Jazz vocalist Sandra Booker takes the first courageous step towards reclaiming her life after surviving sexual assault and a life-threatening cancer battle, releasing The Reunion Concert Live on July 14th, 2023 in what is the first in a series of new projects for her.

Sometimes the best way to move forward is to go back. For jazz singer-songwriter Sandra Booker, she’s ready to pick up exactly where she left off eight years ago when she recorded a live album with her then band, The New Trio.

Releasing the album, “The Reunion Concert Live from Pasadena Conservatory of Music: Barrett Hall,” this month is a monumental step forward for Booker after enduring a traumatizing eight years that include sexual assault and a life-threatening cancer bout, which all combined to put a halt on her once promising performing, recording and touring career.

The 2015 concert showcasing Booker elegantly singing and astutely scatting a set of standards and a few of her original storytelling compositions took place several months after she was sexually assaulted by a musician she knew and trusted. Still numb and traumatized, Booker was determined that the show - and the recording - must go on.

“Producing that show was such a labor of love because I was still reeling from the assault in silence but determined not to let it take away my passion for music and the joy I knew it gave to others,” says Booker.

A year after the Pasadena concert, Booker was diagnosed with bladder cancer, a diagnosis she believes came as a direct result of the sexual trauma she endured. The assault awoke memories of past childhood abuse. The lengthy cancer battle that ensued became the primary focus of Booker’s existence for six years.

The gifted songbird to whom five-time Grammy winner, six-time Academy Awards nominee and four-time Emmy nominee Lalo Schifrin – the legend who wrote the liner notes for “The Reunion Concert Live from Pasadena Conservatory of Music: Barrett Hall” - calls one of his two favorite jazz vocalists was silenced over these years when all she wanted to do was sing and entertain.

Last fall, after no longer showing signs of disease, Booker didn’t know where or how to begin her comeback. But reading a timely post on social media about creating a comeback changed that. In those words, Booker saw a path towards getting back to doing what she loved. It meant going back to when life as she knew it came to a halt.

Indeed, it meant finally releasing the recording she intended to release eight years ago. She believes releasing the collection is pivotal to resuming her life, restoring her reputation and rebuilding her brand.

1. Over and Over Again
2. In A Sentimental Mood
3. My Ship
4. Black Coffee
5. It Could Happen to You
6. What Made God?
7. But Not for Me
8. Eddie
9. The Song is You

Opening on the smooth as silk Over and Over Again and the velvet textured In A Sentimental Mood, and after a brief introduction and thanks, they are followed by the impassioned My Ship (a song written for the 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark), a story of love and what it can do to you, the bluesy Sonny Burke cut Black Coffee, and then comes the perky, upright bass-led ditty It Could Happen to You.

Along next is the oh-so deliciously sculpted, soft shuffle within What Made God? which is in turn backed seamlessly by her playful, precocious even take on But Not for Me, the live recording rounding out with Sandra introducing herself as a Creole girl from New Orleans and telling the audience if they wanted to get up and dance she wouldn’t stop them, before bringing us the melodic urban country music track Eddie, coming to a righteous close on the joyously frenetic The Song is You.

“I feel it is time to release this project to the world and get it off of my heart and spirit. I’m proud of the work and due to health challenges that nearly took my life, time is now of the essence. I have had a rough life but I’m not a victim. I’ve built my life on speaking the truth and being genuine. I love the person I have chosen to be, and I search for the good in myself. I am determined not to become like the people who have harmed me.”

“Facing my mortality gave me the resilience and motivation to do that and whatever is left of my life is dedicated to being the best I can be. Music is medicine to me, life is for living, and reclaiming that part of my life means everything to me,” says Booker defiantly.

“The album is a love letter to myself and chronicles my ups and downs of falling in love, being betrayed by it, and finding the hope to love again. It explores the perils of unrequited love, the dream of reunion and reconciliation, and the bitter disappointment of knowing that sometimes the love we wanted will never come to fruition. It touches on family and friendship, and the psychological and emotional challenges of losing those bonds.”

“At its core, this album is about love in its various manifestations. I wanted to musically express the highs and lows of realizing the only love we can surely rely on is the love we create and nurture within ourselves,” adds Booker, who was accompanied by Tamir Hendelman (piano), Robert Perkins (drums), Dave Robaire (upright bass) and Steve Cotter (guitar).

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