Jazz Singer Roberta Gambarini Shines In Virtual SOPAC Sessions, March 25

The South Orange Performing Arts Center will welcome Roberta Gambarini to its stage in the latest SOPAC Session, a virtual series highlighting an eclectic roster of superb talent.

The Grammy Award-nominated Ms. Gambarini delights all those who appreciate the beauty of the Jazz Standards and an accomplished and powerful singer. A dynamic performer with virtuosic vocal chops, Roberta Gambarini draws rave reviews and enthusiastic fan support wherever she performs. Gambarini is a true successor to Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae." (Boston Globe) For this exclusive SOPAC Sessions concert, she will be accompanied by Cyrus Chestnut on piano, John Lee on bass and Tommy Campbell on drums.

Born in Torino, Italy, into a family where Jazz was much loved and appreciated. She began listening to this music as a child and by the time she was 17, she began singing and performing in Jazz clubs around Northern Italy. Soon after moving to Milan, Roberta took third place in a national Jazz radio competition on TV, leading to performance opportunities at Jazz festivals throughout Italy. She performed on Jazz broadcasts on Italian radio and TV channels and in 1986 began recording both under her own name and as a guest. In 1997, she worked with French Hammond organ player Emmanuel Bex, touring Jazz clubs throughout Italy.

In 1998 she moved to the United States with a scholarship from the New England Conservatory in Boston. Two weeks later, Roberta stunned many in the Jazz world with a third-place finish in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition.

Her recording Easy to Love was nominated for a GRAMMY in 2007 in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category (along with albums by Karrin Allyson, Nancy King, Diana Krall, and Nancy Wilson). Roberta's "formidable talent" (DownBeat Magazine) has also garnered her wins as the 2007 Female Jazz Singer of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) and as the 2007 Talent Deserving Wider Recognition from DownBeat Magazine's Annual Critics Poll.

On February 12, 2008, Roberta made her major label debut with You Are There (Groovin' High/Emarcy), a collection of 14 hauntingly beautiful melodies, with the legendary pianist, Hank Jones. The music was recorded in one afternoon; Roberta and Hank had no concept for the album- just 25 tunes they liked, and thought would be interesting to record. "There were no isolation booths, no headphones, no over dubs," Gambarini remembers. "The sound would be just what you would hear had you been in someone's living room playing among friends."

Roberta Gambarini has performed with Michael Brecker, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Slide Hampton, Roy Hargrove, Jimmy Heath, James Moody, Hank Jones, Christian McBride, and Toots Thielemans, among many others, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, The LA Philharmonic, Town Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Jazz festivals around the world such as Barbados, London, Monterey, North Sea, Toronto, and Umbria.

Tickets are $10, and free for SOPAC members. To purchase tickets, contact SOPAC at (973) 313-2787, write boxoffice@sopacnow.org or visit https://www.sopacnow.org/events/roberta-gambarini/.

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