Release : Sara Gazarek - Return To You
Artist : Sara Gazarek
Album : Return To You
Genre : Jazz
Source : CDDA
Label : Native Language
URL : http://www.saragazarek.com
Date : 06-05-2007
Encoder : LAME 3.97 / -V2 --vbr-new
Quality : 162kbps 44100 kHz Joint Stereo
Tracks : 13
Time : 52:38 min
Size : 61.58 MB
1 Let's Try This Again 3:42
2 Northern Lights 4:16
3 Carey 4:54
4 Junk 3:27
5 Just Let Me Be 3:55
6 Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling 4:31
7 And So It Goes 5:12
8 I've Got A Great Idea 3:05
9 Dear Someone 3:30
10 Hallelujah 5:35
11 Makes Me Feel This Way 3:53
12 Without You 4:50
13 Original 4 1:48
If Sara Gazarek's record debut (Yours) was auspicious, her follow-up (Return to
You) is audacious. Where Yours presented a prodigious talent applying fresh
paint to largely well-worn standards, Return to You takes one risk after
another, mixing material from such diverse sources as Joni Mitchell, Leonard
Cohen, Harry Connick, Billy Joel and Paul McCartney with a handful of original
compositions penned by her pianist, Josh Nelson. As such the music defies easy
classification as jazz versus pop-while the songs largely originate in the
popular singer/songwriter vein, 25-year-old Gazarek brings a solid jazz
sensibility to her original interpretation and phrasing; her band infuses each
track with that "swing feel" that defines mainstream jazz. Accolades piled high
following the release of Yours in 2005; Return to You validates such prophets as
Christopher Loudon (Jazz Times), who noted that "Yours signals the arrival of a
significant new vocal talent, who, if the gods above truly are in the know,
should rapidly ascend from minor to major." Return to You marks a significant
intervallic leap in that ascent.
A native of Seattle, Sara Gazarek had little exposure to jazz before high
school. But band/choir director Scott Brown changed that. "Like most young
people, I didn't discover jazz on my own," says Sara. "With the help of a very
passionate educator at my high school [Brown], I received a great basic
education early on. He gave us a strong foundation in jazz theory, history,
songs and artists. After his love for the music was passed on to me, I took it
from there and found inspiration in the musicians and songs." The recordings of
Ella Fitzgerald were a specific source of inspiration. "I was sixteen or
seventeen at the time and I memorized every lick," she recalls. And while jazz
was not part of her family culture, Sara acknowledges the importance of family
support, particularly from her mother who "supported me completely when I
decided to pursue music, and it was her confidence in my abilities that gave me
the strength to strive for whatever it was I wanted to accomplish. Not once did
she suggest I have a 'back-up plan.'"
Sara's star rose quickly. In her senior year, she was awarded the first Ella
Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation Outstanding Jazz Vocalist Award at the
Essentially Ellington Festival in New York. In 2000, she enrolled in the
Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, studying with
John Clayton (who produced both recordings), Shelly Berg, Carmen Bradford and
Tierney Sutton. "Almost everyone I have encountered, musically or
extramusically, has affected me in some way or anotherthe educators I have come
across (Scott Brown-high school, John Clayton and Tierney Sutton-college) have
influenced the way I look at music and life, inspired me to take risks and reach
beyond my goals." In 2003, Sara won the Downbeat Student Music Award for Best
Collegiate Vocalist, and shortly thereafter went on the road with Oleta Adams,
Karrin Allyson and Diane Schuur with the Concord Jazz Festival tour; she also
became a client of the prestigious William Morris Agency. Yours (Native
Language), produced in 2005 by mentor John Clayton, ranked in the Top Ten on
Billboard, iTunes, Jazz Week and more.
Not far beyond her student years herself, Sara Gazarek is already committed to
music education. While still at USC, she helped develop JazzReach, working in an
inner city elementary school as a jazz choir director. Today she is the sole
ambassador for a nonprofit music and arts education organization, Music for All,
through which she hopes to use clinics and performances to create public
awareness of the importance of music and art education in schools. "I know I
wouldn't be here if it weren't for my experiences in the public school system,
so anything I can do to give back and make sure other children have similar
experiences, I'll eagerly do!"
Return to You
Return to You evolved from the same musical team that created Yours-producer
John Clayton, pianist Josh Nelson, bassist Erik Kertes, and drummer Matt Slocum.
However, the repertoire reflects a significant turn. "We felt secure in the base
we'd created with Yours and wanted to explore some of our other influences,"
explains Sara. The new recording also extends beyond her quartet, including
guest saxophonist (and composer) Seamus Blake, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire,
vocalist John Proulx and the Supernova String Quartet. Adding strings, horns and
a vocal duet provided "a way to get a message across that we couldn't express as
a quartet," says Sara, who preferred maintaining her regular band as the core
ensemble. "In this band we prefer to keep it in the familythey are an integral
part of the way our sound has progressedwe are constantly learning from one
another." The band provided all arrangements, and Nelson contributed four
compositions, one ("Let's Try This Again") in tandem with Gazarek.
Gazarek is developing a vocal style that is as eclectic as her repertoire. With
a bright alto, perfect diction, unwavering pitch and versatile phrasing, the
voice has husky hints of Karrin Allyson mixed with warmer tones of Jane Monheit
and Eva Cassiday; add further the emotional intimacy of Ella and the folk-rock
clarity of Joni Mitchell.
The quartet wastes no time asserting itself, leading off with the Nelson/Gazarek
composition "Let's Try This Again," one of the four original tracks, all
reflecting themes of love lost and found. The opener has the lilt of an old
fashioned show tune, Sara sounding a bit like an old folkie, yet there's a jazz
sensibility to the rhythm, thanks to the band. Nelson is a swinging pianist as
well as a gifted composer. As she does throughout the recording, Gazarek uses
scat sparingly but effectively. "Let Me Be" is one of the standout tracks,
featuring talented young trumpeter Ambrose Akinmisure. Bluesy and sassy, Sara
engages Akinmisure in a delightful back and forth duel. "Makes Me Feel This Way"
can be described as one of the "jazziest" tracks, readily opening the door for
playful improvisation from both Gazarek (sounding more like Allyson here) and
the band. "Without You" is essentially the title track ("Return to You" is the
opening line) and one of three tunes featuring the understated strings of the
Supernova String Quartet. The blend of Nelson and Kertes evokes two bassists,
while Slocum's distant thuds add further rumbles to a perfect foundation for
Gazarek's earnest tone and elastic phrases.
Original compositions always provide a means of infusing a recording with an
individual personality. It can be more difficult to give such treatment to
iconic popular tunes, but Gazarek and company are up to the task, going well
beyond the renditions of the original singer/songwriters. Joni Mitchell's "Cary"
finds the quartet intersecting bop with a calypso beat. Sara navigates the
interval leaps smoothly, her clear-as-a-bell articulation and phrasing evoking a
playful, sweeter Mitchell while Slocum shines on percussion and in conversation
with Nelson. Paul McCartney's "Junk" provides a harmonic blending of voice and
strings, but the highlight is the segment of just piano and voice, making one
wish that there had been one duet track on the recording. Gazarek's tone is
pleasingly wistful, and she effectively uses vocalese in tandem with the string
quartet. "Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling" (Bill C. Graham) showcases
Erik Kertes basswork, while Harry Connick Jr.'s "I've Got a Great Idea"
introduces Nelson's prowess on the Hammond B-3. Swinging along like a songbook
standard, Gazarek is sweet and sassy, her scatting in-between the organ lines
worthy of a great jazz diva. "Dear Someone" (Gillian Welch) features guest
vocalist John Proulx in waltzing, back country duet with Gazarek .
The great Leonard Cohen classic "Hallelujah" is one of the masterpieces of the
recording, with artful arco work from Kertes and majestic piano passages from
Nelson. But it's Sara's regal vocal presentation that leaves you breathless,
from the start to the seldom heard final chorus. Another rare find is Seamus
Blake's "Northern Lights," with a guest appearance by the gifted saxophonist (of
Mingus Dynasty). Here Blake proves himself a jack of all trades, as composer,
guitarist, saxman, even vocalist. The feel is folk/pop and totally charming.
Sara's treatment of Billy Joel's "And So It Goes" evokes a delicacy unmatched by
most of her contemporaries, her personalized phrasing and intimate dynamics
recreating Joel's classic as a new version that stands on its own merits. If you
erase the other dozen tracks, the recording is still worth owning for this
performance.
The very short closing track, the hymnal "Original It" (Ludvig Girdland)
features an extended solo piano introduction, a simple vocalized line from
Gazarek, bowed bass and string quartet. Rumors of a "hidden track" could not be
confirmed on the review copy!
One must remember that Return to You is only the second major release for Sara
Gazarek and her band (there's also a limited online distribution release of Live
at the Jazz Bakery). The debut was stunning, the follow-up exquisite, and the
future? She's still far from thirty and still in ascent.
Return to You is available in retail outlets as of June 5, 2007. Most quotes
from a Jazz Police electronic interview with Sara Gazarek in 2005. Itinerary and
other information available at www.saragazarek.com