For the past nine years, singer/songwriter Sarah Sharp has been performing with her quintet Thursday evenings at the Elephant Room jazz club in Austin. The former leader of the critically acclaimed swingadelic Texas band Jitterbug Vipers and a highly respected songwriter with Universal Music, Sharp has an exquisite voice and a cosmopolitan flair for selecting a transcendent repertoire of standards.
“We live for these gigs,” she says with a smile. “My guitar player, the legendary Mitch Watkins, is such an Austin treasure that he only says yes to gigs that have soul in them. At the end of every Thursday he tells me, ‘I always feel better when I’m leaving than when I got here.’”
People had been asking Sharp to turn her weekly singing ritual into an album for a long time. Then, local guitar hero Eric Johnson stepped in and offered his recording studio. 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, and blessed with the ability to convey vulnerability through sound.
“When I hear Sarah’s music, I hear warmth, vulnerability, and a personal way of expressing something very special,” says NPR’s Joe Alterman. “She represents the kind of jazz that doesn’t ask you to pass a test before you’re allowed in. It just opens the door and asks you to walk in.”
“I’ve been playing with these musicians for years, and our closeness goes beyond just being like a family,” adds Sarah. “Months before we made this album, I had the opportunity to record six different dates at the Elephant Room, and I studied every minute of those gigs. That’s how we selected the songs.”
If Sharp’s astonishing vocalizing is the centerpiece of Déjà Vu, its 11 tracks provide the wide cinematic canvas on which she channels a haunting emotional journey.
She started performing “Don’t Think Twice” when her boyfriend developed cancer. He passed away soon after, and Sharp’s reading of this treasured Bob Dylan standard offers a reflection on the disappointment of past relationships, embodying life experience and loss.
The graceful dignity of Randy Newman’s “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today,” on the other hand, was embraced by Sharp after the unforgettable experience of seeing the tune being performed by Newman himself at a private mansion show in New Orleans. Meeting the master and sharing a conversation about artistic dreams provided additional inspiration. Sharp’s sensitive interpretation reveals a masterful singer who is now ready to enjoy mainstream exposure.
In her hands, The Beatles’ tragic “For No One” becomes misty and cool, while the Cuban nugget “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás” is all playful sensuality. Sharp’s cover of “I’m Beginning To See The Light,” made legendary by Ella Fitzgerald, is agile and sassy, while her radical revision of “The Boy From Ipanema” is an anti-bossa delight.
“The first listen of the album seduces you immediately,” wrote cultural magazine Paris Move. “The second one disturbs you a little and makes you shiver. The third touches your soul—Sarah’s voice works on the heart like Cupid’s arrow.” “This is a deeply flavorful album that draws you in the more you listen to it,” agreed Jazz Life.
Looking to preserve the band’s chemistry, the album was tracked in two days, with additional instrument—an accordion lick here, a touch of cornet there—and a few vocals added later. For the most part, however, Déjà Vu was recorded live on the spot, with one or two takes per song. Sharp promoted the release with gigs in Japan and France.
A songwriter under contract with Universal Music, Sharp has garnered millions of streams through licensing deals—her compositions featured in commercials for major brands such as Chanel, Dell, and Kia. But the release of Déjà Vu reconnects her with the sheer magic of performing in front of a wider audience.
“I want to play my music for more people,” she enthuses. “I’d love to record many albums and do shows with an orchestra. Traveling with your music to other parts of the world is like running up and saying hello to parts of yourself that you can’t always access. It’s so powerful when you can integrate them. I’m always striving to become a better artist while keeping my heart open.”