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.
You Are My Sunshine
Sara Gazarek Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away
As I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms.
When I awoke, dear,
I was mistaken
And I hung my head and cried.
You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
I'll always love you
And make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me
To love another
You'll regret it all some day;
You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
You told me once, dear
You really loved me
And no one else could come between
But now you've left me
And love another
You have shattered all my dreams;
You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
Louisiana my Louisiana
the place where I was borne.
White fields of cotton
-- green fields clover,
the best fishing
and long tall corn;
You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
Crawfish gumbo and jambalaya
the biggest shrimp and sugar cane,
the finest oysters
and sweet strawberries
from Toledo Bend to New Orleans;
You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
The song "You Are My Sunshine" by Sara Gazarek is a beautiful love ballad expressing how much the singer's love means to them. The lyrics are simple and poignant, with the singer expressing their love for their significant other. The first verse talks about how the singer's love is the only thing that can make them happy when everything else seems to be going wrong in life, and they feel like their love is bright sunshine on a cloudy day. The chorus repeats this sentiment, with the singer saying that their love will never know how much they love them, and they don't want them to take away their sunshine.
The second verse talks about how the singer dreamed of holding their love in their arms, but when they woke up, it was just a dream. This shows how much the singer longs for their significant other and how much they mean to them. The third verse expresses the singer's desire to keep their love happy and make them happy, but also warns that if they leave them for someone else, they will regret it. The final verse talks about the singer's love for Louisiana and the various things they associate with the state, such as cotton fields, fishing, and food. It shows that the singer's love is deeply ingrained in their roots and is a part of their identity.
Overall, "You Are My Sunshine" is a beautiful love song that captures the essence of a deep, unbreakable bond between two people. The lyrics are simple yet powerful, and the melody is beautiful, making it a beloved classic. The song has been covered by many artists over the years, and it remains a popular choice for weddings and other romantic occasions.
Line by Line Meaning
You Are My Sunshine
This song is dedicated to the person the singer loves more than anything. They provide sunshine to the singer's life.
My only sunshine.
The person the singer loves is the only one who illuminates their life and brings happiness into it.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
Even when everything is sad and gloomy, the person the singer loves brings them joy and makes their day brighter.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
The singer loves the person so much that it is impossible to quantify their love or express it fully in words.
Please don't take my sunshine away
The singer begs the person not to ever leave them because they are the only source of happiness and light.
The other nite, dear,
As I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms.
The singer had a dream where they were holding the person they love, and it felt so real that it brought happiness to them.
When I awoke, dear,
I was mistaken
And I hung my head and cried.
When the singer woke up, they realized it was just a dream and became sad and disheartened, and all they could do was cry.
I'll always love you
And make you happy
If you will only say the same
The singer promises to love and keep the person happy as long as they reciprocate the same feelings and affection.
But if you leave me
To love another
You'll regret it all some day;
The singer warns the person that if they choose to leave for someone else, they will regret it someday and realize what they lost.
You told me once, dear
You really loved me
And no one else could come between
The person had promised the singer that they loved them and that no one could come in between them, but that promise was broken.
But now you've left me
And love another
You have shattered all my dreams;
The person has left the singer for someone else, and it has shattered all of the singer's dreams and hopes for their future together.
Louisiana my Louisiana
the place where I was borne.
The singer is reminiscing about their homeland, Louisiana, where they were born and raised.
White fields of cotton
-- green fields clover,
the best fishing
and long tall corn;
The singer is describing the beauty of their homeland, with fields of cotton, green clover, abundant fishing, and tall corn.
Crawfish gumbo and jambalaya
the biggest shrimp and sugar cane,
the finest oysters
and sweet strawberries
from Toledo Bend to New Orleans;
The singer is listing some of the local delicacies from Louisiana, including gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp, oysters, and strawberries, from Toledo Bend to New Orleans.
You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
The chorus repeats throughout the song, emphasizing how important the person is to the singer and how they bring light into their life.
Contributed by Sadie G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.