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.
Yours
Sara Gazarek Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You shove
You do all that you can
And time, it slips away
Everything will keep it some place
And all that I say
When the distance
You know I'll always think about you
Even when I'm
Not all there
The love I have is yours.
Baby it's yours
You sit
You wait
You do all you can
And life, it fades away
But don't forget
The soul that you have
And all that we say
Dark days come and
Bright ones go out
But you will always make it better
People see it
And I feel it
The love I have, baby it's yours
It's yours
Forget the things that people say to try to hurt you
Forget their fears that overtake them in their lives
Forget this world with all it's petty disappointments
but don't forget that your the lovely person I love so.
Dark days come in
Bright ones go out
But you will always make it better
People see it
And I feel it
The love I have is yours.
It's yours.
Ooh.......
The lyrics of Sara Gazarek's song "Yours" talk about the undying love between two individuals who are separated by distance and circumstances but remain connected through their emotions. The song begins with the struggles faced by the two individuals as they try to keep their love intact while dealing with the challenges that life throws at them. Time is slipping away as they push and shove, but they know that the love they have for each other is worth fighting for. The distance between them may keep them apart physically, but the singer assures her lover that she will always think about him, even when she's not there.
Line by Line Meaning
You push,
You exert your effort with force and strength,
You shove
You push with an aggressive force to move things in a certain direction,
You do all that you can
You put in your maximum effort and capability,
And time, it slips away
Time passes quickly and is hard to catch,
Everything will keep it some place
Every action has a consequence that will be kept in memory somewhere,
And all that I say
My words are kept in mind with the rest of the actions and consequences,
When the distance
When there is physical or emotional space between us,
Keeps us distant.
Our connection is strained because of the distance between us,
You know I'll always think about you
You can be certain that I will always have you in my thoughts,
Even when I'm
Even during times when I am not,
Not all there
Not completely present in the moment or mentally absent,
The love I have is yours.
The love that I feel is solely dedicated to you,
Baby it's yours
It belongs to you and only you,
You sit
You remain still and wait patiently,
You wait
You anticipate something to happen with patience and optimism,
You do all you can
You put in your best effort and utilize all resources to accomplish something,
And life, it fades away
Life is fleeting and eventually comes to an end,
But don't forget
Remember always,
The soul that you have
Your inner being and character,
And all that we say
Our words and actions that are shared between us,
Dark days come and
Difficult times may arise and,
Bright ones go out
Moments of joy and happiness may also pass,
But you will always make it better
You have the strength to improve any situation and overcome hardships,
People see it
Others can recognize your resilience and positivity,
And I feel it
I am personally moved by your strength and fortitude,
The love I have, baby it's yours
The love that I have is completely dedicated to you,
It's yours
You have ownership over and are deserving of the love that I have to offer.
Contributed by Eva W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.