Return to You was created by the same talented team that put together Yours (including Grammy-award nominated bass master John Clayton as producer, and her equally youthful, all-star LA based band, Josh Nelson (p), Erik Kertes (b), and Matt Slocum (d)). Return to You features well-planned arrangements of more contemporary standards by songwriters Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Harry Connick Jr., and Gillian Welch. Some of the best material, however, comes from Gazarek’s acclaimed pianist, Josh Nelson, as he displays his considerable gifts as a composer and lyricist with four new songs.
In choosing the material for Return to You, Gazarek explains, “our live performances are very different from the record. We do a lot more up-tempo and swinging material. But we felt secure in the base we’d created with Yours and wanted to explore some of our other influences. We wanted this album to have a flow, and a sense of purpose, and we feel the listener will be able to pick up on the part of our souls we gave to this album.” Among the album’s stand out tracks are a playful version of Mitchell’s “Carey,” and a haunting rendition of Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” with an obscure final chorus that has rarely been recorded. Gazarek’s knack for spotting first-rate material shines brightest on “Northern Lights,” a ravishing song written by the brilliant tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake – a collaboration so poignant and engaging that no one should be surprised if the tune ends up spearheading a Norah Jones-like breakthrough.
“Return to You” also introduces a number of new textures and sounds, not explored before on the bands prior release. Strings, guitar, horns, and duet vocals are, as Gazarek puts it “a way to get a message across that we couldn’t express as a quartet.” And while the singer could have had her pick of all-star instrumentalists to feature on her sophomore album, Gazarek, who possesses an easy-going charisma that quietly commands attention, refuses to hog the limelight. “In this band we prefer to keep it in the family, and featured some of our most talented friends,” Gazarek says, humbly, always referring to “we” rather than “I” when speaking of her music, highlighting the indispensability of her band mates. “We truly are a family now, and they are an integral part of the way our sound has progressed.” The quartet works together in shaping arrangements, and each piece is the result of extended collaboration. She notes the importance of this collaboration, “we are constantly learning from one another.”
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.
And So It Goes
Sara Gazarek Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A sanctuary safe and strong
To heal the wounds from lovers past
Until a new one comes along
I spoke to you in cautious tones
You answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
And every time I've held a rose
It seems I only felt the thorns
And so it goes, and so it goes
And so will you soon I suppose
But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break
And this is why my eyes are closed
It's just as well for all I've seen
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows
So I would choose to be with you
That's if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows
The lyrics to "And So It Goes" by Sara Gazarek are about love and trust in relationships. The first line, "In every heart there is a room, a sanctuary safe and strong," refers to the idea that we all have a safe space in our hearts that we keep protected from the hurt of past relationships, but also open to new possibilities. The next two lines, "To heal the wounds from lovers past, until a new one comes along," explain that this safe space is where we heal and grow from past hurts until someone new enters our life.
The following lines, "I spoke to you in cautious tones, you answered me with no pretense, and still I feel I said too much, my silence is my self-defense," show the struggle of opening up to a new partner while also being guarded to protect from potential hurt. The singer is afraid of revealing too much and causing the relationship to fail. The next set of lines, "And every time I've held a rose, it seems I only felt the thorns, and so it goes, and so it goes, and so will you soon I suppose," expresses the idea that past pain can taint current experiences and the expectation of future pain.
The singer then expresses her fear of losing her partner due to her guardedness, "But if my silence made you leave, then that would be my worst mistake. So I will share this room with you, and you can have this heart to break." She would rather risk being hurt than risk losing the relationship due to her fear. The last verse, "So I would choose to be with you, that's if the choice were mine to make, but you can make decisions too, and you can have this heart to break," shows the singer's desire to choose her partner, but also acknowledges the other person's agency in the relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
In every heart there is a room
Within each person, there is a safe and secure place that can help heal the pain of previous experiences.
A sanctuary safe and strong
This place within us is a strong and secure sanctuary.
To heal the wounds from lovers past
It is a place where we can heal past emotional wounds, especially those inflicted by past lovers.
Until a new one comes along
This place can help us move on from past hurts until a new relationship comes along.
I spoke to you in cautious tones
I spoke to you carefully, not wanting to give too much away.
You answered me with no pretense
You answered me honestly and without any false pretenses.
And still I feel I said too much
Despite this, I feel like I may have revealed more about myself than I intended.
My silence is my self defense
I use silence as a defense mechanism to protect myself from saying too much and being hurt.
And every time I've held a rose
Every time I've tried to love someone, it seems to hurt me more than it brings joy.
It seems I only felt the thorns
It often feels like the painful aspects of love outweigh the positive experiences.
And so it goes, and so it goes
This is just the way it is, and there's not much we can do about it.
And so will you soon I suppose
I expect that you will soon hurt me too, like others before you.
But if my silence made you leave
If my reluctance to open up caused you to leave, that would be a mistake on my part.
Then that would be my worst mistake
I understand that I need to open up to be able to form a deeper connection with you.
So I will share this room with you
I will let my guard down and share my inner sanctuary with you.
And you can have this heart to break
I trust you and am willing to let you in, even if it means you may hurt me in the future.
And this is why my eyes are closed
I keep my eyes closed to protect myself from seeing the truth and being hurt.
It's just as well for all I've seen
I've seen too much disappointment and heartbreak to keep my eyes open.
And you're the only one who knows
Out of everyone I've let in, you're the only one who knows me truly.
So I would choose to be with you
Given the choice, I would choose to be with you.
That's if the choice were mine to make
However, I understand that I cannot control everything, including whether you choose to be with me.
But you can make decisions too
Ultimately, you have the power to make your own choices and determine the course of our relationship.
And so it goes, and so it goes
Regardless of what happens, life goes on and we must move forward.
And you're the only one who knows
You are the only person who truly knows me and can make decisions about our relationship.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BILLY JOEL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@marjorieoa5066
...an absolute 'dream' 'have been searching fot this version for quite a while.....
Thank you Mr Billy Joel for the wonderful lyrics.......
'Queen' Marjorie-Amelia....
thanks
@tlhmavrick
This has been a great week for an old man. Through Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist that has me figured out to a T, with 30 songs and two hours including opera and classical, it introduced me to both the band Pink Martini and this lovely Sara Gazarek. Folks, it don't get better. Thanks life!
@gwernovsky
Josh Nelson's accompaniment is subtly brilliant.
@masked0warrior
Brilliant performance. From both. Hard to believe.
Even if this gets all the attention in the world, it would still be underrated.
@pacerr34
If there is meaning in music, and a connection we are to draw in our lives from the tones and lyrics, this is a fine example of that. Someone knew of Billy Joel's song, and knew he had scribed it, unknowingly, for Sara Gazarek's voice. If there is a soul to be found in music, start here.
@ellensoomers9496
What a beautiful comment(so recognizable), would love to meet you one day!
@bobhackney3653
Thank you Sara & Josh for sharing your marvelous talents over these past ten years!!!!
@srarp
The piano is heavenly arranged and very well played! Congratulations!
@ProducerGaryPowell
I love the sense of pause in this performance from Sara and Josh. That element alone disarmingly echoes nothing from our current over-stimulating culture and ultimately becomes its own offering to the illusive elixir of life. Thank you both for the moment of peace.
@suzisternable
I agree with Gary. (hello Gary!!) This was lovely from both Sara and Josh. xo
@saraspanjer9837
Absolutely beautiful. The only cover I have ever heard that does this song justice!