Editing Sarah Vaughan (section)

===1982–1989: Late career===
[[File:Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine.jpg|thumb|Vaughan and Billy Eckstine at Monterey Jazz Festival in 1981]]

In the summer of 1980, she received a plaque on 52nd Street outside the CBS Building (Black Rock) commemorating the jazz clubs she had once frequented on "Swing Street" and which had long since been replaced with office buildings. A performance of her symphonic Gershwin program with the [[New Jersey Symphony]] in 1980 was broadcast on PBS and won her an [[Emmy Award]] the next year for Individual Achievement, Special Class. She was reunited in 1982 with Tilson Thomas for a modified version of the Gershwin program, played again by the Los Angeles Philharmonic but this time in its home hall, the [[Dorothy Chandler Pavilion]]; the CBS recording of the concert ''[[Gershwin Live!]]'' won a Grammy for [[Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female|Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female]].

After the end of her contract with Pablo in 1982, she committed to a limited number of studio recordings. She made a guest appearance in 1984 on [[Barry Manilow]]'s ''[[2:00 AM Paradise Cafe]]'', an album of pastiche compositions with established jazz musicians. In 1984, she participated in ''The Planet is Alive, Let It Live'' a symphonic piece composed by Tito Fontana and Sante Palumbo on Italian translations of Polish poems by Karol Wojtyla, better known as [[Pope John Paul II]]. The recording was made in Germany with an English translation by writer [[Gene Lees]] and was released by Lees on his private label after the recording was rejected by the major labels.

In 1985 Vaughan reconnected with her longstanding, continually growing European audience during a celebratory concert at the Chatelet Theater in Paris. Released posthumously on the Justin Time label, ''[[In the City of Lights]]'' is a two-disc recording of the concert, which covers the highlights of Vaughan's career while capturing a beloved singer at the height of her powers. Thanks in part to the hard-swinging telepathic support of pianist Frank Collett (who answers each of her challenges then coaxes the same from her), Sarah reprises [[Tad Dameron]]'s "If You Could See Me Now" with uncommon power, her breathstream effecting a seamless connection between chorus and bridge. For the Gershwin Medley, drummer [[Harold Jones (drummer)|Harold Jones]] swaps his brushes for sticks to match energy and forcefulness that does not let up until the last of many encores.  On June 16, 1985, Vaughan appeared at the [[Playboy Jazz Festival]].

In 1986, Vaughan sang "Happy Talk" and "Bali Ha'i" in the role of Bloody Mary on a studio recording by [[Kiri Te Kanawa]] and [[José Carreras]] of the score of the Broadway musical ''[[South Pacific (musical)|South Pacific]]'', while sitting on the studio floor.  Vaughan's final album was ''[[Brazilian Romance]]'', produced by [[Sérgio Mendes]] with songs by [[Milton Nascimento]] and [[Dori Caymmi]]. It was recorded primarily in the early part of 1987 in New York and Detroit. In 1988, she contributed vocals to an album of Christmas carols recorded by the [[Mormon Tabernacle Choir]] with the [[Utah Symphony Orchestra]] and sold in Hallmark Cards stores. In 1989, Quincy Jones' album ''[[Back on the Block]]'' included Vaughan in a brief scatting duet with Ella Fitzgerald. This was her final studio recording. It was her only studio recording with Fitzgerald in a career that had begun 46 years earlier opening for Fitzgerald at the Apollo.

The video ''Sarah Vaughan Live from Monterey'' was taped in 1983 or 1984 with her trio and guest soloists. ''Sass and Brass'' was taped in 1986 in New Orleans with guests Dizzy Gillespie and Maynard Ferguson. ''Sarah Vaughan: The Divine One'' was part of the ''[[American Masters]]'' series on PBS. Also in 1986, on Independence Day in a program nationally televised on PBS she performed with the [[National Symphony Orchestra]] conducted by [[Mstislav Rostropovich]], in a medley of songs composed by George Gershwin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/462446/a-capitol-fourth-1986|title=Capitol Fourth -- 1986, A (1986) - Overview - TCM.com|website=Turner Classic Movies}}</ref>