Sarah Sharp - Deja Vu [CD]

For the past nine years, singer/songwriter Sarah Sharp has been performing with her quintet every Thursday evening at the prestigious Elephant Room in Austin, TX. The former leader of critically acclaimed swingadelic band Jitterbug Vipers, and a highly respected commercial songwriter with Universal Music, Sharp has an exquisite voice and a cosmopolitan flair for selecting transcendent jazz standards.Fans have often asked her to turn those arrangements into an album. The result is Déjà Vu, a luminous debut that blends nocturnal, atmospheric arrangements with Sharp's vocal prowess - at turns defiant, accepting, and blessed with the ability to convey vulnerability through sound.The highlights are many, including: Sharp's reading of the Bob Dylan gem "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" which offers a melancholy reflection on the disappointment of past relationships, The Beatles' tragic "For No One," which becomes misty and cool under the guidance of Sharp's long-serving quartet, and the Cuban standard "Quizàs, Quizàs, Quizàs," which is all playful sensuality. Perhaps the biggest standout, however, is a rendition of Randy Newman's classic "I Think It's Going To Rain Today," that developed after a chance meeting with Newman himself at a private gig in New Orleans. Sharp's sensitive interpretation reveals a masterful singer who is ready to enjoy mainstream exposure.