Search - Sandra Locklear :: Girl Gone Jazz

A FRESH SOUND EMERGES "Music is a language of the human spirit. I can't imagine a world without music and love lifting people up through the power of song!" - Sandra // Seattle based singer-pianist-songwriter Sandra Locklear and her quartet return to her jazz roots to present "Girl Gone Jazz", an elegant collection of standards and original songs shimmering with sensuality and the voice of experience. Sandra pairs a rich alto voice with jazz piano stylings refined over many years of playing venues in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, Canada and Europe. // GIRL GONE JAZZ // Executive producer Doug Hughes spotted Sandra in a Seattle dinner club in the fall of 2006 and paved the way for her latest album. 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 // Sandra effortlessly crosses over from jazz to blues, to folk to country, to pop and to rock with a technical proficiency honed since she took her first piano lesson at age 7. 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. // SANDRA AS PERFORMER // The unconventional road Sandra 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. // EARLY INFLUENCES AND FORMAL STUDIES // Sandra began jazz and classical keyboard training with her lifelong music mentor. The music of Ellington, Jobim and Bach became standard fare for her weekly lessons. By middle school, Sandra was performing at parties, weddings, fashion shows and church. In high school, she 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 Sandra to enroll in a college music program back in Washington State. Unable to resist the lure of the road, she soon accepted an offer to tour with a dance quartet. 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. // CONTACT INFORMATION // Ms. Locklear is available for bookings either as a solo singer-pianist or with her jazz group. For information contact ThunderEye Music at www.sandralocklear.com.