Easy to Love

Roberta Gambarini | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 6, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Groovin' High/Kindred Rhythm
• ASIN: B000FBHCP0
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,513 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #10 in Music > Jazz > Vocal Jazz > Vocalese

Track Listings

1. Easy to Love

2. Only Trust Your Heart

3. Lover Man

4. On the Sunny Side of the Street

5. Porgy, I’s Your Woman Now/I Loves You, Porgy

6. Lover Come Back to Me

7. The Two Lonely People

8. Centerpiece

9. Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry

10. No More Blues

11. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes/All the Things You Are

12. Too Late Now

Editorial Reviews

James Moody

"Remember this name, R-O-B-E-R-T-A G-A-M-B-A-R-I-N-I. She’ll be the best singer around for quite awhile."

Product Description

Although she was born and bred in Italy, Gambarini brings a distinctly American jazz flavor to Easy to Love. On the title track, her multi-octave range can be seen as an indication of the "cool school" but when she starts swinging she’s anything but cool! Her scats and melodies breathe beautifully and her melodic lines have a lighter, airier quality that finds her swinging but in a softer, more relaxed manner. Billie Holiday’s anthem "Lover Man" has been claimed as part of the cool jazz movement and Gambarini certainly offers an outstanding variation of this sublime ballad. Even Gershwin would have enjoyed her passionate reworking of "Porgy, I’s Your Woman Now/I Loves You Porgy." Gambarini is equally successful at presenting this Great American Songbook standard as a medley of sentimentality with a range of penetrating cries and whispers implicated in her voice. From ballads to bop, Roberta proves she’s no stranger to the art of swing or the bop idiom. Once into "On The Sunny Side of The Street" she teases with playful scats and daring vocalese that would renew anyone’s vocal jazz ambitions. "Lover Come Back To Me" adopts a different tonal palette as she launches into a swinging set complete with searing scats that clearly show her respect for Ella Fitzgerald. Joined by the inimitable James Moody on tenor sax and vocals on "Lover Man" and "Centerpiece," the saxophonist adds his instinct for melodic development and own brand of scatting. Adding further to Gambarini’s style is a mellifluous but dynamic ensemble that includes Chuck Berghofer and John Clayton on bass, Tamir Handelman and Gerald Clayton on piano, Willie Jones III and Joe La Barbera on drums.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "outstanding vocal & jazz arrangements...Roberta Gambarini", June 30, 2006

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Easy to Love (Audio CD)

Roberta Gambarini once quoted..."I am concentrating to a standard repertoire because people relate to it more in America, more original material will come later on."...As a teenager, when her peers were listening to American and Italian pop, she was checking out her dad's jazz record collection. She got hooked on the music and has developed a captivating, confident voice as she has matured into a serious artist..."The most important thing for me now, even more than style, is to establish a connection with the audience."...Roberta now puts her own spin on jazz chestnuts, works from the "Great American Songbook", and waits for the recording industry to notice how well she does it with her singular approach...Roberta Gambarini has an instrumental approach and possesses a warm timbre, impeccable timing and intonation, incredible technique and scatting and improvisation skills.

Born in Torino, Italy from a family where jazz was much loved and appreciated, she began listening to this music as a child...started performing while still in her teens, touring jazz clubs in northern Italy...Since 1985 she has played the most important festivals and venues in her country as well as many of the renowned international jazz festivals...Gambarini's been recording since 1986 both under her name and as a featured singer with most Italian musicians. In 1998 she moved to the United States with a scholarship from the New England Conservatory in Boston. In the same year she won third price at the International Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition.

Appearing with Roberta on this album as backup Chuck Berghofer (Bass), John Clayton (Bass), Gerald Clayton (Piano), Joe La Barbera (Drums), Willie Jones III (Drums), James Moody Sextet (Tenor Saxophone, Vocals), Tamir Hendelman (Piano)...with outstanding arrangements by Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Strayhorn, Roberta Gambarini, Tamir Hendelman...Gambarini is now performing under her own name...just stand back and take in her warm and dusky timbre, with which she can scat well-known solos remarkably subtly.

As Michael Brecker stated "Finally a singer whom musicians have long known is one of the greats, Roberta's recording debut is breathtaking"...a quote from Kevin Lowenthal of the Boston Globe "Gambarini is a true successor to Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae"...take a listen and see if you don't agree --- outstanding vocals and jazz arrangements on her latest release from Koch is "Easy To Love", and my friend this album is just that!

Total Time: 77 mins ~ Now Forward Inc 1122 ~ (6/06/2006)

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally. Don't wait any longer, you have to hear Roberta., July 28, 2006

By 

Bruce C. Moore (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Easy to Love (Audio CD)

Those fortunate to have seen Roberta Gambarini perform have waited a long time for this release. I, for one, am thrilled with the outcome. Her song selection hints at her command of the American Songbook. The band(s) provides sophisticated support. The sound is clean and solid. Roberta's voice is rich, smooth, and faultless through her extensive range. Her pitch is spot on, her phrasing opens up the songs, and her time just swings.

Having placed 3rd behind Jane Monheit and Teri Thornton in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition in 1998, she went on to win the jazz hearts and minds of musicians and jazz lovers at festivals and clubs across the U.S. - but contract issues in her native Italy prevented a U.S. release. With those issues resolved, and with the release of "Easy to Love", Roberta Gambarini will finally be heard by the audience she deserves.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AS GOOD AS IT GETS! ! ! ! !, September 16, 2006

By 

Tony NYC "Tony NYC" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Easy to Love (Audio CD)

FINALLY ! ! ! A femalel vocalist who REALLY is in the same league as Ella, Sarah and the few other greats who ever walked the earth. Not only is she the BEST female vocalist to come along in DECADES, this album is PERFECT. Besides her absolutely perfect singing, phrasing, intonation and style etc., you also get a group of SUPERB musicians backing her up and playing exactly what is called for. You ALSO get JAMES MOODY on tenor sax and vocals on two of the tracks. ALSO, for you out there who want to know how good that high end equiptment you might own can sound, the recording quality of this CD is absolutely perfect. Recorded and mixed by Al Schmitt. This guy should get an award. Every time I play this CD it's hard to convince myself that it isn't live in my living room. So many great CD's suffer from really lousy recording quality. This is a great CD to see how good vocals sound on that high end gear. All I can say is, being a jazz and female vocalist fanatic, FINALLY someone up there in the ranks with Ella and all the other greats finally appears. And on her DEBUT CD ! ! ! I can't wait for Roberta Gambarini to do another CD. I've never been this excited about a new artist. This is a MUST HAVE ! ! ! I never had much faith in the Grammy Awards, we all know they go to those who sell the most CD's, but if SHE doesn't get a Grammy for this CD, then that is PROOF that the Grammy's are a farce. BUY IT.