REBECCA SAYRE
Sure, Rebecca Sayre has more Ella CDs in her entire collection than any other artist and then of course there’s plenty of Sarah, Anita, Carmen, Chris Connor, Count Basie, Coltrane, Stan Getz, Ellington, and on and on. 
But when Rebecca began composing for her upcoming release, “Beautiful”, all the other music she’s ever been in love with began to seep back in. In one of many epiphanies she would have from then on, she realized that her eclectic taste in music would be the very thing that gives her music an especially unique sound. 
“The tunes on this—my first all-original—album, you can hear the refreshing culmination of everything musically that has ever stayed with me.” There was the music of Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Merle Haggard, Ricky Lee Jones and Sade, Luther Vandross, The Sundays and the brilliant Brazilian pop star Djavan. “I felt really empowered when I realized that I could just allow this array of musical loves to come out in my compositions. I keep reminding myself that the more naturally it comes to me, the more unique my own music (as opposed to copying someone else’s) will be.” And there's another epiphany.
Rebecca Sayre has made a career of performing OPM (other people’s music) on stages and radio in-studios around the country. In March of 2005 her solo debut, "This Is Always", reached #47 on the National JazzWeek Album charts at a time when the deluge of releases by female jazz singers had one programmer exclaiming “I don’t care if she’s Billy Holiday back from the dead, I can’t fit any more female jazz vocalists into my programming!”
In fact, radio programmers were duly impressed with this newcomer’s talent for vocal interpretation as well as band selection. Pat Bergeson produced “This is Always” which featured not only Mr. Bergeson (known for his work with Chet Atkins, Lyle Lovett, Shelby Lynn and others),on guitar but also saxophonist, Jeff Coffin (one of Bela Fleck’s Flectones) and veteran pianist, Beegie Adair (Peggy Lee, Chet Atkins, Mama Cass Elliott among others). Praise from radio spurred a second solo project, only this one—even to her own surprise—would eventually evolve into an album of her own compositions, many of which are co-written with lyricist and BadaBing BadaBoom founder, Eddie Mugavero.
As a lead singer with Nashville favorite, BadaBing, 
Sayre made a name for herself with her outstanding vocals and earned rave reviews from Nashville media and fans. BadaBing performed 100s of shows all over the east, from Lincoln Center in New York to Bliss Fest in Bliss, Michigan, to Destin, Florida where they opened for the Pointer Sisters. At the 2004 Annual Conference of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) in New York City, “Third Coast Vocals” delighted and wowed the audience with a vocalese written by Sayre to Count Basie’s arrangement of “Count ‘em”.
Sayre has been showcasing tunes from her upcoming album, playing in area venues such as The Bluebird Café, 
12th & Porter & Edgehill Studios. Currently, she’s puting the finishing touches on her 5-song EP "New Girl" to be released any day! See Journal for up to date news.