Sarah I Wanna Sarahnade You Funny
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will breathe life into forgotten tunes when the swing blues band makes its Open Air Concert Series debut this weekend.
"We love to do the forgotten songs of the '20s, '30s and '40s and a few of the standards," says Sarah Jane (aka Sarah Ulrich). "It's about keeping those things alive, basically. History is a big part of my life, and I love that particular period of time."
For the past two decades, she and her husband have lived in a 1940s home in the historic Lemp neighborhood. Known as the Deco Fortress, the structure, originally a medical building, has its own Facebook page and is practically an art deco museum.
With Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes, she's living out one of her bucket-list items.
As a teenager, she was in a local new-wave/punk band called Inner Screams, which performed at Mississippi Nights and Cicero's. She left that behind to become a wife and mother, but a decade ago returned to her dream of focusing on swing, blues and jazz.
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"It was difficult getting steady musicians who wanted to commit to this," she says. "That's what I found to be the deal. I don't know why. Some people may have their own idea of what they want to do and how they want to do it. It took a while, and people came and went for a good solid five years.
In the interim, she released a self-titled debut album. "We've been solid ever since," she says.
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes have been swinging in various configurations, performing songs such as "Them There Eyes," "Brother Can You Spare a Dime," "Dream a Little Dream of Me," "Miss Otis Regrets," "I'm Just a Vagabond Lover" and "Daddy Won't You Please Come Home."
"We love the swinging music. It's very lively and fun," says Sarah Jane, who considers herself more a blues vocalist than anything. She's influenced by legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Ethel Waters and Nat King Cole.
She sometimes performs a show of "risque songs of the period," which she finds funny because "they're not really that risque — just a lot of double entendres."
In tackling the varied material, she says, "I go with what feels best in how to approach the songs, understanding the lyrics and interpreting that. That's the bluesy side of it."
This weekend is Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes' return to the stage, aside from a few private dates and a virtual holiday show. Sarah Jane, who dresses in vintage clothing, will perform with Randy Holmes (trumpet), Drew Weiss (drums) and Guy Cantonwine (bass), with special guest Dave Black (guitar).
The Open Air shows take place under a heated tent outside the Grandel in Grand Center, with pandemic safety precautions in place.
"They understand the period of music, and they respect it," she says of her players.
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes
"Each band member has their certain thing they bring to the group. One player might be more swing. One might be more jazzy. One day I might be emoting more as a vocalist. It'll be fun.
"Whenever we perform songs, it's never the same song twice. It depends on the inspiration, the mood, how we're feeling that day. So much goes into it. That's one of the fun things about the band: It's always fresh."
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes are currently working on a third album, "Que Sarah Sarah." The tracks have been laid down, though the process has been predictably slowed by the pandemic.
The album will feature a smaller band lineup and "songs nobody will know — forgotten songs," she says.
She would like to get the album out by spring or summer.
The project is the follow-up to "Sarahnade En Bleu," which she says was released about five years ago. "That was a lot of fun to record. We laid down all the music in one day. What we did was have guests come in throughout the day, and from one song to the next you're going to hear different instrumentation."
In the meantime, she can be heard on the compilation album "This Is Vintage Now 2" with the new song "On the Sunny Side of the Street," which she recorded especially for the compilation. The album will be included in an upcoming issue of Exotica Moderne magazine.
What Open Air Concert Series with Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes • When 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Jan. 31 • Where The Grandel, 3610 Grandel Square • How much $10 • More info metrotix.com
Source: https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/kevin-johnson/sarah-jane-and-the-blue-notes-will-swing-into-grand-center-with-forgotten-songs/article_b4b3e2dd-13ee-56d8-a1ea-2811b5c4d480.html
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