first All that & Jazz Cultural Show, featuring cultural bands. Performing was Robert Ocassio and His Latin Jazz Project (Latin) and The Outlaws (Reggae) Ms. Stevie Woods & Co. (Jazz & Blues).
Stevie is has been working with Mr. Melvin Burks (her husband who has been another strong influence in her music), Mr. Eddie Baccus Sr. and Mr. Cecil Rucker (vibes), Mr. Eddie Baccus Jr.(sax) from “Pieces of Dream”., Mr. Gregg Bandy (drums), and Toni Palitzzi(guitar) with whom she just finished her first recording with “All My Love”.
A few of her opening performances are: opening for Alex Boughon at Tangiers, CCC Jazz Festival “The Women in Jazz”, and she performed a private engagement for the Ms. Toni Morrison (author) conference. And opening up for Freddie Jackson.
One of Ms. Wood’s life long dreams is to perform in France, Africa and other parts of the world. Her repertoire of music spans from jazz to blues, contemporary, Latin and Reggae, and has performed with the Latin jazz band “Roberto Ocassio Latin Jazz Project” at Jacob’s Field, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and the Columbus Zoo. A non-profit organization is one of the future goals for Ms. Woods. The emphasis will be on showing students from kindergarten to college more about these cultures through art and education.
Over the past four years. She has been touring internationally. Currently she is performing in Dubai, the U.A.E. at the Madinat Jumeriah resort, where she is performing with a six piece band “Cold Sweat”. Prior to that she has been performing in Korea and China.