Fifty years into her career as a professional musician, Sue Palmer is still finding new audiences. The Talmadge-based pianist expanded her fanbase last year with a return to the women’s and gay bars where she got her start— plus a foray into the world of ballet.
Her most popular performance of the year was an accidental gig. The Queen of Boogie Woogie was not booked to play at last year’s Pride festivities, but a friend’s illness meant Gossip Grill desperately needed a last-minute replacement for their live musician on the Friday of Pride weekend. That day, Sue Palmer and her Motel Swing Orchestra headed to the University Ave. bar to fill in for the headliner. She became an instant hit with the young bar-goers, many of whom had never heard her old style of music before.
“It made me very, very happy to be such a popular thing, again, in the women’s bar,” Palmer said.
Looking back, it was her most high-energy show of the year, which shocked her.
In the ‘70s and early ‘80s, Palmer and her series of bands were heavily supported by women’s and gay bars where she learned to be an entertainer. In turn, she supported these communities at a “million AIDS benefits” and even political rallies for Chris Kehoe and Toni Atkins. She fundraises for the community to this day, including as the opening act at the San Diego LGBT Center’s 50th Anniversary Gala.
Before her foray into bar music, Palmer grew up in Ocean Beach in a family of musicians and discovered playing music is addicting. San Diego still influences her music. Her latest vinyl release “Looking for a Parking Place” is based on the experience of trying to park for gigs in Downtown.
In 2023, Palmer also connected with the staid audience of San Diego Ballet. Used to performing for swing dancers, the classic dancers interpreted her blues music in new ways— much to the delight of her longtime fans.
“Playing for the San Diego Ballet was just the classiest thing I’ve ever done,” said Palmer.
She was unused to the way ballet audiences remain still and quiet during the “Eight to the Barre” performances. Palmer typically smiles and laughs during her high-energy performances, glowing as she revels in the energy of the crowd. The new crowd was a challenge that pushed her music in new directions.
“A lot of the ballet people don’t go out to hear my kind of music usually. So I got a new kind of exposure to different groups and that was wonderful,” she said.
San Diego Ballet is known for artistic director Javier Velasco’s fusion productions with ballerinas en pointe dancing to unusual music genres, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Velasco and Palmer are friends and have collaborated before in the one-woman musical “Toughest Woman Alive!” about late jazz vocalist Candye Kane, whom Palmer toured the world with in the ‘90s.
This year, Palmer plans to reunite with another Kane veteran, blues guitarist Laura Chavez. Chavez and Palmer accompanied Kane for 250 dates a year for 10 years as the former adult entertainer gained international acclaim for her soulful voice and bawdy performances. Kane was known for taking over Palmer’s keys to play piano with her breasts.
Palmer is putting together an all-women lineup for Gator by the Bay, with Chavez, drummer Jody Hill, the female members of the Motel Swing Orchestra and other women Palmer plans to recruit ahead of the April event. She envisions a women horns section for the Louisiana-themed festival. Palmer believes it is important to support younger musicians, especially after struggling to make her start in the blues and jazz genres. Palmer, who never hid her sexual orientation, said she faced more prejudice as as woman than for being gay as she broke into the music industry.
“I just don’t even care. I just go somewhere I’m loved,” Palmer said.
Supporting younger artists has benefitted Palmer too. Bringing singer Liz Ajuzie into her band was “a shot in the arm” for the Motel Swing Orchestra, especially as Ajuzie is the first singer fluent in French Palmer has worked with since Kane.
After the pandemic, Palmer anticipates an artistic renaissance as seen in Paris and Harlem after the Spanish flu pandemic. She was inducted into the San Diego Music Hall of Fame in 2018 but has no plans to quit being an innovative musical institution, continually creating new fans.
“People are just really going nuts with creativity now,” Palmer said. “I think it’s gonna be an excellent year.”
Photos by Nicole Villa
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