Woods Hole Jazz presents Sarah McKenzie

Woods Hole Jazz ™ presents Australian jazz pianist, vocalist and composer Sarah McKenzie performing at Woods Hole Community Hall, Woods Hole, MA 02543, Wednesday, February 25th, 7:30 PM. Tickets are $20. 

At age 27, Melbourne native Sarah McKenzie is a rising international star. She began playing piano at age five, but was losing interest until at age nine her father found her a rock & roll and blues piano teacher. The blues grew on her until one day her teacher said, “Would you like to try jazz?” Although more attuned to the Back Street Boys and The Spice Girls than jazz, she picked up a few jazz CDs. All it took was one song, Oscar Peterson playing Night Train, and she was hooked.  She practiced constantly, honing her skills by transcribing piano solos of jazz luminaries Oscar Peterson, Gene Harris and Ray Brown.    Her talent caught the attention of others and at 13 she was invited to attend the Generations in Jazz Weekend, an annual festival in which top students from all over Australia attend workshops, perform, and compete for scholarships.  Sarah loved the experience so much that she attended each year for the next six years, eventually winning the vocal competition scholarship. She was the only finalist nominated in both the vocal and instrumental categories.   After high school, she attended the prestigious West Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth where Hugh Jackman, Marcus Graham, Lisa McCune and other leading Australian musical and theater performers trained.    Sarah studied voice, piano and composition and began writing big band arrangements. “I wanted to be like Harry Connick Jr.,” she says, “playing and singing at the piano, performing my own music and writing for a big band or string orchestra.” She earned awards for Most Outstanding Jazz Graduate and Most Outstanding Group of the year for 2008 while in college and toured with top artists like Michael Buble and trumpeter Chris Botti.   Her recording career took off in 2010, at age 21, when well-known producer Chong Lim, after hearing her play just one song in a Melbourne club, signed her to the ABC Music label. Her 2011 debut album, Don’t Tempt Me, a collection of jazz classics, originals, and even a Bossa Nova arrangement of the Elvis Presley hit “Love me Tender,” was nominated for an ARIA award, the Australian version of the Grammy. Her second album, Close Your Eyes, won the ARIA award for Best Jazz Album 2012.   Sarah traveled to the US after the Berklee College of Music Dean of Admissions spotted her performing at a festival in Umbria, Italy and offered her a full tuition scholarship. While at Berklee, she had the opportunity to perform her original work with the Boston Symphony and after graduating this past fall she represented Berklee at the Monterey Jazz Festival.   Now based in Boston, Sarah continues to perform in clubs and major national and international festivals. She is currently working on her third release, We Could be Lovers, with Grammy Award-winning producer Brian Bacchus (Gregory Porter, Norah Jones)   A musician with an unusually broad skill set – pianist, vocalist, composer, and arranger, her performances are an earthy, bluesy mix of straight ahead jazz standards, original pieces, and fresh unusual renditions of jazz classics. “I just want to play and have a wonderful life with music,” she says, and top jazz figures are taking note. “I think she’s fantastic. She gives me hope for the future of music,” Michael Feinstein.   Tickets are available online at WoodsHoleJazz.org, in person at Eight Cousins Books in Falmouth, Under the Sun in Woods Hole, or at the door while they last.