Sarah, 1992

Sarah Lois Vaughan (1924 – 1990) was an American jazz singer, described by music critic Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century." Her fame skyrocketed in 1944 when she joined Billy Eckstine's new band. Also working with Eckstine were trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker, who introduced the group to a new form of jazz, known as bebop. An inspired Vaughan brought bebop into her singing, which can be heard in the 1945 recording of "Lover Man" that she made with Parker and Gillespie. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "The Divine One", Sarah Vaughan was a Grammy Award winner. The National Endowment for the Arts bestowed upon her its "highest honor in jazz", the NEA Jazz Masters Award, in 1989. 

This was Raimondi’s first sculpture in his “Jazz Series,” and is an intensely emotional and lyrical piece that evokes the unique feminine artistic expression Sarah Vaughan brought to her songs and performances.