Sarah Marie Young to Bring the Uke, Beatles, and Body Movement to the Chicago Jazz Festival
Award-winning vocalist will also debut songs from her new album
Imagine this itinerary for a jazz festival performance:
Ukelele for “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” by Credence Clearwater Revival (or) “Jealous Guy” by Donny Hathaway? Yes.
Interpretive dancer for “With a Little Help from My Friends” by the Beatles? Yes.
High heels for the lead vocalist? Hell naw!
Well, items one and two will, for sure, be present Friday, August 29, 4 p.m. at the Pritzker Pavilion/Millennium Park. This is where singer, songwriter, and ukelele player Sarah Marie Young will open the main stage portion of the Chicago Jazz Festival, night two.
Joined by pianist Amr Fahmy, guitarist Matt Gold, bassist Bryan Doherty, and drummer Neal Wehman, Young will explore original songs from Drive Across the Country, her very new album, along with classic tunes from the rock, pop, and R&B songbook, such as the ones mentioned above.
So…how exactly did Young, an award-winning singer who has now released five albums, come about using the uke in her repertoire?
“My father was a bassist, and he also had baritone ukeleles, which were always in our family,” said Young, during a recent conversation, adding that there are also soprano, alto, and tenor ukeleles. “My dad gave me one in high school, and I wrote songs on it.”
Young did not add ukelele to her performances until moving to Chicago from Indianapolis twenty-one years ago. This is when she started noticing how other vocalists were performing with the four-string instrument and figured…Why not?
“Even though my band plays all these R&B and jazz songs, it added a nice texture,” she said. “I feel like I’m an intermediate ukelele player, but I do feel like it’s part of my sound after all these years.”
When Young presents the Beatles tune, she will also play the piano while Joey Castillo, from Dance Center Evanston, performs an original interpretation. This arrangement, she explained, will differ dramatically from McCartney and Lennon’s.
“It’s really introspective and a little slower,” said Young, who has previously performed her arrangement at Community Church in Lake Bluff and Studio5 in Evanston. “I also recorded a video for it in December up in Evanston at the lagoon. Nobody was there because it was so cold,” she said about the video, which can be seen on her website, sarahmarieyoung.com. “I thought: Let’s record this on a cold day, because it would be a nice juxtaposition, talking about being alone and friendship.”
Young’s optimistic stage and songwriting persona will also be presented on “Go Down” and “Tomorrow, Today,” two originals from her new album. The first song, she said, “talks about being there for somebody who needs you, letting someone know that they’re not alone.”
When discussing “Tomorrow, Today,” Young recalled how motherhood impacted her composing and worldview.
“Before I had my first child, I had only written one song during my pregnancy,” said Young, who now has two children with her husband, guitarist/vocalist Guy King, who will make a cameo appearance with her at the fest. “When she was about two months old, my husband went on tour, and I said to myself, ‘I’m just gonna sit here in this little chair at the piano.’ This was the first song I wrote after she was born. I have always wanted to have hope, and this is all about love and hope in our world.”
Here is a pre-Festival taste of said tune:
“How do you know if love is real?
When can you trust in what you feel?
When will you mean what you say?
Tomorrow, Today”
Winning, Placing, and…
Scene: The 2011 Montreux Jazz Festival Voice Competition
Before leading a rhythm section in the Jobim/de Moraes bossa nova “Chega De Saudade,” contestant Sarah Marie Young offered her take on its Portuguese origins and meaning.
“It can mean a feeling of longing, of sadness, a love that is lost, maybe a love that you will never see again….
“But the day she returns?” What a beautiful day!” she continued. “What a crazy day! A million hugs and kisses…and maybe a little more than just a hug and a kiss! But we’ll see!”
Although “a little more” could not be displayed on stage, Young finished first in this competition, whose judges included mega producer Quincy Jones. Young’s presence in Switzerland, she stated, happened through some very creative maneuvering.
After being informed by the festival committee that she had reached the semi-finals, Young found out that she would be responsible for traveling to Switzerland via her own expenses, which were not really present at that time. While she wondered what to do next, a friend mentioned that an American embassy existed in Bern, Switzerland’s capital city. Perhaps she could ask the folks there for financial assistance.
“So I wrote a grant proposal and said I needed airfare. I said that I was representing Chicago and the U.S. in this competition, and they were like, ‘Cool!’” Young recalled. “They gave me a grant. And then I felt, ‘Well, I really better win this thing, because they put their faith in me.’ And that’s what happened!”
Young’s victory included an opportunity to record an album in Bern. The result: Too Many Februaries, which she presented at the 2012 Montreux Jazz Festival. However, one year before Young’s victory, she placed as a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk Competition. Judges for this competition included Kurt Elling and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Spectators hanging out to witness the vocal get-down included Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.
While engrossed in admiration for the other contestants – such as Cecile McLorin Salvant and Cyrille Aimee – Young also learned something that will remain with her forever.
“I learned that I should never sing in really, really high heels,” she said, while laughing. “That was, like, the stupidest idea ever! I was already nervous, so why would I want to add that?”
…and at least showing up…
While recording Too Many Febriaries, Young would, for a year, fly to New York weekly to meet with Bruce Lundvall, then president/CEO, Blue Note Records, for possible inclusion on its roster. Young recalled one meeting when Lundvall – who passed away in 2015 – said, “You’re gonna have a career in music, no doubt, but you have to figure out who you are musically, because you have a lot of cool songs. Are you trying to be Norah Jones? esparanza spalding?”
This question, which Young had encountered before internally, received the same answer then as it does today.
“I’m trying to be like me,” she said. “(My style) is not really straight ahead, but I’m going to keep writing my songs. They are what they are, and I hope people enjoy them. I’m really doing this because I love it.”
Lundvall eventually arranged an audition for Young, where she and her ensemble would be seen and evaluated by Don Was, Blue Note’s new/incoming president. His response afterwards?
“She’s okay.”
So the potential deal dissolved.
Deeply disappointed, Young descended into a sea of self-pity and binged on sushi, TV, and inactivity. Eventually, she had a – let’s call it – Soul Searching with Sarah Session, where her victor voice overwhelmed the victim one with this realization: “You have to get back to the reason you’re doing what you’re doing. I like making people feel good, and if they like my voice, that makes me feel good.”
From the first-place finish in Montreux, her appearance in the Playing for Change video for Buddy Guy’s “Skin Deep,” to her newest album, to the near engagement with Blue Note and everything else in between, Young has embraced the hot and cold realities that competition brings. Whether she is auditioning for a solo gig or pitching Rendezvous, her events band, she always prepares for the hoped for outcome while keeping her confidence no matter what.
“You have to make sure you’re not valuing your talents or skill by whether or not you win or lose something,” she said. “Why would you even do a competition where you are going to win or lose if you don’t want to be valued that way?
“For me,” Young continued, “I have always taken the perspective of trying new things, seeing where they lead, and trying to have a really good time being immersed in something I love: music.”
