Biography

b. 1 April c. 1962, Wilmington, Delaware, USA. Studying classical piano from the age of eight, four years later Lazarus joined her school band in which she played tenor saxophone. At 16 she played in the American Youth Jazz Band, visiting Europe on a tour that included an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. After school, she studied English literature at Harvard University where she played saxophone and also sang with bands. During this period, she was heard by Artist in Residence Illinois Jacquet who encouraged her to follow music as a career. Upon graduating from Harvard in 1984, she relocated to France where she re-encountered Jacquet who included her in a band he led for a tour. She was now concentrating on singing and gradually built a following at French clubs and concert venues. She led her own group and also worked with Franck Ansellem, Patrice Caratini, Riccardo del Fra and Jacky Terrasson. In 1994, Lazarus made a return visit to the USA where she entered the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition, winning first prize. She then returned to France where she and her husband, French saxophonist Eric Breton, raised their sons. Her regular French trio in the early and mid-00s was Alain Jean-Marie (piano), Gilles Naturel (bass) and Andrea Michelutti (drums). Other musicians with whom she has worked, some of which guested on her 2005 debut album, include guitarists Biréli Lagrène and Hono Winterstein, bass player Diego Imbert and drummers André Céccarelli and Winard Harper. Lazarus sings songs drawn from the classic pop repertoire, such as ‘Get Out Of Town’, ‘Give Me The Simple Life’, ‘Taking A Chance On Love’, ‘Embraceable You’, ‘The Way You Look Tonight’, ‘This Can’t Be Love’ and ‘He Was Too Good To Me’, and jazz works, including Clare Fischer’s ‘Morning’. For her second album, It’s All Right With Me, Lazarus was joined again by Lagrène, this time leading his Gipsy Project group.