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Sarah McKenzie

After enchanting jazz fans with her 2015 Impulse! Records debut, We Could Be Lovers, Sarah McKenzie returns with the sensational follow-up, Paris in the Rain. Like before, the 28-year-old, Melbourne, Australia-born singer, pianist, composer and arranger teams with the acclaimed Brian Bacchus – who has produced classics for such stars as Norah Jones, Lizz Wright, and Gregory Porter – to deliver a gripping program of jazz classics and originals – all of which present McKenzie’s incredible musicality in glamorous glory.

McKenzie moved to Paris last year after graduating from Boston’s Berklee College of Music. The album’s snazzy title track is her love letter to the City of Light. The fanciful lyrics find her alternating effortlessly between French and English as she rejoices in the city’s opulent offerings. “I’m really in love with Paris. It’s a really amazing city. It’s so beautiful with so much to offer in terms of culture, food and style. I wanted to write a song that captures all of Paris’ beauty, magic and spirit.”

Overall, the album’s theme centers on McKenzie’s journey from Australia to America and her trips throughout Europe as a performing artist. She exemplifies the loose theme with the telling choices of songs such as Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh’s “When in Rome,” (her visit to Italy) Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Triste” (for her time in Portugal),” Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar’s “Tea for Two” (for London).” The travelogue theme rings the loudest on album’s closer, “Road Chops,” an ebullient original that evokes the brisling giddiness of exploring the globe; the instrumental also showcases McKenzie command at the piano.

McKenzie praises Paris in the Rain as a more “stylish” album. “It shows greater depth of my arrangements,” she says before explaining that she’s fashioning her own vision within the jazz tradition. For this album, that meant exploring more textures with which she does gorgeously by expanding the sonic palette. The album boasts a superlative lineup that includes vibraphonist Warren Wolf (who played on We Could Be Lovers), guitarist Mark Whitfield, bassist Reuben Rogers, drummer Gregory Hutchinson, trumpeter Dominick Farinacci, flutist Jamie Baum, alto saxophonist Scott Robinson, tenor saxophonist Ralph Moore, and guitarist Romero Lubambo.

Sophisticated originals steeped in the Great American Songbook tradition energize much of Paris in the Rain. In addition to the title track and “Road Chops,” she penned three other superb originals. The bluesy “One Jealous Moon” demonstrates her meticulous word play as she sublimely uses the numbers: 1,2,3,4 throughout in the song’s poetic lyrics; the song also features a stellar tenor saxophone solo from Moore.

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In Pictures

Sara McKenzie Quartet "Secrets of my Heart" at Cremona Jazz 2022

Read "Sara McKenzie Quartet  "Secrets of my Heart" at Cremona Jazz 2022" reviewed by Danilo Codazzi


A collection of photos from the Sara McKenzie Quartet concert at Giovanni Arvedi Auditorium in Cremona, Italy, on 6 May, 2022, featuring Sara McKenzie, Hugo Lippi, Pierre Boussaguet and Sebastiaan de Krom. ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Spike Wilner, Curtis Fuller & Sarah McKenzie

Read "Spike Wilner, Curtis Fuller & Sarah McKenzie" reviewed by Joe Dimino


Our 701st Show begins with Sarah McKenzie and a great tale from the quarantine. The result is her single “Schneller." We continue to watch the world of music open up with live shows and Spike Wilner is leading the charge. He has new music with his 2021 CD Aliens & Wizards. We continue to profile musicians with new releases including Andrew Gutauskas, Michael O'Neill, Will Bonness and Michael Wolff. Finally, we say good-bye to the mighty trombonist Curtis Fuller. Enjoy ...

Catching Up With

Sarah McKenzie: il fascino misterioso della composizione

Read "Sarah McKenzie: il fascino misterioso della composizione" reviewed by Emmanuel Di Tommaso


Secrets of My Heart è il quinto album in studio della cantante, compositrice e pianista di origini australiane Sarah McKenzie. Realizzato nel 2019, questo disco rappresenta una combinazione gioiosa e perturbante di standard jazz di stampo classico e di composizioni inedite, avvolte da una brillante fusione fra jazz, blues e sonorità latine. Approfittando del tour europeo di Secrets of My Heart , abbiamo incontrato la vincitrice dell'Australian Jazz Bell Award per discutere della genesi di questo album, dell'importanza dello scrivere ...

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Catching Up With

Sarah McKenzie: A Mysterious Thing Called Songwriting

Read "Sarah McKenzie: A Mysterious Thing Called Songwriting" reviewed by Emmanuel Di Tommaso


Secrets of My Heart is the fifth studio album of the Australian singer, composer and pianist Sarah McKenzie. Released in 2019, this album represents a joyous and uncanny combination of classical jazz standards and new original compositions with a brilliant fusion between jazz, blues and latin sounds. We took the opportunity of the European tour of Secrets of My Heart to speak to the Australian Jazz Bell Award-winning about the genesis of this album, the importance of songwriting and the ...

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Live Review

Sarah McKenzie al Crossroads & Ravenna Jazz Reloaded 2020

Read "Sarah McKenzie al Crossroads & Ravenna Jazz Reloaded 2020" reviewed by Emmanuel Di Tommaso


Sarah McKenzie Crossroads & Ravenna Jazz Reloaded 2020 Teatro Socjale Piangipane (Ravenna) 2.9.2020 Riprende dal suggestivo Teatro Socjale di Piangipane nella periferia ravennate il tour mondiale della compositrice, cantante e pianista di origini australiane Sarah McKenzie, interrotto a marzo scorso a causa della pandemia globale dopo una serie di concerti fra Stati Uniti d'America, Cina e Francia. Un'artista cosmopolita qual è la McKenzie che presenta un album dalle radici profondamente multiculturali come Secrets of ...

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Album Review

Sarah McKenzie: Paris in the Rain

Read "Paris in the Rain" reviewed by Niccolò Lucarelli


Dopo il successo ottenuto con We Could be Lovers, torna Sarah McKenzie, australiana di nascita, formatasi negli USA e trasferitasi a Parigi. La sua ultima fatica artistica è un omaggio alla Ville Lumière, un album frizzante e sbarazzino, che ci restituisce l'immagine di una città romantica, che profuma d'autunno e sfuma in una dolce malinconia alternata a una colorata joie de vivre. Il risultato, per quanto gradevole, è un po' troppo patinato per emergere dall'effetto cartolina, e, pur ...

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Paris in the Rain

Impulse! Records
2017

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We Could Be Lovers

Impulse! Records
2015

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Close Your Eyes

ABC Jazz
2012

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Don´t Tempt Me

ABC Jazz
2011

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Videos

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