Goddess Rising by Sandra Locklear

On the opening cut,Sandra invites us into her private world on a masterful spin on shrink-wrapped urban reality. "A Long Time" beckons us with the lyrics: "Let me take you on a journey / Beware the price is high / For a moment stop the noise / Look inward with your eyes."

Do we dare? With a kind of confident earthy commentary and raw emotion that lets you know she's been there, we are motivated to engage her sacred domain.

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." In a balanced marriage of lyric and melody, she wraps her jazz-like harmonic and melodic sensibilities around tender and forthright feminine observations on life.

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 with Astrud Gilberto. With her many influences and disregard for musical boundaries, Sandra says simply,“I just sing and play what I feel.”

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 information and bookings contact ThunderEye Music at info@sandralocklear.com or www.sandralocklear.com.

REVIEWS

“There is a distinctive and precise narrative line that runs through every song on the CD and will make even casual listeners think twice.”

– Doug Pratt, NY Arts Review

“Your musicianship is amazing … but what moves me most is the words … you are, indeed, on a journey, and you bring us all along.” – Linda Allen, Singer-Songwriter

“Rockin’! A world-class production … energetic, melodic pop-rock with jazz, folk and Latin elements … killer musicianship, great graphics!”

- Neil Skok, Experience Music Project

“Passionate and purposeful, as she reaches into her stylistic toolbag to express the spirit of each song, her strength is in her versatility …”

– Kate Clark, Prof. of Communications, University of Ohio,

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