Sara Gazarek and Sachal Vasandani are two of today’s brightest young jazz artists, and they will combine their formidable talents to open the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s 2010-2011 Jazz Series September 24th and 25th in Samueli Theater. Each are creating jazz music that moves today’s generation.

Singer/songwriter Gazarek is known for seamlessly mingling her uniquely intimate style with the musical and improvisational elements of jazz while Vasandani is simply one of the hottest jazz vocalists/songwriters/bandleaders working today. Recently, Vasandani won the 2010 DownBeat Critics Poll for best Male Jazz Vocals in the Rising Star category. And Gazarek was voted one of the Best New Artists in the JazzTimes Readers Poll.

Sara Gazarek

(Listen To Interview)

Gazarek is a talented young artist on an amazing musical journey who has emerged as a strikingly original artist with limitless potential. In a follow up to Yours, Gazarek’s widely hailed 2005 debut focusing on American Songbook standards, she delivers a sensational sophomore effort with Return to You. Born and raised in Seattle, Gazarek grew up without much exposure to jazz.

Her preliminary jazz education started during high school and as a senior, she was awarded the first-ever Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation Outstanding Jazz Vocalist Award at the Essentially Ellington Festival in New York City.

She studied at the prestigious Thornton School of Music at USC. In 2003, Gazarek was awarded the 2003 Downbeat Student Music Award for Best Collegiate Vocalist. Shortly after the publication hit the press, she 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 Barry Manilow, Allyson, and Schuur as a Stiletto Entertainment (management) client and was soon being booked by the industry giant, William Morris.

John Clayton, a mentor and teacher at USC, produced her first album, and insisted she develop the arrangements herself with the band she’d been performing with. She found musical soulmates 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), No. 1 on the iTunes Top Jazz Album Downloads (Germany, France), No. 5 on the Jazz Week Radio Charts, No. 4 on the HMV (Japan) chart. In addition, Gazarek was voted the No. 3 Best New Artist in the JazzTimes Readers Poll. saragazarek.com

Sachal Vasandani

Vasandani’s sophomore CD, We Move, on Mack Avenue Records was produced with a team of top-flight studio sages (John Clayton, Doug Wamble and Al Pryor). We Move finds Vasandani (who also serves as a producer) maturing as songwriter, tune stylist and bandleader in the wake of his breakout 2007 debut, Eyes Wide Open (Mack Avenue Records).

Vasandani was born in Chicago and grew up in a household where all kinds of music was appreciated. In pursuing his love for music at the University of Michigan, he began to be recognized as a talent of the future, most notably by DownBeat magazine, which awarded him Collegiate Jazz Vocalist of the Year in 1999.

After moving to New York, Vasandani quickly became a part of the jazz scene, and made a musical home in storied clubs like the Zinc Bar. And after the release of his breakthrough debut recording, he toured extensively supporting Eyes Wide Open. He opened for such disparate artists from jazz trumpeter Chris Botti to pop singer Joan Osborne.

On We Move, Vasandani has ample support from his trio comprised of pianist Jeb Patton, bassist David Wong and drummer Quincy Davis. The band has been a group since 2001. Vasandani notes that in addition to their instrumental support, two band members also contributed songs, including Patton’s “Horizons” that is paired with the romping, upswing “Once in a While” (by Michael Edwards and Bud Green) and Davis composed the music on “Ring Road (Back to You).”

In addition to his originals, Vasandani puts his spin on songs from the jazz songbook and canon,including Rodgers & Hart’s “There’s a Small Hotel” with a Vasandani intro (“Escape”) that gives the standard a fresh feel. Also on the CD are “No More,” the Hubert Laws/Jon Hendricks ‘70s song; the Bloom/Kohler tune “Don’t Worry About Me;” “Poinciana;” “There Are Such Things” (by Stanley Adams, Abel Baer, George W. Meyer); “The River of St. Marie” by Joe Williams; and Thelonious Monk’s “Monk’s Dream” (with lyrics by Hendricks). sachalvasandani.com

Performance Info:

Date: September 24th-25th, 2010 (7:30 pm, 9:30 pm)

Location: Orange County Performing Arts Center (Samueli Theater)

Tickets: $49 – will go on sale August 22nd. They will be available online at OCPAC.org, at the Center’s Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling 714.556.2787. For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 15 or more, call the Group Services office at 714.755.0236. The TTY number is 714.556.2746.

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