Blossom & Bee - Musique

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. read less