Sara Gazarek "After You've Gone"

Sara stopped by the KPLU Seattle studios with Band members Josh Nelson (piano), Hamilton Price (bass), Zach Harmon (drums) and Larry Koonse (guitar).

Artist Sara Gazarek finds her tempo

Courtesy of Sara Gazarek / February 15, 2012)

By Kirk Silsbee

June 13, 2014 | 1:01 p.m.

How often have we seen prodigies show brilliant early promise, only to crash and burn years later when confronted with real-world professional realities? The streets of Hollywood are paved with such casualties. Jazz singer Sara Gazarek is an early bloomer who has not only shown gratifying determination but also a capacity for artistic growth.

The 31-year-old San Diego native had a record deal and a tour scheduled before she graduated from USC's Thornton School of Music vocal jazz program in 2003. Impresario Barbara Brighton presented Gazarek at her Young Artists Jazz Series at Catalina's when the singer was in high school. "I thought Sara was a very unique and poised singer for her age," Brighton recalls. "A lot of young singers feel compelled to scat all the time but Sara didn't fall into that trap."

Gazarek, who performs with her trio at Descanso Gardens' free Music on the Main Series Thursday night, is a singer who stresses music values over histrionics and gimmickry. "The big thing about jazz," she says at her home in Los Angeles, "is that you're encouraged to be yourself. It's a challenge to find a way to breathe life into a song, using your own truths. Like that Irving Berlin tune, 'Cheek to Cheek' — I used to think it was just cute. But as I've gotten older, I see the universal truth in it, of being next to that person and wanting it to turn into something."

Female vocalists in jazz always make for a crowded field, but at the moment, the market is absolutely flooded. Still, Gazarek has made a place for herself, releasing four CDs, each more musically assured and well received than the last. A key to her success is in having cultivated long musical relationships; the most significant is her pianist, Josh Nelson.

He's one of the most valued young SoCal pianists — for his composing and arranging, accompaniment, and musical imagination. Nelson has been Natalie Cole's pianist for the last five years, and he shares Gazarek's rhythm section with bassist Hamilton Price and drummer Zach Harmon. "Sara and I have been working together since 2004," he says. "And we've always had a strong connection. We have a similar sense of the music, similar approach to dealing with tunes, and a similar work ethic. We also have a similar take on the process, and we like the same singers: Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald, and Jane Monheit."

read more: http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-jazz-singer-sara-gazarek-finds-her-tempo-20140613,0,5534858.story

Sara Gazarek.....

Championed by some of music’s most celebrated figures, Sara Gazarek has emerged as a strikingly original artist with limitless potential. With three highly acclaimed CD’s under her belt at the young age of 30, Sara and her trio continue to seamlessly combine the intimacy of singer/songwriter stylings with the musical and improvisational elements of jazz. Blessed with a gorgeous, translucent voice, excellent pitch, and supple sense of time, Gazarek is steeped in the jazz tradition, but is not afraid to embrace the music that moves her generation. Sara is currently on faculty at the University of Southern California, leading the award-winning vocal jazz ensemble there, and teaching privately.

"Someday, Sara Gazarek is going to be respected as one of the best singers in jazz..."
Bob Karlovits - Pittsburgh Tribune

"'Blossom & Bee' has all the beauty, bite and superb workings of a winner. It’s as good – or better – than some recent Grammy®-nominated or winning female vocalist efforts."
Nick Mondello - Jazz Times

"Sara Gazarek's singing is impeccable... ★★★★"
Chris Smith - Winnipeg Free Press

"'Blossom & Bee' represents the culmination of Sara Gazarek from ingénue to bonafide jazz star..."
Carol Banks Weber - The Examiner

"A flawless recording by all participants, and easily one of the most impressive releases of the year, across any genre. 5 huge stars!"
Brent Black - CriticalJazz

"...if Sara Gazarek’s earlier recordings signaled the potential of a mighty talent, then her latest confirms her place at the top..."
Andrea Carter - Jazz Police

"...get in on the secret before it ignites a wave of astonished approval from all corners..."
Mark Tucker - FAME

"Gazarek balances fancy free notions, effervescence, carefree whims, fragile emotions, precocious pondering and humor in her work, making this a highly attractive outing as a whole."
Dan Bilawsky - All AboutJazz

From Sara Gazarek

Hello dear friends, 
I'm SO grateful and excited to announce that after 4 years, we'll finally be going back into the studio to record our 3rd album!! As you can imagine, we are very thrilled, and have been working hard to prepare the music for you... And we can't wait for you to hear it! We'll be sharing details via the blog as we move forward, but the best way to keep up is through our Facebook page or ourtwitter page, where we'll be leaking little hints and clues. :)

We just announced some "secret" shows in Los Angeles (where we'll be working out the kinks, live!, before we go into the studio), so if you live in the area and are curious about the music, we hope you'll visit the tour page and join us!


lots of love, Sara

A Message from Sara Gazarek....

[September 1st, 2009] Los Angeles, CA

The project I recorded last year with the German group Triosence will be released tomorrow in Europe!
My last blog discusses how the project came to be (for those of you wondering what the heck I'm talking about)...

We left off with me about to travel to Germany for 3 weeks to rehearse, tour and record with Triosence. It was a really wonderful and interesting experience working with them as a guest artist. A number of songs on the album feature lyrics I wrote, and some of the tunes just needed a few tweaks here and there.

I'm very interested for people to hear the music - it's pretty different from the music we do with my group, but that's what makes it all the more fun. :)

We'll keep you posted about when it will be making an appearance in the US (hopefully soon!) but in the meantime, here's a cute little video with more info. The CD is called "Where Time Stands Still" on the Sony/BMG label in Europe.

triosence ft. Sara Gazarek from R S on Vimeo.

Let's Try This Again - Music Video

Jazz vocalist Sara Gazarek's music video for "Let's Try This Again" (composed by Josh Nelson and Sara Gazarek) from her new CD "Return To You"!

Sara Gazarek, biography

Championed by some of music’s most celebrated figures, Sara Gazarek has emerged as a strikingly original artist with limitless potential. In follow up to Yours, her widely hailed 2005 debut focusing on American Songbook standards, the 25-year-old Gazarek delivers a sensational follow-up on her sophomore album Return to You (Native Language NLM-0967-2), seamlessly combining the intimacy of singer/songwriter stylings with the musical and improvisational elements of jazz. Blessed with a gorgeous, translucent voice, excellent pitch, and supple sense of time, Gazarek is steeped in the jazz tradition, but is not afraid to embrace the music that moves her generation. Return to You was created by the same talented team that put together Yours (including Grammy-award nominated bass master John Clayton as producer, and her equally youthful, all-star LA based band, Josh Nelson (p), Erik Kertes (b), and Matt Slocum (d)). Return to You features well-planned arrangements of more contemporary standards by songwriters Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Harry Connick Jr., and Gillian Welch. Some of the best material, however, comes from Gazarek’s acclaimed pianist, Josh Nelson, as he displays his considerable gifts as a composer and lyricist with four new songs.

In choosing the material for Return to You, Gazarek explains, “our live performances are very different from the record. We do a lot more up-tempo and swinging material. But we felt secure in the base we’d created with Yours and wanted to explore some of our other influences. We wanted this album to have a flow, and a sense of purpose, and we feel the listener will be able to pick up on the part of our souls we gave to this album.” Among the album’s stand out tracks are a playful version of Mitchell’s “Carey,” and a haunting rendition of Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” with an obscure final chorus that has rarely been recorded. Gazarek’s knack for spotting first-rate material shines brightest on “Northern Lights,” a ravishing song written by the brilliant tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake – a collaboration so poignant and engaging that no one should be surprised if the tune ends up spearheading a Norah Jones-like breakthrough.

“Return to You” also introduces a number of new textures and sounds, not explored before on the bands prior release. Strings, guitar, horns, and duet vocals are, as Gazarek puts it “a way to get a message across that we couldn’t express as a quartet.” And while the singer could have had her pick of all-star instrumentalists to feature on her sophomore album, Gazarek, who possesses an easy-going charisma that quietly commands attention, refuses to hog the limelight. “In this band we prefer to keep it in the family, and featured some of our most talented friends,” Gazarek says, humbly, always referring to “we” rather than “I” when speaking of her music, highlighting the indispensability of her band mates. “We truly are a family now, and they are an integral part of the way our sound has progressed.” The quartet works together in shaping arrangements, and each piece is the result of extended collaboration. She notes the importance of this collaboration, “we are constantly learning from one another.”

Born and raised in Seattle, Gazarek grew up without much exposure to jazz. She denotes any and all preliminary jazz education to her high school big band and choir director, Scott Brown. “He afforded us a lot of educational opportunities at festivals and competitions,” Gazarek remembers. As a senior in high school, she was awarded the first ever Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation Outstanding Jazz Vocalist Award at the Essentially Ellington Festival in NYC. “I guess you could say my first gig was at Avery Fisher Hall with Wynton Marsalis,” Gazarek chuckles. Sara made her way south to Los Angeles in 2000 and found herself at the prestigious Thornton School of Music at USC, studying under the tutelage of John Clayton, Shelly Berg, Tierney Sutton, and Carmen Bradford. While there, Sara helped develop the JazzReach program and, as a result, was able to spend 2 years working with inner city elementary school children as a jazz choir director. “I’ll never forget that experience. It is so important to me to be out there, educating young people.” Sara continues to educate young people today as the sole ambassador for the non-profit music and arts education organization, Music For All. Sara and her band give clinics at local schools while on tour, because, as Gazarek puts it, “education is such an important part of our lives, and the band and I know we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for that one teacher who showed us the way. It is our duty to give back.”

In 2003, Sara was awarded the 2003 Downbeat Student Music Award for Best Collegiate Vocalist. Shortly after the publication hit the press, Sara was asked to perform with Oleta Adams, Karrin Allyson, and Diane Schuur as the "as yet undiscovered talent" on the Concord Jazz Festival tour. Simultaneously, Gazarek joined a number of a-list clientele (including Barry Manilow and Allyson) as a Stiletto Entertainment (management) client and was soon being booked by the industrious William Morris Agency. “I remember feeling very nervous about it all,” Sara recalls. “I’d had it drilled into me that a strong career at a young age was a fast track to obscurity.” Luckily, at a time when it would have been easy for Gazarek to lose track of her artistic goals, John Clayton, a mentor and teacher at USC, provided a grounding influence. When record labels first came knocking and she started to question her place, it was Clayton who set her straight. “He said, ‘Sara, everyone has his or her own path, and there’s no path that’s any more respectable than any other,’” she recalls. “‘As long as you do your homework and keep striving to be a better musician, you’ll have a lasting career.’”

Clayton agreed to produce her first album, Yours, and insisted she develop the arrangements herself with the band she’d been performing with. She found musical soul mates in her group, and the resulting record was a debut that was released to national and international rave reviews. It ranked in the Top 10 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Charts, Top 10 on the iTunes top Jazz Album Downloads (US, UK, Switzerland, and Belgium), #1 on the iTunes Top Jazz Album Downloads (Germany, France), #5 on the Jazz Week Radio Charts, #4 on the HMV (Japan) chart. In addition, Sara was voted the #3 Best New Artist in the JazzTimes Readers Poll. With her strong sense of gratitude, this talented, graceful, constantly evolving, emotionally direct, label-pushing vocalist will continue to “do her homework.” And judging by her second album, Sara Gazarek is going to have a lot to offer the music scene for many years to come.
http://www.saragazarek.com/

Sara Gazarek....

Sara Gazarek was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to attend the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. She would go on to win the Downbeat Student Music Award for Best Collegiate Vocalist in 2003. Gazarek released her first album, Yours, in 2005. The album was both a critical and commercial success with a top 10 ranking in the Billboard Traditional Jazz Charts as well as being the top album download in iTunes for Jazz in Germany and France. In a poll by the JazzTimes, readers voted Gazarek as the 3rd Best New Jazz Arist. She released her second album, Return To You in 2007 and is currently living in Los Angeles. Sara continues to make strides in the music world, and has been hailed by Don Heckman of the LA Times as "the next important jazz singer."
http://www.saragazarek.com
http://www.myspace.com/saragazarekband
http://www.youtube.com/jazgasm

Sara Gazarek