"Sandra Kaye...It's a mixture of nostalgia and myth, the notion of a great, undiscovered performer in a dark little hideaway. Her voice is one that you don't expect to stumble onto so far off the beaten path. You can close your eyes and swear that the Late Great Dinah Washington has rejoined the living."
RUSSELL SMITH
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS - THE TODAY SECTION
Sandra Kaye
Selected to sing the National Anthem:
TEXAS RANGERS VS The Los Angeles Angels
August 16, 2006
The Black Academy of Arts and Letters Presents: "Just Dinah and Me" Friday night at the Clarence Muse Cafe Theater." The Musical tribute to Dinah Washington starred Dallas native Sandra Kaye The performance of Washington's songs was delightful. Kaye opened by belting out one of Washington’s classics: "I Don't Hurt Anymore." She sang more than 10 of Washington's hits. However, her rendition of "Evil Gal Blues" and "I've Got You Under My Skin" moved the audience to hand clapping and feet stomping. Her performance of "Me and My Gin" brought the audience to its feet before intermission. The cozy venue allowed Kaye's voice to resonate without the accompaniment of the microphone at times. The transitions between songs appeared to be seamless during the performance. The pianist and song stress were synchronized on stage. Kaye's popularity with jazz enthusiast made her an excellent choice for this performance. Typically, Washington sang with the accompaniment of an orchestra or band with remarkable horn sections. However, only the pianist and Kaye were on stage for the evening. Since a band was not present, the audience noticed that something was missing but Kaye's stage presence held their attention. The classic evening gowns Kaye were combined with the night club atmosphere enabled the audience to become a part of the performance. It was as if the audience was transported into a nightclub during the mid-50's listening to Dinah Washington perform live. Washington, most known for singing "What A Difference a Day Makes," was a versatile singer from the 40's and 50's. Her recordings. included blues, jazz, R&B and light pop. Although Washington began singing professionally as a gospel singer, she did not record a gospel song because she did not believe in mixing secular and spiritual music." ALISCIA ROGERS - Dallas Black News
SANDRA KAYE ENCHANTED THE AUDIENCE WITH CLASSIC TUNES WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE SAMMONS CENTER FOR THE ARTS:
BACK IN TIME
UNT band honors Gershwin; Kaye invokes Sarah Vaughan
By Matt Weitz
(Special Contributor)
JAZZ REVIEW:
With the second show in it's spring season, the Sammons Center for the Arts has once again established itself as one of the best deals available to the local music fan, particularly if he or she is looking to impress a date with an evening of understated musical elegance.
The center's sold-out show Wednesday night was a double-header paying tribute to George Gershwin. First on the bill was the University of North Texas Jazz Repertory Ensemble's new take on the music of the Gershwin era.
The small group - 18 players, give or take a few according to arrangements - started out with four songs from the era: "I Got Rhythm," "I Found a New Baby," "Tiger Rag" and "HIgh Society." All were directed by John Murphy, who plays in the Alternative Jazz Sextet with Dave Zoller and Drew Phelps.
Taken from stock arrangements from radio stations WBAP and WFAA's music libraries, the songs - true to the era but argumented in places with added solos and harmony - seem less the museum pieces that they’re usually presented as and more the soundtrack to someone’s life, lifted, say, from a humid evening in a ragtime speakeasy.
The high point was a performance with guest pianist Dr. Steven Harlos of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Most of us are used to big, room-filling orchestral versions of this number, sweeping versions that play up New York City as a cinematic concept featuring Robert De Niro as the listener.
Wednesday night’s version based on a recording of an arrangement for a nine-piece orchestra by Mas Ikemiya, with the New York Ragtime Orchestra - was a more intimate reading that presented NYC as a personal, neighborhood experience. It made for a refreshingly different interpretation of a favorite.
The second half of the show was a lesson in how good you can be and still be in Dallas. Vocalist Sandra Kaye has been delighting area audiences for years with her invocation of the spirits of greats like Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, and she continued the trend Wednesday night with classics like “Summertime” and “Someone To Watch Over Me.”
"Now if that sinful, bluesy jazz is more your style, move on to "Lady Kaye's district". Sandra Kaye is a full throttle torch singer with a great set of pipes. Her sound was made for Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered and Lady Is A Tramp. Even when Ms. Kaye ventures away from her vintage tunes, she still delivers a great show, somehow breathing fire into If I Can't Sell It from the Broadway musical Black and Blue, and Leon Russell's This Masquerade."
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DEBORAH BRADLEY
"Performing with David (Fathead) Newman, Jeanette Brantley, Marchel Ivery and others, Sandra Kaye nearly stole the show with her bluesy rendition of Tain't Nobody's Bizness at Jazz Under The Dome"
AL BRUMLEY
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS - JAZZ REVIEW
