Sandra Booker Sings Sarah Vaughan at The Broad Stage, Today

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica presents Sandra Booker in a program titled Forever Sassy: The Divine Music of Sarah Vaughan, a love letter to one of the great ladies of swing, scat and song, on Friday, October 5 at 8:00pm.

Forever Sassy is the second evening of blackbox @ the edye, which transforms The Edye into a club featuring up-and-coming jazz and blues artists. The series is curated and hosted by The Reverend Shawn Amos; he and his house band perform at select shows during the season as well. The program benefits Jazz Musicians Against Cancer.

Sandra Booker is regarded as one of the best voices on the modern jazz scene. Highly respected for her virtuosic scat ability, impeccable timing, crystalline tone and irrepressible musicality, she continues to push the musical envelope combines aspects of different genres to create new styles of music such as urban country, French neo-soul or contemporary gospel/hip-hop. Her musical curiosity and razor-sharp musical intuition are ever present in her interpretations of standards and original compositions.

She has performed with Lalo Schifrin, Wynton Marsalis & The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Billy Higgins, the WDR Big Band, Ernie Watts, Patrice Rushen, Jeff Goldblum, Steve Tyrell, Tamir Hendelman and Karen Briggs. Her voice has appeared in ads for major radio and television commercials including Coca-Cola and Ralph Lauren.

The follow-up to her 1994 debut CD, Very Early, was a musical love letter commemorating marriage equality. When Love Happens: The Loving Day Concert was released in June 2010 celebrating Loving Day and the legalization of interracial marriage in all 50 states of America. Her forthcoming release ReUnion: Live at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music is scheduled for release in summer 2019.

Booker is a cancer survivor. After being diagnosed in 2016, and now in remission, she became committed to helping others battling this disease and she started Jazz Musicians Against Cancer. The program raises money through live performance to bring live music to cancer patients, their family and friends and caretakers. The fund pays the musicians so the service is at no cost to the hosting cancer center. A strong believer that music is medicine, Booker is devoted to making music and the arts a significant part of the treatment of cancer.

Jazz drummer Billy Higgins called her his " ...favorite singer." Bassist Andy Simpkins referred to her as "Little Sass." Composer/arranger Lalo Schifrin calls her, "...one of my favorite singers. The same quality as Ella or Sarah" but perhaps legendary jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell stated it best, "Some people got it, and some people don't and Sandra Booker has got it all!" Experience her magic for yourself!

Booker is followed in the blackbox@the edye series by Billy Valentine (November 2), Amy Keys (December 7), a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance (February 1), Mudbug Brass Band (March 1), Jennifer Keith Quintet (April 5), and Gabrielito (May 3).

About blackbox @ the edye at The Broad Stage | Curated and hosted by The Reverend Shawn Amos
New York's Cotton Club and Village Vanguard, Chicago's Kingston Mines, Kansas City's Reno Club, Los Angeles's Dunbar Hotel - these were more than just nightclubs. The Great American 20th century jazz and blues scene was a crucial gathering place where stories were shared and traditions handed down. In these sanctuaries, blacks, whites, rich and poor crossed lines to congregate and hold hands. In the early 1960s, curator Shawn Amos' mother, Shirl-ee May, sang jazz and blues at Club Harlem - a storied Atlantic City night spot home to a generation of African American performers. Throughout the early-mid 20th century, jazz and blues clubs like Club Harlem were the epicenter of urban American nightlife. Shawn Amos writes, "No doubt, people, souls were being saved. It's in the American rhythm and the rhyme. Jazz and blues is our music. It belongs to us. This music is ours. Jazz and blues is the tragedy and triumph of our shared history. It's the continual battle of our current circumstance. Jazz and blues cuts the shortest path from our heart to our head and up to a higher power. These deep grooves hold our fears, hopes and darkest demons. In this trying 21st century, jazz and blues reminds us of our interdependence. We let this music open our hearts."

Information, subscription packages and tickets priced $20 are available at thebroadstage.org or by calling 310.434.3200, or visiting at the box office at 1310 11thSt. Santa Monica CA 90401 beginning three hours prior to performance.

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