press
"From Italy,
a Great American Jazz Singer!"
Christopher Loudon - Jazz Times
Dec.2010
Roberta. A 1935 RKO musical starring Irene Dunne, but long since more famous as the third screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Rediscovered after
languishing for decades in a studio vault, it becomes a favorite of a young couple in Torino, northern Italy. They love its classic Jerome Kern songs: "I Won't Dance," "Yes-terdays" and especially "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes." When their daughter is born in 1972, there's no question as to what her name will be. Roberta. Roberta Gambarini.
"Roberta Gambarini at Catalina"
Scott Yanow - LA Jazz Scene
Jan.2024
There are many talented female jazz singers currently on the scene today, but if I could only pick a single vocalist to sing a long note, Roberta Gambarini would be the one. Her tone is beautiful in every register in her large range, her delivery is powerful yet often tender, and her phrasing and articulation are impeccable. Plus she is a master of the bebop vocabulary and can outswing nearly anyone. Despite her shortage of current recordings (a situation that might change soon), very few singers in any field are on her level.
"Roberta Gambarini on Piano Jazz"
Jon Weber - NPR
Apr.1, 2011
Vocalist Roberta Gambarini was born in the Italian city of Torino, the daughter of diehard jazz fans. Her father moonlighted on saxophone, and Roberta was named for an eponymous 1935 RKO musical that featured the standards "Yesterdays" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," by Jerome Kern. At 12, Gambarini began studying clarinet and later piano and composition. Her jazz education came by way of recordings of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. By her late teens, Gambarini was singing in local clubs; she soon moved to Milan, where she worked in radio and television.