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. For years people have 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, wise beyond her years, blessed with the ability to convey vulnerability through sound. Sharp’s reading of the Bob Dylan gem “Don’t Think Twice, It‘s Alright” offers a reflection on the disappointment of past relationships, embodying life experience. Elsewhere, The Beatles’ tragic “For No One” becomes misty and cool, while the Cuban standard “Quizàs, Quizàs, Quizàs” is all playful sensuality. Perhaps the biggest standout 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.
