Praised by The Huffington Post as “one of the finer jazz albums you’ll hear this year,” American jazz/pop vocalist Gabrielle Stravelli released Dream Ago to critical acclaim back in January.
Available on the Big Modern Music label, the record was produced by David Cook (Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Marianne Faithfull) and arranged by Pat O’Leary (Diana Krall, James Moody, Lee Konitz).
After launching the album in December at SubCulture in New York, Gabrielle’s 2017 tour dates have included Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Detroit and Columbus, and she has a gig lined up at the Pangea in New York City on Friday, June 9.
At age 15, Gabrielle began singing with orchestras and has since performed all over the world, including Azerbaijan, Moldova, Slovenia and Malta in 2015 as part of the U.S. State Department’s ‘American Music Abroad’ programme.
She was a finalist at the international 2011 Shure Montreux Jazz Festival Vocal Competition and was the first runner-up at the 2009 Jazzmobile Vocal Competition in Harlem.
“I’ve been doing a lot of travelling this year in the US and abroad,” confirmed the singer/songwriter, “which I really love. Having the opportunity to play music while experiencing new places and people is something I never take for granted.”
“Of course, you can’t help but think about that, but I really tried to focus on making an album that I loved and would feel proud of, no matter how people reacted to it. Happily, the album has been well received and that’s very gratifying.”
Where did the title come from? “‘Dream Ago’ is a song on the album that I wrote for my dad,” explained Gabrielle. “He passed away nine years ago and music was a tremendous help for me in processing my grief.
“I think anyone who’s lost a parent knows that it’s very surreal. I felt simultaneously like it had been a very long since I’d seen him and also like I had just seen him a minute ago – a dream ago. The other songs that stand out for me are ‘Cake of My Childhood‘ and ‘Prism’.”
“We’ve been touring the album in the Midwest and overseas so the band is super tight. I’m also looking forward to previewing some new material from future projects – both original compositions and covers.”
The constantly working artist concluded: “I’ve already started thinking about the next album and am writing new songs for that. I’m also working on a new set exploring the music of Willie Nelson, one of my favourite writers and performers.
“I’ll be debuting that at Birdland in the fall. Most importantly, I hope to get some good beach time in before the summer’s over this year!”
Gabrielle Stravelli performs at Pangea on Friday, June 9 at 7pm. Doors open at 6pm for dinner and cocktails.
For more on Gabrielle Stravelli, visit her official website.
