Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, Banks sang in a church choir with her father as a child and learned piano from her mother at age four.
[1] She lived in Pittsburgh for a time, then relocated to New York City in the 1980s and studied with Edward Boatner, Barry Harris, and Alberto Socarras, and performed with both small ensembles and big bands.
She married trombonist Clarence Banks later in the decade after she joined Charlie Byrd's band, of which he was a member.
[1] Among the musicians she worked with were Lionel Hampton, Dexter Gordon, Walter Davis Jr., Bob Cunningham, Duke Jordan, Diane Schuur, George Benson, Woody Shaw, Jon Hendricks, Walter Booker, Bross Townsend, Charlie Persip, Walter Bishop, Jr., and Sadik Hakim.
She also worked on film soundtracks, including Mo' Better Blues (1990) and Housesitter (1992), and in Broadway musicals such as Swingin' On a Star.