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,” said 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.
Having reported the rape to police, Booker found herself being gaslit and shunned by the music and cancer communities. In fact, one nonprofit organization for which she served as musical director for two major fundraising jazz concerts turned her away, refusing to provide services or care to her that her own efforts helped fund.
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. 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.
“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,” said Booker defiantly.
The set list Booker curated for “The Reunion Concert Live from Pasadena Conservatory of Music: Barrett Hall” is, not surprisingly, deeply personal and emotional, exploring love, heartbreak and hope.
“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,” said Booker, who was accompanied by Tamir Hendelman (piano), Robert Perkins (drums), Dave Robaire (upright bass) and Steve Cotter (guitar).
“The Reunion Concert Live” opens with a Booker original, penned while working on her 1995 debut album, “Very Early,” and designed to sound like it came from the Great American Songbook or a Broadway show.
“I opened the album with this track because it demonstrates the feelings we hope will come by revealing our affection for someone and the desire they will return those feelings,” Booker shared.
Booker reimagines Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood" as an up-tempo Latin number and shines brightly on “My Ship.”
“I was drawn to the mysterious, ethereal elements of the song's (“My Ship”) melody, harmony, and words as a metaphoric love passage. It speaks to the uncertainty of life and love, and the journey it takes us on,” she said.
First recorded by Sarah Vaughan, Booker’s pained experiences around the recording date fueled her stunning performance on “Black Coffee.”
“This song talks about failed love, what it does to those discarded by it, and the vices we adapt to soothe the suffering of that reality. The lyric and music resonated with me because of my personal experience with love gone awry when I was developing this show.”
The arrangement Handelman and Booker crafted for “It Could Happen To You” precedes the Pasadena concert by ten years. The vocalist wrote “What Made God?” after her grandmother’s passing.
“She was my inspiration and hero. It is a deeply personal song based on kitchen conversations held over Creole coffee and tea cakes about religion, life and death, and the mystery and magic of it all. As a child, I questioned everything the way kids do. In my grandmother, I found someone who didn't claim to know all the answers. Instead, she would say ‘I don't know.’ That was the most honest and gracious of responses. She encouraged me to seek the answers I would come to search for from my own experiences, finding truth according to my dreams and beliefs,” Booker recalled fondly.
Ira and George Gershwin’s "But Not for Me" appealed to Booker because it contradicts the narrative of love conquering all.
“It speaks to love lost and the debilitating state it leaves the brokenhearted and the despair of believing in romantic love only to realize love can deceive and betray us. The pain of it is epitomized in this song, and that's the story I wanted to tell. Written in 1930 for the musical ‘Crazy Girl,’ love makes us crazy when we take a chance with someone who doesn't want to or is incapable of returning those feelings, and the toxicity of it when that's the outcome,” said Booker.
Booker’s “Eddie” is a fond remembrance of the affections she received as a teenager and the subsequent disappointment she experienced from interracial relationships. The song is about the one boy who couldn’t be swayed by skin color or peer pressure when it came to his feelings for Booker.
The album closes with the hopeful “The Song Is You,” which Booker says reflects the ethos of the entire record.
“This song expresses the excitement and joy of learning to love again, finding the courage to follow one's heart, and how new love can bloom into a beautiful experience. The song became a metaphor for love being everywhere when we least expect it and how it heals and renews us,” concluded Booker.
“The Reunion Concert Live” is the first of a prolific slate of recording projects Booker has in the pipeline to make up for lost time. The release marks the rebirth of a career, but, more importantly, the resumption of a radiantly gifted life interrupted by unimagined darkness and sorrow. If everyone really does love a comeback story, just wait until Sandra Booker writes hers by the life she courageously lives beginning with the release of this inspired album.
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