"A heartfelt letter to the world at large at a time of great suffering and offers, in Sara's own words, "...hope to a better new year..." - E.Shawn Qaissaunee
“Sara will bring you on a personal, intimate journey finding humor along the way. Her rich, sultry voice always delivers with Class and a bit of Sass.” - Jack Slide
— Angel Bear records
New Single - Hard Winter
Biography
About Sara Michaels
Sara Michaels has never stayed on script. As a young singer she cut her teeth on church music, keeping it interesting for herself by improvising around the straight forward music until the pastor of her church tried to reign her back onto the page. That was the push Michaels needed to move into the jazz world – where she has found her new “church.”
With her lush and soulful voice, Michaels breathes new life into The Great American Songbook, and directs her original songs right to the heart and mind of today’s suffering world.
With her latest single, “Hard Winter,” Michaels takes her listeners on a journey from the loss and grief that has been ever-present this past year, through hope for healing to literal birth of the future.
“I started out writing this song as a holiday gift for my family,” explains Michaels. “Reflecting on this past year and our time together. I looked to find hope and joy. That joy for us was in the birth of our first grandchild.” Producer E. Shawn Qaissaunee describes this song of joy and healing as ‘a heartfelt letter to the world at large at a time of great suffering’.”
Before taking her place in the jazz world, Michaels earned her degree in art/illustration, and, as a result, approaches her music as a visual artist, telling her stories with rich color and texture. Drawing from her background of both spiritual and musical theater, as well as her love of history, Michaels explores the creative roots of a song, and connects that to her own life story.
A successful female musician in the male-dominated world of jazz, Michaels is committed to elevating other women in music. Michaels’ ear for talent beyond her own led to her being sought out as a talent booker and producer, charged with cultivating relationships with notable artists and discovering emerging ones. Teaming up with the acclaimed Uptown! Knauer Performance Arts Center, a premiere music and arts venue located outside Philadelphia in the bucolic West Chester, PA suburb, Michaels created and curates the “Jazz Cocktail Hour” presenting local and international jazz artists in an intimate concert setting. Every summer Michaels moves her concert series “down the shore” to the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences (LBIF)
Continually evolving as an artist – whether it be as a songwriter, performer or business leader, Michaels has proven that perhaps the best plan is having no plan at all. After all, as Wynton Marsalis said:
“Jazz music is the power of now. There is no script. It’s a conversation. The emotion is given to you by
musicians as they make split-second decisions to fulfill what they feel the moment requires.”
Hosted by Sara
Produced by Sara, The Jazz Cocktail Hour features some of the Greater Philadelphia Area's top Jazz & Blues artists and musicians at The Uptown Knauer Performing Arts Center in West Chester, PA. (See events for upcoming shows.)
For those interested in performing please contact Sara by email: sara@email.com