Roberta Gambarini Tickets

My date and I enjoyed this concert so much we paid a second (reduced) cover charge to stay for her second set. I thought Roberta's voice was better than I have heard on her CD's but I haven't heard a lot of them. I first heard her on the Jazz FM show Radio Deluxe and purchased a CD and attended the show based on that. She had local musicians with her, Dave Restivo on piano and Neil Swenson on base I had heard of before;enough said. The drummer Ethan Ardello I hadn't heard of before but was very good as well. He had great dynamics as did the rest of the trio. Roberta started both sets with 2 incredible accapella numbers. It is easy to scat sing but hard to do it well and she is the equal of Ella in that regard. She told us interesting stories about the number she was going to perform and I learned a lot about songs I thought I knew the background of. For instance, one number I thought was Brazilian I learned was written by an Italian for a movie score. The new Jazz Bistro renovation of The senator is classy. We sat in the mezzanine for the first set and on the main floor for the second. The sound was better on the main floor but good on the mezzanine. 3 television monitors show two camera views of the artist on the mezzanine floor. Service was attentive, food was good, menu limited but good. A decent selection of wines by the glass. Parking was right next door for $20.00 flat rate. A great night all around.

The Jazz Bistro was packed with listeners lucky enough to get tickets to this amazing event. I think Roberta Gambarini is the best jazz singer alive. To start with, she has a spectacular voice. It's not just the range, and the equal beauty and strength and clarity of every note, from velvety low to liquid high notes. It's the phrasing, the nuance and emotion. She is an artist, not merely a 'singer'. It's reflected in her choice of material as well as the interpretation. Dave Restivo (piano) and Neil Swainson (bass) were equally inspired and inspiring. Restivo made the Bistro's gorgeous black and scarlet Steinway sing, pushing its fine dynamic range to the limits of both power and delicacy. Like everyone else in the room, I wanted more. I'm keeping a close watch for Gambarini's next appearance.