by BILL GODFREY

Sherry Wilson Butler answers the door of her Mt. Airy home dressed in blue, wearing a warm smile and a blue-red head wrap. It’s early for a musician. She shared a stage late into the previous night with fellow local musicians Barry Sames and Monnette Sudler at the Allens Lane Arts Center, but you’d never know it. Her eyes are bright, she’s gracious, and like a true professional performer, she’s ready on cue.

“Mt. Airy’s a most incredible place,” she says when asked about her neighborhood. “I don’t know if it’s the air or the atmosphere or the water we drink around here, but it works. It really, really works, and I think that’s what I love about Mt. Airy. You can be yourself.”

Butler’s a talented vocalist and educator who’s part of the spicy stew of Mt. Airy. Her musical gifts mix with a powerful vibe that drives a strong music, arts and culture scene in the area. Butler performs professionally all over the region singing jazz and gospel, including this year’s Garden Festival Jazz Party, and she teaches classes twice a week at the Cleff Club on the Avenue of the Arts in Center City. She also has her own teaching studio in Mt. Airy.

But when the leaves turn colors and the winds blow cold, Butler, like many of the area’s top jazz performers, heads to the shore for the Cape May Jazz Festival. “I’m delighted, I’m ecstatic. I’m just bubblin’ all over with excitement,” she said. Cape May, N.J., with its beach and great restaurants, has become a gathering place for top jazz musicians and fans from near and far Many acts are international performers who, strangely enough, play European tours to find true American jazz aficionados.

Butler performed as part of ensemble jazz sessions at Cape May for the past few years, but she asked for her own stage this year, and got it. “I am so thrilled. Usually I’m in the jam sessions, but (festival co-founder and past president) Carol Stone gave me the opportunity to perform at Carney’s Other Room, and I am so excited I could scream.”

The festival also features the Philly Sound with Monnette Sudler, Denise King and Aaron Graves along with New York’s smoking-hot trumpeter, Winston Byrd. The legendary Maynard Ferguson, Detroit’s Carla Cook and Billie Holiday’s favorite singer, 75-year-old Jimmy Scott, will also be there.

Cape May is a great place to visit, but Butler always returns home to the city. “You have to get around to other cities and other countries if you want to continue to grow as an artist, but I can be very content in Mt. Airy,” she said.

Butler moved to Mt. Airy 22 years ago because she’d heard it was a vibrant, diverse community. “I love Mt. Airy because of the diversity, the culture, the location; you can be downtown in 15 minutes if you take the train. You have everything in this community — Latina, African-American, European, lesbian, gay, children — everyone lives here. It’s such an, um, horn of plenty.”

Local churches are also part of the arts scene in Mt. Airy. Butler said the First United Methodist Church of God in Christ (FUMCOG) at Germantown and High Street incorporates an appreciation of the arts into their services and hosts national acts as well. And she sang recently at St. Michael’s Church for their anniversary celebration. “I came in with just a guitarist, and we did three beautiful numbers. I hadn’t done that in a long time with just a guitarist.”

A master’s in education from Temple allows her to combine her passion for music with a talent for teaching. When she’s not performing, Butler’s Vocalise’ MjS Studio provides vocal coaching and education for all ages, and her many years in the biz serve her as she helps school local talent in the craft of music. Contact Vocalise’ Studio at 215-849-5140, and be sure to see Butler and her students in a recital November 30 at the Sedgwick.

And keep an ear out for Butler’s as yet unnamed debut CD next January.

The City of Cape May hosts their jazz festival twice a year at various venues around the seaside resort, and the festival celebrates 10 years on November 7, 8 and 9. See the Sherry Wilson Butler Quartet perform from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Carney’s Other Room in the swingin’est part of Cape May on Beach Avenue, Friday, November 7.

There will be 22 events, including blues, jams, gospel, workshops and a jazz brunch. For more information, call 609-884-7277 or 800-595-4TIX for tickets or visit www.capemayjazz.org.