Girl Gone Jazz by Sandra Locklear

On "Girl Gone Jazz" Sandra returns to her jazz roots to present an elegant collection of standards and three more of her original songs that dance and shine from track to track.

From playfully feisty to intensely passionate, listeners are treated to clean arrangements that allow Sandra to give standards like “My Baby Just Cares for Me, ” “Here’s To Life” and “Sentimental Journey” a fresh perspective.

Her best, however, may be unleashed by the ballad “House of The Rising Sun.” With stunning emotion pouring through her voice, Sandra does a breathtaking version of this folk song about the ruination of a young woman who feels cut off from love and contact with others who can never really understand her life.

SANDRA AS COMPOSER AND PERFORMER

Writing intuitively from a woman’s perspective, Sandra says of her composing, “... my style can change from song to song because I try to be true to what’s being conveyed. You can't do that if you're stuck in a box." As a songwriter she wraps her jazz like harmonic and melodic sensibilities around tender and forthright feminine observations on life.

In her typical fashion, Sandra’s original music on "Girl Gone Jazz" is a balanced marriage of lyric and melody. “In Your Dreams” is a mystical exploration of the role of dreaming in our lives and ventures into the Latin-jazz realm, while her sensual ballad “Rainy Afternoon” suggests an irresistible eroticism. “Let Me Love You” is a swinging foray into progressive jazz but with controlled vitality.

The unconventional road this disciplined artist has traveled only makes her music more resonant with the times. Juggling family responsibilities with the demands of a musical career, as a single parent she often took her son on the road and financed her own college education. To satisfy her soul, Sandra went to West Africa to study the roots of jazz with the internationally acclaimed Sierra Leone National Dance Troupe, who in 2007 are still housed in a Guinean refugee camp seeking U.S. asylum. Her dynamic path includes overseas, Canadian and stateside tours.

EARLY INFLUENCES

Sandra began jazz and classical keyboard training with her lifelong music mentor, Hollywood B-3 jazz organist Margo Beecher. The music of Ellington, Jobim and Bach became standard fare for Sandra’s weekly lessons as her teacher passed on her repertoire. By middle school, Sandra was performing at parties, weddings, fashion shows and church, where she secretly got a kick out of playing show tunes like “The Impossible Dream.” In high school, Sandra won Yamaha’s Young Artists regional organ in Seattle and was sent on to compete in Carmel, CA.

Afterward, a year studying jazz organ in San Francisco inspired her to enroll in a college music program back in Washington State. Bored and unable to resist the lure of the road, she soon accepted an offer to tour with a dance quartet. “And that’s when I really started singing. The band leader stuck a microphone in front of my mouth and ordered me to sing!” she recounts.

FORMAL STUDIES

Between performing with two bands and then as a solo artist regionally and overseas, Sandra continued jazz studies at Cornish College of the Arts and the University of Washington. She eventually earned two music degrees Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude in music composition and education.

At Cornish College of the Arts, notables such as NPR jazz producer Jim Wilke, bassist Gary Peacock, horn players Julian Priester and Jim Knapp, pianists Art Lande, Peggy Stern and pianist-singer Joni Metcalf, all influenced Sandra’s distinctive sound and understanding of the art of jazz.

At the University of Washington, clarinetist William O. Smith guided her composition efforts while pianist Marc Seales continued to shape her playing. Along the way, Sandra studied with pianist Jerome Gray and upon hearing that singers Judy Collins and Anne and Nancy Wilson’s vocal coach lived in Seattle, sought training from George Peckham.

INSPIRATIONS

Sandra spent her formative years listening to the British rock invasion and protest music of the 60’s while learning jazz and Latin standards from her mentor. The jazz of Chick Corea, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Jimmy Smith all soothed her soul. She listened avidly to singers, pianists and songwriters Shirley Horne, Nina Simone, Laura Nyro, Carol King, Blossom Dearie, Nat Cole, Sarah Vaughn, Nancy Wilson and the Brazilian recordings of Antonio Jobim and Astrud Gilberto. With her many influences and disregard for musical boundaries, Sandra is one of those musicians who defiantly eludes classification. “I just sing and play what I feel,” she says simply.

In October 2005, Sandra paid homage to Nina Simone, one of her favorite inspirations, in two special shows held at the Oak Room Cabaret in Seattle. Joining her on bass was Portland’s Ken Anoe, an on-call bassist for Shirley Horne in Washington, D.C. The duo came together in an effortless synergy that bolstered Sandra’s fluid interpretations of Simone’s work.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Ms. Locklear is available for bookings either as a solo singer-pianist or with her jazz group Inner Circle. For bookings or information contact ThunderEye Music at info@sandralocklear.com or www.sandralocklear.com.

REVIEWS

“Sandra Locklear sings and plays with a shimmering sensuality and the voice of experience.”

– Maggie Larrick, Capitol Hill Times

“The songs are all original scenes of her life, and I can tell that she has populated each song with her heart.” - Jon Sorenson, Pell Mell Band

“I felt like I was in her music, floating with the sound … it entered my soul.” - Mary Houghtaling, R.N.

“Sandra brings class, spirit, and artistic inspiration .... “ - David Syre, CEO

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