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Get this crazy baby off my head!

25.7.07

Sara Lazarus

saralazarus-givemethesimplelife
Sara Lazarus - Give Me The Simple Life - 2005 - Dreyfus Records

An effortless and unassuming jazz singer, Sara Lazarus has a terrific rhythmic agility, and her breath control and vocal range is remarkable. Jazz vocalists are a dime a dozen, but Sara Lazarus has a great quality in her voice, slightly reminiscent of Lena Horne, and Ella Fitzgerald. A very good album, with some great musicians backing her, including Bireli Lagrene on guitar, (check out tracks 3, & 10). See cover art in rar file for detailed info on this album

TRACKS

It's Crazy
Once Upon A Summertime
Some Of My Best Friends Are The Blues
Get Out Of Town
He Was Too Good To Me
Give Me The Simple Life
Morning
Foolin' Myself
I'm Thru With Love
This Can't Be Love
September Song
Smile

PERSONNEL

Bireli Lagrene: guitar (3,10)
Gilles Naturel: bass
Alain Jean-Marie: piano
Andrea Michelutti, Winard Harper: drums
Sara Lazarus: vocals

REVIEWS

Sara Lazarus' debut recording, Give Me The Simple Life, shows her to be a gifted jazz vocalist with a real ability to swing. The dozen selections on the recording are well balanced, including ballads, blues and bossa. Lazarus brings a natural jazz sensibility to these songs and there is no hint of artificiality in her vocals. The French piano trio is composed of pianist Alain Jean-Marie, bassist Gilles Naturel and drummer Andrea Michelutti, augmented by guitarist Bireli Lagrene (on two tracks) and drummer Winard Harper (on six tracks). The album opens with a spirited version of the Sarah Vaughan-associated tune “It's Crazy,” and Lazarus keeps things moving with the same touch on the title tune, “Get Out of Town,” and “This Can't Be Love.” “Some of My Best Friends Are the Blues” gets a gritty reading and the “Foolin' Myself” is taken at a nice midtempo pace. Clare Fischer's underappreciated jazz standard “Morning” is a good example of lyrics that don't detract from the melody line. Some of the ballads that Lazarus adds a luster to are “He Was Too Good To Me,” “I'm Thru With Love” and “Once Upon A Summertime.” All in all, this is a most impressive first effort, and I look forward to hearing a lot more! © Michael P. Gladstone © 2007 All About Jazz

You've got a good voice! Hey, you should do an album! Do you perform? Sara Lazarus probably had folks saying things like this to her many, many times. And she probably believed them, and thought she could sing, and decided to record. Well, they were right and so was she. SHE CAN SING!!!. Beautifully! Expressively! Intelligently! Honestly! Emotionally! And with much class and self assurance. When given this CD to review, I'd never heard of Sara Lazarus and thought ho! Hum! not another wannabe female jazz vocalist. Slipped it in the CD player, and was singularly underwhelmed, but strangely, did not feel any compulsion to stop listening either. Aaaah! She's a wily singer is this Ms Lazarus. No histrionics, no vocal calisthenics, no flashy instrumentation-just honest singing. And that's what reeled me in. Three spins of the disc later, I was hooked, I'm a fan, I luvvit!!!!.. Sara Lazarus is such an accomplished, intelligent singer, that she just gets every nuance of every song. Every time. She sings with impeccable timing, crystal-clear diction and masterful breath control. I'd mentioned that she sings with honesty, so much so that you feel that she's singing just for you, and only to you - especially on the arresting Smile and the oh-so-poignant He was good to me. I really believe that she comes into her own on slow, slow songs- but she can certainly rev it up if she wants to. I'ts crazy and Give me the simple life show just how much she can really rattle your cage!!! She is brilliantly aided and abetted by a team of musicians who appear to absolutely believe in this project and they pull out all their considerable stops to make a magnificent job of accompanying this superb singer. As to her accompanists. They do just that. And they do it SUPERBLY! I somehow don't think this album will hit no. 1 on the charts, but I do believe it will sell steadily for many years to come. It's that good. BUY IT! YOU'LL LOVE IT! © Hadley Tituss 27/7/06 www.jazzrendezvous.co.za/listcdreview.php?rev=000000044

BIO

In 1994, Sara Lazarus, a young American singer, is awarded the first prize of the international Thelonious Monk contest thus following in the steps of Joshua Redman and Jacky Terrasson. The jury is no less famous with the likes of John Hendricks, Shirley Horn, Cleo Laine, Abbey Lincoln, Dianne Reeves and Jimmy Scott. During the award ceremony, Sara takes part in a jam session with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Grady Tate, Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Heath and Clark Terry. Born on April 1st in Delaware, one of the smallest US states, Sara displays a strong interest in musical comedies from an early age and thankfully discovers the jazz standards. She takes piano lessons at 8 and starts playing the saxophone so as to join her high school band. At 16, she joins the American Youth Jazz Band as a tenor saxophonist and singer and starts on European tour with the band culminating at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Back in the US, Sara studies literature at Harvard University. She joins the Harvard University Jazz Band and meets the tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet who asks her to be a guest singer in his band and strongly advises her to keep going in the same direction. She is awarded the best vocal jazz soloist prize (university standard) by the Downbeat magazine, a main American jazz magazine. After graduating, Sara decides to settle in France. She takes part in numerous European festivals like Marciac, Crest Jazz Vocal, Montlouis, Braga and the JVC Paris Jazz Festival. She has been given the opportunity to sing with such musicians as Alain Jean-Marie, Jacky Terrasson, Manuel Rocheman, Frank Amsallem, Riccardo del Fra, Gilles Naturel and Andrea Michelluti. In November 2000, she sings in Patrice Caratini Jazz Ensemble for his project centring on Cole Porter music and takes part in his record “Anything Goes” / Harmonia Mundi distribution. Following the great tradition of female jazz singers, Sara draws from the lore of standards to give free way to her true and tender nature and to her swing rhythm. In mars 2005, her first album is published (Give Me A Simple Life) under the Dreyfus jazz label. The record is praised both by the press and the public. There follows a tour in France and Europe along with worthwhile performances in the great jazz festivals. After this successful first opus, Sara Lazarus records a new studio album with a new group. Surrounded by Biréli Lagrène Gipsy Project, Sara Lazarus sets her delicate and temperate voice on the 12 standards of It’s All Right With Me (nov. 2006). Exuding a compelling swing rhythm and entrancing ballads, this second album highlights the obvious gift of this young Franco American artist and is set to place her for ever as one of the outstanding jazz voices.