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Sara Leib

Nearly all of the dozen songs on Sara Leib’s remarkable Secret Love from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “It Might As Well Be Spring” to Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love" qualify as standards, yet the Los Angeles jazz singer does quite un-standard, wonderfully refreshing things with every number she wraps her glowing, frequently cheery mezzo- soprano tones around. While transforming the tunes with amazing new twists of time and tempo, Leib uncannily cuts to the emotional cores of the composers’ original lyrics.

Leib “reinterprets the template of the standard into something that seasoned jazz enthusiasts and crossover fans from the Norah Jones camp will both be blown away by,” Jamie Rattner wrote in Performer magazine of the singer’s acclaimed self-released debut CD, 2003’s It’s Not the Moon.

She takes her unique way with American popular songs steps further on the highly anticipated Secret Love on Origin Records. Produced by Matt Pierson, whose extensive credits include work with Brad Mehldau, Jane Monheit, and Joshua Redman, the album was recorded in New York City with some of the most consistently creative and in-demand young instrumentalists in the world of jazz: alternating pianists Taylor Eigsti and Aaron Parks, bassist Harish Raghavan, and drummer Eric Harland. Dayna Stephens blows tenor saxophone on four selections, and Richie Barshay adds hand percussion, including tablas, to five.

Leib’s friend Eigsti was the catalyst for bringing Pierson and the others to the project. “I gave them a wish list of my dream band and they made good,” she says of the pianist and the producer. “It was important to me to pick a rhythm section that was happy playing together and that had worked together before and were really comfortable with one another. I was really lucky that they all said yes.”

Many of the songs on Secret Love are rendered in uncommon time signatures. “It Might As Well Be Spring” is performed in 11/4 or, as Leib explains it, “a measure of six and then a measure of five.” Leib ends the tune most cleverly with a quote from Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf’s “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most.” Cole Porter’s “Night and Day,” she says, switches from 6/4 to 5/4 every eight bars. Porter’s “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” can be counted in three or in six. “So This Is Love” was written by Al Hoffman was a waltz for the Disney classic Cinderella, but Leib and company take it as a samba.

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106
Album Review

Sara Leib: Secret Love

Read "Secret Love" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Almost 10 years elapsed between West Coast singer Sara Leib's It's Not The Moon (Self Produced, 2003) and Secret Love. Leib kept occupied with teaching, most currently at Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music in Pasadena, where she gives private lessons and teaches classes on improvisation (something, as a scatter, she knows well) and chart writing. On Secret Love, Leib displays an potent and unique arranging ability, one that recasts standards into a very edgy adult contemporary paradigm. These ...

50
Album Review

Sara Leib: Secret Love

Read "Secret Love" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


A cursory glance at the track listing for Secret Love may paint it as another simple celebration of standards, but that's not the case. Singer Sara Leib takes the road less traveled by delivering ear-opening, metrically twisted, stylistically broad interpretations of oft-covered classics with a to-die-for cast of cutting-edge collaborators. Leib, who holds degrees in music from the New England Conservatory and the University of Southern California, first entered the fray with It's Not The Moon (Self ...

211
Extended Analysis

Sara Leib: It

Read "Sara Leib: It" reviewed by AAJ Staff


On her debut recording Sara Leib shows great promise and talent. A straight-ahead jazz vocalist in a Dominique Eade vein combined with a Madeline Eastman edge, she fashions her own interpretations on a collection of selections right out of the jazz vocal songbook, with a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

Starting out this swinging set is a cool yet angular rendition of the Cole Porter classic “All Of You." Scatting is not for the faint of heart, and ...

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36

Recording

Los Angeles-Based Jazz Vocalist Sara Leib Releases 2nd CD, "Secret Love," March 20

Los Angeles-Based Jazz Vocalist Sara Leib Releases 2nd CD, "Secret Love," March 20

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

At its core, jazz is a music of personal expression, a concept that singer Sara Leib clearly embraces. On her new CD, Secret Love—due out March 20 on OA2 Records—the glowing-toned mezzo-soprano gives an array of classic and contemporary material fresh, distinctive sounds. One way that Los Angeles native Leib gives a new slant to her repertoire is to render some tunes in unusual time signatures. Cole Porter's “Night and Day" switches from 6/4 to 5/4 every eight bars, while ...

103

Performance / Tour

Fresh New Voices @ Catalina's | Sara Leib and Julie Hardy

Fresh New Voices @ Catalina's | Sara Leib and Julie Hardy

Source: All About Jazz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 5, 2005 Fresh New Voices SARA LEIB & JULIE HARDY Featuring Randy Ingram, Darek Oles & Joe LaBarbera On Monday, September 19th (sets at 8:30 & 10:30pm) Catalina Bar and Grill will showcase two up and coming vocal jazz talents; Sara Leib, who has just returned to LA from a three week South African tour and Julie Hardy, Fresh Sound New Talent recording artist from New York City. Both artists will share two sets featuring their ...

48

Recording

Jazz Vocalist Sara Leib releases CD

Jazz Vocalist Sara Leib releases CD

Source: All About Jazz


"There's mature warmth not usually found among the youth in jazz today that's deeply woven into the vocals of Sara Leib" - The New Face Of Jazz, by Cicily Janus. Billboard Books, 2010

"Colorful and excitingly refreshing." - Zach Behrens, The LAist.com

"one of those touch of genius phenomenons...reinterprets the template of the standard into something that seasoned jazz enthusiasts and crossover fans from the Norah Jones camp will both be blown away by..." - Jamie Rattner, Performer Magazine

"She's got a beautiful, natural voice, and she improvises with aplomb, scatting with ease." - Steve Greenlee, Boston Globe

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Primary Instrument

Vocals

Location

Los Angeles

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Credentials/Background

Leib has taught at the University of Southern California, the Musicians Institute, and the Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music. Sara has given workshops worldwide, and runs the website Http://www.SingingTV.com.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Sara has given workshops worldwide, and runs the website Http://www.SingingTV.com. Workshops/Clinics can be tailored to an institution's needs, or may choose from the following: Singing Healthfully – (All levels, especially beginners) How to take a proper singing breath. Breath support and breath control. Study and exercise habits. Vocal warmups for specific voice techniques/problems. Where to take a breath. Vocal Riffs/Runs/Melismata (Intermediate and Advanced students) The blues scale and its permutations. Overuse of riffs–when is riffing appropriate and when is it overkill? Learning some typical riffs/runs. Transcribing riffs/runs. How to practice singing riffs/runs accurately. How to create your own riffs and runs. Singing Necessities for the Working Songwriter How to take a singing breath What *IS* the diaphragm and how it helps with breath control. How to find the “sweet spot” in your voice and expand it. How to find the best key for your song. Developing a strong “mix” range, and blending the chest and head voices. Jazz Improvisation (Beginning and intermediate students) 3rds and 7ths, writing guide tone lines. Singing guide tone lines Recognizing and following basic jazz forms. The 11-7 V7 I Maj7 chord progression. Creating and singing musical motifs and rhythmic patterns. “Trading” jazz phrases. Jazz Improvisation (Intermediate and Advanced students) 7th chords. Learning extensions and appropriate use of them. Blues, rhythm changes, and following jazz forms. 11-7 V7 I maj7 licks. Creating musical motifs. “Trading” jazz phrases. How To Lead a Jazz Band (Beginning and Intermediate students) Swing feel – what is it, how to feel it, execute it, and write it. Writing charts. Introductions and cutoffs. How to count off a song. Blues, rhythm changes, and following jazz forms

Music

The Way You Behold

From: Secret Love
By Sara Leib

Videos

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