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Sarah Partridge
Sarah Partridge grew up in Boston and Birmingham, Alabama, listening to jazz vocalists around the house, soaking up her father’s albums of Ella Fitzgerald, Chris Connor, Dakota Staton, Irene Kral, and Sarah Vaughan. But she was drawn to acting, and ended up majoring in theater at Northwestern University. After graduating in 1982, she worked around Chicago, and landed her first feature role in Tom Cruise’s star-making 1983 hit Risky Business.
Relocating to Los Angeles in 1984, she worked steadily in film and television and carved out a niche doing voice-overs (often portraying cartoon superheroes). Out with friends one night at the Improv, she accepted their dare to take a turn at karaoke and delivered a stunning rendition of “Summertime.” The impromptu performance caught the ear of a booker, who promptly hired her to sing in a concert with the top tier of L.A. jazz musicians. It was a successful gig that rekindled a long-buried dream.
“It was a fluke,” she says. “But as an actress I loved to sing. I was just never a Broadway belter. My dad was a huge fan of female vocalists and I grew up knowing the artists and the songs, but I never considered that I would do this professionally. I didn’t go to music school or take vocal classes. But there was that moment singing ‘Summertime’ when my friends looked at me afterwards, and said, how do you know how to do that?”
She spent years honing her technique in Los Angeles and New York City, where she moved in 1994, and instantly bonded with trumpet legend Doc Cheatham, “the first musician I played with in New York.” Attending one of his regular Sunday brunch performance’s at Sweet Basil, her husband convinced pianist Chuck Folds to let Partridge sit in. Her version of “Every Day I Have the Blues” went over well and Cheatham told her “You can come anytime you want,” Partridge recalls. “After that, I sat in regularly and we did some gigs together. I learned so much from him musically, just seeing the obsessive dedication he had. He was a real inspiration.”
Partridge released her debut I’ll Be Easy to Find in 1998, a widely acclaimed album (“She’s a pleasure to hear in any emotional guise, whether one of regret or exaltation”—Billboard) featuring veteran jazz greats like Frank Wess, Bucky Pizzarelli, and Gene Bertoncini. She has grown exponentially with each new recording: Blame It on My Youth, 2004; You Are There, Songs for My Father, 2006; Perspective, 2010; and the long-awaited I Never Thought I’d Be Here, 2015 (“Ms.
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Sarah Partridge: Bright Lights & Promises: Redefining Janis Ian
by Dan Bilawsky
How did nobody think to go here before? With a glut of fine Joni Mitchell tributes on the market and a couple of engrossing Laura Nyro nods out there, how is it that no creative spirits in the jazz or cabaret camps thought to make the full-on jump to Janis Ian before now? Hearing Sarah Partridge dig into Ian's body of work makes this concept seem like a no-brainer--an incredibly natural fit, in fact--but that may very well have more ...
read moreSarah Partridge: I Never Thought I’d Be Here
by C. Michael Bailey
Boston-born singer Sarah Partridge didn't start out a singer. She started out as an actor (you can see her opposite of Tom Cruise in Risky Business (Warner Brothers, 1983)) who took the Karaoke stage one night and got noticed by the right ears and five recordings later the rest is history. Where her previous recording, Perspective (Self Produced, 2010) was an intimate, piano-voice affair of standards, the present I Never Thought I'd Be Here is a full sextet band reading ...
read moreSarah Partridge: Perspective
by C. Michael Bailey
Sarah Partridge's recital, Perspective, follows three previous vocal recordings that mark the second half of her dual career as actor and singer. On her current offering, Partridge performs a collection of standards, with pianist Daniel May. that is as fresh and solid as Partridge's perfectly refined voice. The true beauty in Partridge's vocal delivery is her no-nonsense conservative approach to melody. She is much more a song stylist as opposed to a jazz singer, but then again, that is just ...
read moreSarah Partridge - Beautiful Minds - Extraordinary Women!
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
Jazz vocalist Sarah Partridge releases her seventh recording, a project two years in the making. Comprised of ten original songs written by Partridge and mostly members of her band, each piece is a musical portrait of a notable woman in STEM. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). A stunning example of art meets science, these compositions bring each woman to life with a variety of international grooves, and lyrics that poetically celebrate each woman. This is a concept album like no ...
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Sarah Partridge Expands Jazz Vocal Repertoire On "Bright Lights & Promises: Redefining Janis Ian," Due April 21 From Origin Records
Source:
Terri Hinte Publicity
Vocalist Sarah Partridge introduced an impressive body of original compositions on her 2015 Origin Records release I’d Never Thought I’d Be Here, but for her new project, she wanted to celebrate a singer/songwriter outside of her own genre and beyond the Great American Songbook. On Bright Lights & Promises: Redefining Janis Ian, her 5th album and second for Origin Records, Partridge reimagines 11 well- and lesser-known works from the legendary singer/songwriter’s discography, and also co-wrote two with Ian. The new ...
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Vocalist/Composer Sarah Partridge Releases New CD Titled "Perspective" (Peartree Productions)
Source:
Two for the Show Media
The new release from vocalist/composer Sarah Partridge is titled “Perspective." Unlike most modern day jazz vocal releases “Perspective" takes a much more particular path. Bypassing the standard quartet set up that most modern day vocalists take, Partridge takes the duo approach here with her musical cohort Daniel May. The new recording is a gathering over a few days in which they collaborate and select tunes they both enjoy. Aside from covers by some of music's greatest composers, Partridge also includes ...
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Sarah Partridge Brings New Show, "I've Gotta Roam," to Oak Room June 12-23
Source:
Carolyn McClair Public Relations
With elegant tradition and high musical style, jazzy songbird and actress Sarah Partridge is set to appear again at the world-famous Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel [59 West 44th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues] with a new show called “I've Gotta Roam" June 12 - 23. Some of her shows at the legendary nightspot are a part of New York's hottest jazz event, the JVC Jazz Festival-New York, which takes over the city this year, during the week ...
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Jazz Vocalist Sarah Partridge Opens Fall Schedule at Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room
Source:
All About Jazz
Vocal vixen Sarah Partridge, Good Morning America's “Break Out Artist," kicks of the fall season at the Algonquin Hotel's legendary Oak Room with a fresh take on jazz classics. This will be the debut of songs off her new CD, entitled You Are There: Songs for My Father, to be released on September 1.
September 5 - 9 (Tuesday - Saturday); Tuesday - Thursday, at 9 p.m.; Friday - Saturday, at 9 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
Oak Room at the ...
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"Sarah's jazz vocal work is dazzling!" Improvijazznation
"Her voice is super flexible, and her Brazilian chops are a subtle strength" Jazz Weekly
" Ms. Partridge consistently stretches both herself and the music. It would not be surprising if a few of her songs became standards in the future." LA Jazz Scene
Primary Instrument
Vocals
Location
Newark
Willing to teach
Beginner to advanced
Credentials/Background
Vocal Instructor at Vanguard Music Studio. Denville, NJ 2014-present. 1/2 hour-$35. One hour: $65 973-453-6775 Private instruction at Sarah's Home. All Levels. Same prices. Hours flexible. 917-848-2836 Beginners-Advanced
Dakota Staton
vocals
Chris Connor
vocals
Ella Fitzgerald
vocals
Irene Kral
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Sarah Vaughan
vocalsMusic
Dancing In My Mind
From: You Are There: Songs For My...By Sarah Partridge
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Sarah Partridge
Location: Newark
Instrument: Vocals
Born: October 28, 1960
Publicist: Terri Hinte Publicity
