Like Jazz? Catch Rose Bilal at the New Tampa Library

Rose Bilal performs classic jazz — tunes that have been around for several decades. How does she give them her own spin?

“I don’t even know how to answer that,” she said. “It’s just something that happens. You can relate to some of the stories … they tell. It’s connecting you to life. You can relate to a lot of the songs. It’s feeling, emotion. You say it like you feel it.”

Bilal, a Tampa artist, singer and writer, will perform jazz standards 7 p.m. today (Wednesday, Feb. 22) at the New Tampa Regional Library. The event is free.

When potential attendees think jazz, they should think Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Etta James, Cole Porter and Duke Ellington. Why does she prefer music that is easily more than half a century old? 

“Other than being what is considered a national treasure — music that is mostly our own music — it’s the artistry behind the music I like,” she said, adding that jazz evolved from blues and jazz has influenced various types of modern music.  

Strangely enough, Bilal was not even interested in jazz when she started singing as a teen. 

“I was strictly rhythm and blues,” said Bilal, who spent her early years in New Jersey and later Philadelphia before coming to Tampa in 1969. Bilal got her start singing in the church and, in the ‘60s, sang in a group that opened for the likes of the the O’Jays, the Delphonics and Chubby Checker, according to her bio.

Bilal, who previously worked for GTE Corporation and later opened a consignment shop, today sings for corporate events and weddings. She also has a regular Saturday night gig at the Columbia Café inside the Tampa Bay History Center.

Today's performance at the New Tampa Regional Library will find Bilal singing to a pre-recorded track rather than a band.

“Usually you … are in a room,” she said of performances at venues such as libraries. “You are in there with a small crowd so it is sort of more intimate.”

The performance at the library begins at 7 p.m. For more information about the event, visit the library branch’s website. For more information about Bilal, visit www.rosebilal.com on the web.