Sara Lazarus, born April 1, in Wilmington

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

, Delaware, United States of America is an American jazz singer

Vocal jazz

Jazz singing can be defined by the instrumental approach to the voice, where the singer can match the instruments in their stylistic approach to the lyrics, improvised or otherwise, or through scat singing; that is, the use of nonsensical meaningless non-morphemic syllables to imitate the sound of...

, who mainly performs in France.

Biography

Sara Lazarus was born in Wilmington, Delaware, which is also the hometown of Clifford Brown

Clifford Brown

Clifford Brown , aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated American jazz trumpeter. He died aged 25, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings...

. She began her career in musical theatre, and learned jazz standards early on in life. At 8 years old, she began to take piano lessons. She then learned tenor saxophone

Tenor saxophone

The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...

 and played in an orchestra in her elementary school. At 16 years old, she became a member of the American Youth Jazz Band as a tenor saxophonist and singer. It was with this group that she completed her first European tour which ended at the Montreux Jazz Festival

Montreux Jazz Festival

The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...

.

She began her college studies in English literature

English literature

English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....

 at Harvard and played in the university's orchestra. Illinois Jacquet

Illinois Jacquet

Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....

, who she met while a student, encouraged her to further develop her voice by performing as a singer. Down Beat

Down Beat

Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...

, one of the principal American magazines regarding jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, called her, "the best jazz soloist at the University level."

After her studies, Sara Lazarus took up residence in France and participated in a number of European festivals: Jazz in Marciac, Crest Jazz Vocal, the festival of Montlouis-sur-Loire

Montlouis-sur-Loire

Montlouis-sur-Loire is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Ancient name was Laudiacum mons under Roman Province Lugdunensis III. -See also:*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department...

, Braga

Braga

Braga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...

 Jazz, and the JVC Jazz Festival Paris. She worked with such musicians as Alain Jean-Marie, Jacky Terrasson

Jacky Terrasson

Jacques-Laurent Terrasson is a jazz pianist better known as Jacky Terrasson.He was born in Germany, but his mother was American and his father French. He studied at the Berklee College of Music before playing in Chicago and New York City clubs. He gained increased attention on winning the 1993...

, Manuel Rocheman, Franck Amsallem

Franck Amsallem

Franck Amsallem is a French jazz pianist, composer and also singer. He was born in 1961 in Oran, then in French Algeria, but grew up in Nice, France.He started learning the piano at age 7 and also took up the classical saxophone at the local conservatory...

, Dominique Lemerle, Riccardo Del Fra, Gilles Naturel, Steve Williams

Steve Williams (jazz drummer)

Stephen Edward Williams is an American jazz drummer.For twenty-five years he has collaborated with jazz pianist and singer Shirley Horn.-From Washington DC:...

 and Andrea Michelutti.

In 1994, she was able to carry the first prize at the International Festival of Thelonious Monk, where the jury included Jon Hendricks

Jon Hendricks

Jon Hendricks is an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is considered one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists...

, Shirley Horn

Shirley Horn

Shirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist.-Biography:Encouraged by her grandmother, who was an amateur organist, Horn began piano lessons at the age of four. At twelve, Horn studied piano and composition at Howard University and later majored from there in classical music...

, Cleo Laine

Cleo Laine

Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE is a jazz singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and vocal range...

, Abbey Lincoln

Abbey Lincoln

Anna Marie Wooldridge , better known by her stage name Abbey Lincoln, was a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. Lincoln was unusual in that she wrote and performed her own compositions, expanding the expectations of jazz audiences.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was one of many...

, Dianne Reeves

Dianne Reeves

Dianne Reeves is an American jazz singer. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.-Early life:Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan to a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke, is a...

 and Jimmy Scott

Jimmy Scott

Jimmy Scott , aka "Little" Jimmy Scott, is an American jazz vocalist famous for his unusually high contralto voice which is due to Kallmann's syndrome, a very rare genetic condition. The condition stunted his growth at four feet eleven inches until, at age 37, he grew another 8 inches to the...

. At the awards ceremony, Sara had the opportunity to participate in a jam session

Jam session

Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...

 with Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock

Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...

, Ron Carter

Ron Carter

Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...

, Grady Tate

Grady Tate

Grady Tate, , is a hard bop and soul-jazz drummer and singer.He has played with Lional Hampton, Jimmy Smith, Grant Green, Lena Horne, Astrud Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Blossom Dearie, Chris Connor, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Cal Tjader, Peggy Lee, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Count...

, Kenny Burrell

Kenny Burrell

Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...

, Jimmy Heath

Jimmy Heath

James Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...

 and Clark Terry

Clark Terry

Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...

.

In November 2000 she participated in a project of Patrice Caratini and his Jazz Ensemble, which focused on the music of Cole Porter

Cole Porter

Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

 and specifically to his album Anything Goes.

In March 2005, her second album "Give me a Simple Life" featuring Bireli Lagrene

Biréli Lagrène

Biréli Lagrène is a French guitarist and bassist. He came to prominence in the 1980s for his Django Reinhardt-influenced style on the classical guitar, as well as for being a jazz fusion virtuoso on the electric guitar...

, was released and she gained notoriety following tours in France and throughout the European continent, notably participating in various jazz festivals.

Sara Lazarus is said to have a "sober and delicate" voice, noted for its "spontaneity, its tenderness, and sense of communication."

Discography

• Anything goes, 2000, with the Jazz Ensemble of Patrice Caratini (Harmonia Mundi
  Harmonia Mundi
  Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
  
  ).
• Give Me A Simple Life, 2005 (Dreyfus Jazz).
• It’s All Right With Me, 2006, with the Gypsy Project of Biréli Lagrène
  Biréli Lagrène
  Biréli Lagrène is a French guitarist and bassist. He came to prominence in the 1980s for his Django Reinhardt-influenced style on the classical guitar, as well as for being a jazz fusion virtuoso on the electric guitar...
  
  .

External links

• Sara Lazarus' Official Website
• Christian Pégand: biography.