Jazz singer releases solo album, will perform Nov 1 at The Palace

Sally Terrell has touched the lives of thousands as a writing instructor at Tunxis Community College for almost three decades. With the launch of her music career just five short years ago, she’s surely doubled that number.

This fall Terrell released her first solo album, but she’s clear the endeavor has been anything but solo. The riveting Just in Time, a collection that knits together eight accomplished musicians from greater New York City, is an homage to life and love, and if that sounds prosaic upon first blink, blink again. The sultry notes of Just in Time are rare and poetic — original spins on jazz favorites that highlight Terrell’s ear for both writing and music.

Giacomo Gates, jazz vocalist and educator, had this say about Terrell's solo venture: "With a seasoned group behind her, and singing lived in lyrics, Sally Terrell's first release, Just In Time, doesn't sound like a first outing. It could have been called About Time."

If a collection can be simultaneously invigorating and quieting, Terrell’s first solo album is precisely that. She turns what’s old, young, what’s baked, fresh, what’s statement into question. Musical Director John di Martino, a well-known composer, arranger, and pianist out of New York City said, “ I really enjoyed working with Sally on this recording. She brings a beautiful energy to these songs, breathing new life into them, and this repertoire stands the test of time.”

Even with all these accolades, Sally Terrell is exceedingly humble. She’s quick to say she’s new to the game and invites every experience with heart wide open. Terrell wants to soak it all in. A lifelong student of jazz, she continues to study the greats and approaches every assignment, every conversation, every interaction as an opportunity to broaden her scope. Terrell may see herself as a freshman, green and common, but her honest music, her honest life, is singular.

After talking with Terrell and enjoying her jazz release, I’m reminded of Gavin DeGraw’s 2003 rock hit “I don't want to be anything other than what I've been trying to be lately.” Terrell’s sounds are guileless and unadorned. Her mellow, alto voice, an instrument that chats effortlessly with the talented musicians she’s invited onto the album, is only aiming to be what it is — sincere and comforting. Terrell embodies I-am-what-I-am, and that am is extraordinary in its universal appeal.

Terrell’s music is a balm, for herself and for her fans. Her selections for Just in Time aren’t begging for attention. They merely invite the listener to the cocktail party. The album opener starts the swing with “I’ve got the world on a string,” then moves into “Just in time.” The title track is ostensibly about finding love, but the subtext is about Terrell finding herself, ready to share her music, just in time. The third track is an original, written for her father, a Korean veteran whose war wounds, both physical and emotional, left him deeply scarred.

By the fourth track “Tenderly,” you’re certain of Terrell’s range, and you relax into the remaining tunes. Every listener will be able to pick favorites, and that’s not a sign of chinks, but rather evidence of how we bring our whole selves to Terrell who offered her whole self to us. My favorites are “I thought about you” and “’S wonderful.” See if yours are the same.

Sally Terrell was embracing vulnerability and daring greatly before Brené Brown reminded us that courage was key. She’s been in the quiet, life-changing classrooms of Tunxis Community College since 1990, marking time by helping students find their voices. Since 2010, she and her husband, John Sarlo, have played locally with The Green Jazz Band. After a close friends’s death in 2014, she and her bandmates decided it was time to play more and play out.

In her music, Terrell brings her lived experiences without heaving them upon us. Her history of filial affection for her father, lost and longing, and for her mother, who eventually succumbed to the herculean task of staying upright in the face of single parenting and addiction, colors all Terrell does, yet her first solo album speaks of hope and love and joy. In Just in Time, a voice rich with experience meets a remarkable enterprise to make the world just a little easier by helping us find joy in the simple pleasure of listening to music.

To download Sally Terrell’s Just in Time, visit store.cdbaby.com/cd/sallyterrell.

Sally Terrell’s album release performance will be held at The Palace Theater’s Poli Club on November 1, 2019. Guests may purchase tickets for the 7pm or 9pm showing at palacetheaterct.org/shows/jazz/fall-jazz-series-2019-sally-terrell-friends/. Tickets are $30 and are expected to sell out.