Banu was born in Dayton, Ohio, and raised in Hollywood, Florida. 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. After a period working at Disneyland in The Class of '27 show, whe moved to New Orleans where she formed the New Orleans Hot Jazz in 1981. Since then, Banu and her sextet have been featured at numerous concerts, jazz festivals and on recordings, most notable, Banu's own label Swing Out. She has been on radio and television broadcasts including Entertainment Tonight, PBS' series Dixiland Jazz from New Orleans, and American Public Radio's Riverwalk, Live from the Landing. She has continuously performed abroad with her band in Germany, England, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and with a contingent of her band in Australia.
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