JazzTimes is honored to present the premiere of the video for “Vanity” by singer Sara Gazarek. Written by Guy Wood (music), Jack Manus and Bernard Bierman (lyrics) and performed most famously in the past by Sarah Vaughan, the song is the title track of Gazarek’s upcoming four-track EP, which will be released this Friday (Oct. 21).
Besides Gazarek, the recording features trombonist Alan Ferber (who also composed the arrangement and orchestration), guitarist Brad Allen Williams, trumpeter Michael Stever, alto saxophonist Lenard Simpson, tenor saxophonist Daniel Rotem, baritone saxophonist Adam Schroeder, pianist Miro Sprague, bassist Alex Boneham, and drummer Christian Euman.
Gazarek, who received two Grammy Award nominations in 2020 for her album Thirsty Ghost, says of Vanity as a whole: “This four-song collection is very special to me. It’s meant to serve as a postcard from the road I’ve been traveling for the past few years – one of growth, introspection, and exploration. I feel like I’ve changed more in this period than any other time in my life, and I can’t wait to share the sounds and spirit of this very intentional yet open set of songs. I pushed myself to explore deeper and more sustainable tools in my instrument through weekly private voice lessons with master musician/vocalist and Somatic Voice Work instructor Theo Bleckmann. I had the time and space to explore these investigations, musically and vocally, and this has fundamentally and forever changed my perspective and approach as a jazz musician and a singer. Vanity is a reflection of the shifts I’ve experienced (musically and otherwise) through the pandemic.”
In addition to the title song, Vanity includes recordings of Fiona Apple’s “Extraordinary Machine” (arranged by Geoffrey Keezer), Richard Rodgers’ “Something Good” (arranged by Stu Mindeman), and Gazarek’s first original composition, “We Have Not Long Set to Love,” based on a poem by Tennessee Williams.
For more information on Sara Gazarek, visit her website.
