Two-time Grammy-nominee Roberta Gambarini to perform with maestro Jeremy Monteiro at the Jass Benefit Gala 2023

How did you first become interested in jazz, and what drew you to this genre of music?

I started listening to jazz as a young child. My father was a tenor saxophone player in his youth, in love with the music of [American jazz musicians] Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Duke Ellington and Count Basie. My mum and dad met at a jazz concert in Torino [in Italy].

Jazz music was constantly playing in my household, and Dad had a beautiful collection of jazz vinyls. I started listening to jazz before I even knew that it was called jazz. As long-time jazz fans, my parents were also involved as volunteers in a cultural organisation that ran a small jazz club in northern Italy, in the Piemontese town of Biella. Many of the great masters of this music would go there to play, and I had the fortune of getting to hear live the likes of [American jazz musicians] Dexter Gordon, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Harry Sweets Edison, and many more.

In my teens, I started singing with a local rhythm section and that’s when I realised it came natural to me, and I wanted to do this all my life.

As a jazz musician, you perform both original compositions and classic standards. How do you balance staying true to the original while adding your personal touch to the music?

Jazz is a rhythmic language and improvisation is the embodiment of it. All jazz performers are essentially spontaneous composers, so performance is a balance between honouring the composition itself and finding your own presentation to it—and it’s inevitable, no matter the material that you choose. 

You have performed with some of the greatest musicians in the world. Who has made the biggest impact on how you approach your music?

RG Each and every one of the giants that I was so blessed to know and sing with has left a lasting impression on me. As a matter of fact, every aspect of my music has been shaped by the proximity to these masters, and I am not  referring to musical aspects  only, but also to aspects that relate to life and spirituality.

From my mentors [American jazz musicians] Benny Carter, James Moody, Jimmy Heath and Hank Jones, I learned about the importance of integrity in a musical life—staying true to who you are; “forge ahead and strive for tone” (an old adagio); never stop learning and growing; and strive to play the next note better than the one you just played.

I also learned about the importance of being kind to your fellow musicians, and through [American jazz pianist] Mike Longo and the legacy of [American bandleader] Dizzy Gillespie, I absorbed the notion that jazz is a universal language, gifted to humanity in order for us to be able to experience brotherhood beyond all boundaries of culture, nationality, religion and ethnicity. 

How did you first meet Jeremy Monteiro? What is one memorable performance that you have collaborated on which left a lasting impression on you?

RG I met Jeremy Monteiro through my mentor, the great saxophonist-singer James Moody. Moody told me: “Wait till you hear this wonderful pianist, he will blow your mind”. And he was right! I remember many performances with Jeremy, many with Jeremy and Moody, and among the ones that stood in my memory is a concert that also included another one of my heroes and mentors, the legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb. There was a loving and beautiful energy on stage, and that is one of my fondest musical souvenirs.