My Favorite Songs I Japan

Roberta Gambarini is hands down the greatest singer today, jazz or you name it.Although in my book the greatest jazz singer ever is Anita O'Day, based on my long life as a jazz addict and 30-plus years as her best friend who saved her life and got her to sing again after an accident convinced her she never would. Which I mention only because it was interesting for me to compare the songs on this CD as sung by both Anita and Roberta, as it may be for you too.The two songs are "Whisper Not" and "Fly Me to the Moon" and I have to say, with all the objectivity I can apply, both were won by Anita, the latter by at least 10 lengths. Main reason for both: Anita let the lyrics and the beat flow naturally like water down a stream; Roberta allowed theatrics to upstage her natural talents which are second to none.Also, Roberta's lyrics sound labored on most of the songs on her latest CD, as opposed to those on her previous ones.One of my favorite songs of all time is Poor Butterfly which should project the innocence and meekness of the abandoned Japanese girl the song is about. Roberta starts out in that vein but as the song goes on she becomes more aggressive and louder than I would have liked her to be, so I have to give her interpretation less than five stars.Roberta at her incomparable best is in evidence on two or three songs on this CD, the best by far being "Close to You". Anyone who doesn't appreciate the emotion of every word, every nuance and everything left out has to be deaf or dead.I've been selling Roberta Gambarini to every music lover I know since discovering her on her first CD. So my standards for her have been as high as high C.I don't think her latest CD quite measures up to that standard, despite the fact that her voice is more spectacular than ever, which can also be a minus because a great vocal performance should be totally about the song, not the singer's voice and the ability to wipe out every other singer who ever lived, which Roberta can easily do without making a special effort to prove it.I think appropriate bottom-line words would be Taste and Less is More, which Roberta has always exhibited in spades but on this CD I think she loses a couple of points for reasons cited.- As for my comparison of jazz singers, Anita O'Day is not only the greatest ever but the greatest musician to ever inspire the instrumentalists she worked with, because she was always one of them.- Roberta Gambarini is easily the greatest of all current singers, jazz or otherwise. If she had been singing in those most memorable years of the 1930s to the 1960s, she would have been right up there at the top with the best of them.Jim Donovan

Roberta has a truly magnificent voice and she sings all the classic songs straight from her heart - excellent album and any true lover of quality music should definitely buy this album - georgous stuff!

This is an outstanding album, as one might expect from the marvelously talented Ms. Gambarini. Her vocals are as close to flawless as they can be, and the accompanists, led by pianist George Cables, are are really great. Five stars all the way!

Love love love this CD!!! She is extremely talented and these are lovely arrangements and song selections! She is playful, sexy, skillful, thoughtful... All at once! One of the jazz greats of this century!

Extremely fine singing.

More from whom I consider the very best contemporary singer.roberta gambarini.great tunes and arrangements. Sounds fantastic on sashas bet you will like it!!!

I had never heard her before and I entranced. This is even better than her other disc, You are there.

Outstanding, really enjoy Shadow Of Your Smile

As a lifelong fan of Ella, Sarah and Carmen plus Sinatra, Torme, Bennett and all those great singers, I've got to say that Roberta Gambarini belongs in that canon. I saw her at Ronnie Scott's in 2007 and again in 2011 and she just keeps getting better; to open at Ronnie's with an acapella version of "Stardust", you could hear a pin drop, she had the audience in the palm of her hand. The clarity, the diction even at high tempo ("Nobody else but me"), the pitch and phrasing are all up there with the very best. Roberta is a talented musician who can also scat with the best (Ella / Torme) and has a great understanding of the jazz history, able to reproduce the famous instrumental solos of old. Excellent varied song choices here, classical Great American Songbook, some modern jazz classics and surprisingly for a "jazz artist" a couple of Carpenter's songs "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Close to You"; here you can hear how bell clear her voice sounds, you could be forgiven at times that you were listening to Karen then a stronger jazz inflection kicks in. I have all her albums to date, there are no duds; this is great album but for an even greater performance in my opinion look out for the CD "You Are There" - Roberta Gambarini and Hank Jones, this album was surely a labour of love between the old generation and the new.

For my money there is no better living jazz singer than Roberta Gambarini. I was privileged to see her at Ronnie Scott's in 2011 and I would say it was the best concert I've ever been to. This latest album is pricier than her previous ones but well worth the outlay. Roberta is on top form throughout, offering a magnificent 7 minute version of the title song, a superb Shining Hour, an exquisite My one and only love, the best version ever of Close to You. There's not a weak track in sight!

前作「So In Love」から４年目にして出された新作アルバム「Shadow Of Your Smile」、なかなかいいですね。声質がやや硬かったことからジャズファンの間では好き嫌いがあった、ロバータ・ガンハリーニでしたが、今回のアルバムでは一皮むけて歌い上げています。日本のファンを念頭に企画したものとあって、選曲も冴えています。声に福よかさが出たなと特に感じたのは、「雨の日と月曜日は」と「遥かなる影」のカーペンターズのカバー。カレンの声と聴き紛うがごとき感じの潤いの声でした。全般的に、スローで入り、途中から伴奏が加わります。冒頭の「Shadow Of Your Smile」次の「Fly Me To The Moon」など典型的ですね。この入り方は堪えられない。ガーシュイン作曲の「Someone To Watch Over Me」「Embraceable You」は、あたかも一曲のものであるように演奏されていました。長いバースとメインのように。ジャスティン・ロビンソンのサックスも洒落ています。異色なのは、７曲目の「Moanin」。インストの曲を圧倒的な「声力」で歌い、お得意のシャプティプダバダと聞こえるようなスキャットが疾走します。懐かしい。サラボーンやエラを彷彿とさせるような感覚。１２曲目の「Satin Doll」もそうですね。とにかく、今回は、Deep Voiceでした。聴いていて、あれ、カサンドラ・ウイルソンかな、ダイアン・リーブスかなと思わせる歌いっぷりで、かつ、音程と滑舌よし。大きいスピーカーのオーディオでこそ楽しめる本格的ジャズボーカルかなと思います。４年間待っただけあって、彼女の成長が存分楽しめるものとなりました。

ガンバリーニの落ち着いたジャズボーカル楽しめました。ありがとうございます。

Hallo, die CD ist hervorragend, nur der Preis hierfür war unangemessen zu hoch Eine zufriedenstellende Antwort auf meine Anfrage bezüglich des Preises habe ich nie bekommen..Schade. Es lohnt sich nicht, CDs aus Japan zu beziehen..Manfred Schramm