Member Since: 2/20/2006
Band Website: gwynethherbert.com
Band Members: Some or all of the following:
Sam Burgess - bass... Al Cherry - guitar... Dave Price - percussion and fiddle... Steve Holness - piano... Mike Outram - guitar... Tom Cawley - piano...
Influences: Janis Ian, Nina Simone, Tom Cawley, Emily Dickinson, Rufus Wainwright, Paul Simon, Regina Spektor, Eugene O'Neill, Joni Mitchell, Toni Morrison, Stephen Fearing, Fran Landesman, Martin Read, James Taylor, Billie Holiday, Bill Withers, Bill Hicks, Ogden Nash, Tom Waits, Smashing Pumpkins, Laura Nyro, Bob Dylan, Neil Young...
Sounds Like: Reviews for most recent album "Between Me and the Wardrobe", Blue Note:
***** 'With her bewitching voice, the jazz-folk star was never just your standard covers singer. And here is the proof' - Observer Music Monthly
"Superb music... Brilliantly original, full of space and isolated detail." - MOJO
"A Masterpiece" - Courtney Pine
"Her lyrics are consistently engaging... singing with a rare balance of passion and control... one of this year's word-of-mouth hits, with Herbert poised as one of Britain's brightest young talents." - The Telegraph
"Given the freedom to write the record that she wanted, Herbert has delivered a set of very personal songs on which she often sounds closer to Sandy Denny than, say, Sarah Vaughan. Each has a singular mood and texture, from the bittersweet balladry of Midnight Oil to the euphoria of The Morning After… her exquisite voice has found a happier home." - The Times
"The songs are compacted narrative jewels... The music is oak-like, rich and weathered... full of unexpected and highly rewarding details. Recommended." - BBC Jazz Review
"Gwyneth Herbert is... blessed with a timeless voice full of vulnerability, playfulness and pathos. Rounded out only by a gut-string guitar and a double bass, her music is the stuff of dreams — at twists light, funny, intimate, heartwringing and truly emotive. Recently signed to Blue Note, Herbert breathes with talent as both a vocalist and a composer, something that is more than evident in her ethereal mixture of folk, jazz and the familiar cadences of 20th-century musical tradition" - Flavorpill
"Their (the songs') affecting power is so pronounced as to entirely vindicate her commendable insistence on making her own voice heard rather than as she was reportedly asked to do by Universal recording an album of big-band covers. For Herbert's own voice is, in the literal sense, a wonderfully flexible instrument, capable both of whispered intimacy and pleasantly strident power; in the figurative sense it is expressive of a rich complex of emotions..." - The Vortex Review
"Gwyneth Herbert has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve heard in a very long time, at once fragile and powerful and always dripping with emotion." 10/10 - DSD
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Here are Al and I recording a version of "Lay You Down" for a Blue Note podcast last week...
"A voice that's a knowing mix of honey, steel and gravel... Her voice vibrating over the lyrics in a way that makes your toes curl" - The Observer
"The jazz folk-diva with an awesome voice. Expect beguiling, powerful and often witty songs that strike an emotional chord!" - Time Out, London
"A remarkably gifted talent" - The Guardian
"Intelligent and technically awesome singer" - The Guardian
"A gifted singer and a true audience communicator" - The Independent
"If Gwyneth Herbert is not a star before long, I'll eat my CD player" - The Sunday Times
"Herbert is a hugely assured, sensual vocalist who can live a lyric" - The Times
Record Label: Blue Note
Type of Label: Major