Sandra St. Victor
| Sandra St. Victor | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Sandra Kay Matthews |
| Born | May 28, 1963 |
| Origin | Dallas, Texas, USA |
| Genres | R&B, soul, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger, pianist |
| Instruments | Piano, Clarinet, Vocals |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Atlantic Records, East West Records, Elektra Records, Warner Music Group, Shanachie Records |
| Associated acts | The Family Stand, Daughters Of Soul |
| Website | http://www.sandrastvictor.com |
Sandra St. Victor is a Dallas-born singer-songwriter most known for her work as lead singer of The Family Stand. She attended the now famous Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, (Arts Magnet) High School studying all styles of music. Arts Magnet was also stomping grounds for musical colleagues Erykah Badu, Roy Hargrove, Norah Jones and Edie Brickell. She received scholarships in music to Kansas University & Bishop College in Dallas, Texas, where she continued her studies, until deciding she'd rather learn by doing. She joined a local band in Dallas, and began touring Texas and Louisiana. The band was led by jazz guitarist Zachary Breaux.
St. Victor moved to New York in the early 1980s on the offer of Roy Ayers to join his touring band Ubiquity. After seeing her sing with Ayers at the upper west side's Mikell's, Chaka Khan asked Sandra to join her touring outfit, and help her find & audition the new background singer unit.
Sandra toured with Chaka throughout the 1980s as well as Freddie Jackson and Glenn Jones. Alongside touring, she made her name on the session circuit honing her chops with some of New York's finest voices, such as Lisa Fisher, Cindy Mizelle, Audrey Wheeler, Brenda White King, Tawatha Agee and Curtis King. In 1986, Sandra was introduced to Peter Lord and Jeffrey Smith via Lisa Fisher at a Luther Vandross concert in Dallas, Texas, where she was visiting family. Sandra had met Lisa years before in Houston, Texas, before she moved to New York. Fisher was on tour with The Crystals at the time. Peter and Jeff were known R&B producers and needed someone to sing their demos. Sandra fit the bill. She and the boys hit it off right away. Their three distinct musical backgrounds, classical, soul, pop, rock, jazz, melded together in the studio creating something exciting enough for them to want to record as a team. Hence the beginning of The Family Stand.
Sandra began her solo career in 1993 signing to Elektra Records and recording the never-released Sanctuary. Although never released as a St. Victor work, the album has had several songs used by other artists, including the title track "Sanctuary" used by Prince on his Emancipation CD, retitled, "Soul Sanctuary". "I'll Never Open My Legs Again" used by Chaka Khan on her "Come 2 My House" CD retitled, "I'll Never Be Another Fool", "Whatever You Want" used by Tina Turner, and "Love Is", also used by Prince for an unreleased band under his production. The song was renamed "Van Gogh". Serbian band Van Gogh also covered the song. Sandra's original work languishes still today on the record company's shelf.
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