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recordings

albums

easy to love vinyl cover special edition

2006 - 2024

Easy to Love

2007 Grammy Award Nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

The "Easy to Love" album was recorded at legendary Capitol Studios in LA by the great engineer Al Schmitt. Featuring Master James Moody, bassists John Clayton and Chuck Berghofer, pianists Tamir Hendelman and ( as a special guest on one tune) Gerald Clayton, and drummers Joe La Barbera and Willie Jones III, it has been reissued in 2023 as Vinyl Special Audiophile Edition.

Dedications
Duo with Jeb Patton

In 2018 Roberta Gambarini recorded a collection of favorite tunes in duo with pianist Jeb Patton, as a special release destined for the Japanese market. This album is a tribute to the great singers who inspired her since childhood, as well as a love letter to the Japanese audiences who have been so supportive of Roberta's music through the years.

duo recording piano voice tribute to Ella Fitzgerald Sarah Vaughan Carmen McRae

2019

Jimmy Heath Heath Brothers original music lyrics

2017

Connecting Spirits
With the Heath Brothers Band

Roberta Gambarini sings the Jimmy Heath songbook

Recorded in 2015, this album is a collaboration between Roberta and her mentor Jimmy Heath. Along with the Heath Brothers Band (Jazz Master Tootie Heath, pianist Jeb Patton and bassist David Wong) and a number of guests, Roberta and Jimmy perform 14 tunes from Master Heath’s songbook. Executive  producer for this session is Jimmy’s son Mtume.

The Shadow of Your Smile
Homage to Japan

In the year 2012, one year after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan and destroyed the nuclear plant of Fukushima, Roberta took place to a relief concert for the victims of this calamity, at Sony Hall in NYC. Shortly after, she recorded a special session, expressly dedicated to Japan. Accompanied by a stellar rhythm section featuring Masters George Cables (piano) and Victor Lewis (drums), and bassist Jon Webber, Roberta recorded a selection of songs beloved by  Japanese audiences.

quartet George Cables CD cover recording

2013

album cover Tamir Hendelman Roy Hargrove quartet

2010

So in Love

2010 Grammy Award Nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

This award-winning album was recorded by the great engineer Al Schmitt at Capitol Studio in Los Angeles and features a superb cast of musicians accompanying Roberta on a journey through songs spanning from the Great American Songbook to Willie Nelson, from jazz tunes by Johnny Griffin to Michel Legrand and beyond. Roberta’s mentor and saxophone Legend James Moody and long time associate and friend, jazz Great Roy Hargrove, add their magic to a number of tunes of this album as special guests.  

I'm BeBoppin' Too 
With the Dizzy Gillespie All Stars Big Band

2009

The follow-up to 'Dizzy's Business', this album features many of the greatest players in jazz, such as Masters Frank Wess, Jimmy Heath and  James Moody (who trades improvised scat choruses with Roberta on Tadd Dameron's be-bop  classic 'Cool Breeze'), the great pianist Cyrus chestnut, and trumpet Great Claudio Roditi. It also features some new and fresh versions of songs from composers such as Thelonious Monk ( with the now-iconic Slide Hampton arrangement of 'Round Midnight', which Slide penned expressly for Roberta), and Tadd Dameron (a gorgeous arrangement written by Jimmy Heath, including the rarely heard verse).

Album cover Dizzy Gillespie Allstars Big Band voice horns scat singing James Moody
album cover Roy Hargrove Big Band  voice  horns

2009

Emergence
With the Roy Hargroove Big Band

2010 Grammy Nominated Roy Hargroove Big Band

For over a decade, Roberta was the singer with the Roy Hargrove Big Band. This ensemble  toured nationally and internationally, performing  in the biggest Festivals and theaters in the world such as Monterey Jazz Festival, Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City and Tokyo, the Hollywood Bowl, and many more. In this album, Roberta sings Roy Hargrove's gorgeous arrangement of the bolero classic 'La Puerta', which became a staple of the band's repertoire as well as a favorite feature for the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band, and a beautiful arrangement of Cole Porter's classic 'Every time we say goodbye',written by the band's guitarist Saul Rubin.

You Are There
Duo with Hank Jones

French Academy of Jazz 2009 Vocal Album of the Year Award.
This multi Award-winning recording, soon to be reissued as Audiophile Vinyl Special Edition, is the fruit of a long collaboration (and friendship) between Roberta and NEA Jazz Master Hank Hones. Recorded in NYC in 2007 at Nola Studio by engineer Jim Czak, it features a wide range of compositions, from Irving Berlin and Billy Strayhorn to rarely heard songs by Bebop Master Gigi Gryce.’

album cover Roberta Gambarini Hank Jones duo recording

2007

Dizzy Gillespie Allstars Big Band Roberta Gambarini horns album Slide Hampton

2005

Dizzy's Business
With the Dizzy Gillespie All Stars Big Band

The album marks the beginning of Roberta’s journey as the singer for the world renowned Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band. Among the special arrangements created for Roberta by Masters Slide Hampton and Jimmy Heath, are Jimmy’s tune “Moody’s Groove”, and a gorgeous readaptation of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust” that Slide Hampton expressly tailored on Roberta’s voice and musicality.

Aprèslude

The album, in duo with guitarist and composer Antonio Scarano, was recorded and released in Italy in 1991, and received high praise throughout Europe. The repertoire is vast and challenging, ranging from originals to compositions by Ornette Coleman and Thelonious Monk, and jazz interpretations of melodies by Maurice Ravel and Vincenzo Bellini. Harpist Loredana Gintoli and cellist Amerigo Daveri play on some of the selections, and Roberta overdubs her voice multiple times in a special arrangement of Miles Davis’ classic ‘Nefertiti’. ‘

Roberta Gambarini Antonio Scarano guitar voice duo album cover

1991

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