SarahDeLeoMusic

Hello friends –

Belated Happy New Year 2011!!

Every year at this time, I write about the year just past, and usually marvel at how quickly it went by.  This time though I would like to take a few minutes to revel in the past year, because it was so wonderful!!

It all began in February.  I met Allen from Songwriter’s Monthly, and he offered to do an interview of me for the publication.  We had a lovely chat, and he wrote a very nice article about me.  He is a great writer, and his piece included one of my most favorite quotes ever about my work, “She twirls the melody innocuously like a girl absentmindedly playing with her hair and the subtle shifts in line and phrasing create an arrangement that not only sounds new, but is also perfectly natural and effortless.”  How wonderfully lyrical and insightful!!  I am so appreciative that he included me in the publication.

Next, also in February, I met Antonio Narvaez Dupuy, a Chilean native living Barcelona.  Antonio has his own program on Contrabanda Radio (91.4 FM) in Barcelona, featuring whatever he music would like to play.  Not only did he give me my first spins in Spain, but he also presented the first retrospective of my discography anywhere. I am so thankful to Antonio for his support of my work and his friendship.

Then, in April I was chosen to participate in WNYC’s Battle of the Boroughs: Manhattan Throwdown, broadcast live on wnyc.org from The Greene Space.  What a fantastic opportunity!!  I still can’t believe I was chosen.  I found out about this competition on WQXR, and filled out the online entry form (with help from my husband without whom I might not have been able to complete it!!).  Then, a few months later they contacted me to ask if I’d like to participate.  I can’t even begin to describe the shock I felt once it was confirmed that I was to participate.  I am very honored to have been selected, and gratified to have been one of only two jazz vocalists in the competition, which included singer/songwriter, hip-hop, alt rock, world music, and classical acts.  I didn’t win, but I didn’t care.  I was selected, I participated, and I represented.

Over the summer, I had a nice series of gigs.  Once again, Councilmember Brewer’s office invited me to sing at their Make Music New York Day event.  It is such a joy to sing at that event and I am so grateful that the Councilmember’s office invited me to participate again for the third straight year.  Then, I subbed on a fun restaurant gig – just a quartet hanging out and playing (unfortunately not an environment singers find readily around town nowadays).  Then, I returned to my annual out-of-town tryout in Fairfield County for another invaluable gig at SoNo Caffeine.  Then, I was selected to participate in the First Annual Iridium Jazz Vocalist festival – my first “major” room appearance!!  Thanks again to Scobar Entertainment and the Iridium Jazz Club for this wonderful opportunity.  Then, I closed out the summer with another fun gig at a cool venue, the Bubble Lounge.  I sang five times over seven weeks and for this singer/primary caregiver of two young children it was both exhilarating and exhausting!!

Before the summer was out, I had another radio first – my first spins in the UK thanks to Aja Allsop at UK Jazz Radio.  I am so glad to have met Aja and to now count him among my colleagues.  Not only do I appreciate his support of my work, but his radio show has also introduced me to many European artists I was unfamiliar with previously.

Then, in December I got word from my Japanese music contact in California that Ultra-Vybe, Inc. was interested in distributing both my CDs in Japan!!  I sent out the first order in December and have already fulfilled a second order!!

All in all, not too bad a year for a woman with two children under the age of four, and in particular after the challenging economic environment in late 2008 through 2009!!

After a wonderful year like 2010, what’s next?  Well, not much actually.  As much as I love singing, I found it too exhausting to care for my two young children and work on art and business as well.  It may seem counter-intuitive given the year I just had, but once again, barring any offers I can’t refuse (like WNYC), I do not plan on doing much performing over the next few years.  That said, I do think a lot about singing – the next four recording projects I’d like to do, a performance-only project, and other singing business development – so I hope you will bear with me through these quiet years.  I’m really excited about all the projects I plan on working on once my children are a little bit older, and I hope you will be there with me for all of it!!

Wishing you a wonderful 2011!!

Sarah