Sandra Bouza was our Talent Search winner this past year and the winner of our playoff to head to Memphis for the International Blues Challenge in January where she reached the semi-finals. She released a couple of songs during this time and now we have a full album. Her glorious voice is supported by sturdy rhythm guitar and swirling keyboards plus bass & drums as she sings at some length about failed relationships with brutal honesty and deep insights. She sings in the last song, hers are all ‘wrong songs’: “Almost Love” deals matter-of-factly with a rejected partner who wasn’t quite right. The “Stone Junction” is where two jaded lovers continue to meet, and return to, as equals. “Turn It Up” is faster, two people meet on the dance floor, perhaps not for the first time. “Human Connection” addresses head-on her need for companionship. In “East Side Woman” this attraction is to another woman, reluctantly. As a style of music, Sandra Bouza sings in a more contemporary R&B/Soul style but that wonderful blues voice can sing more traditional blues very well indeed as those of us at the IBC playoffs heard in her version of Elmore James’ “One Way Out”. On an album of excellent original material, it would seem that this performance was not required. The web site is www.sandrabouza.com, and it has several videos for you to enjoy. You can listen to the album there as well.