GEMMA SHERRY - Sings Bossa Nova
Tunley Records
www.gemmasherry.com
Gemma Sherry (v); Billy Woodman (p); Mike Waite (elb); Patsy Gamble (ts) Cheltenham September 2019
This collection has five bossa nova tunes written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and runs for just twenty-two and a half minutes. It is what used to be called an extended play as the running time is rather less than most of the old ten- inch LPs. Gemma sings Dreamer and then launches into Meditation, taking both at medium pace. She is backed by just piano, bass and, on most tracks Patsy Gamble’s taut tenor sax. With solid piano backing and the rather thick sound of bass guitar, it might have been beneficial to use drums to get the rhythm flowing more evenly. Gemma’s voice is smooth, soft focus and she puts the songs over crisply enough to please most listeners. Her intonation is good, and she has her own style of delivery. Corcovado is the longest track and works best out of the five selected.
The cover of the CD is laid out like a nineteen sixties LP with the words ‘stereophonic’ and ‘guaranteed high fidelity’ along with the letters used on the old Verve records of the period: HI-FI. This seems to have been an attempt to give the CD a nostalgic, old time feel. If you have a liking for 1960s bossa music this will give you a contented twenty minutes, but you may be left feeling you would rather have had more tracks and longer playing time.
Reviewed by Derek Ansell
Tunley Records
www.gemmasherry.com
Gemma Sherry (v); Billy Woodman (p); Mike Waite (elb); Patsy Gamble (ts) Cheltenham September 2019
This collection has five bossa nova tunes written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and runs for just twenty-two and a half minutes. It is what used to be called an extended play as the running time is rather less than most of the old ten- inch LPs. Gemma sings Dreamer and then launches into Meditation, taking both at medium pace. She is backed by just piano, bass and, on most tracks Patsy Gamble’s taut tenor sax. With solid piano backing and the rather thick sound of bass guitar, it might have been beneficial to use drums to get the rhythm flowing more evenly. Gemma’s voice is smooth, soft focus and she puts the songs over crisply enough to please most listeners. Her intonation is good, and she has her own style of delivery. Corcovado is the longest track and works best out of the five selected.
The cover of the CD is laid out like a nineteen sixties LP with the words ‘stereophonic’ and ‘guaranteed high fidelity’ along with the letters used on the old Verve records of the period: HI-FI. This seems to have been an attempt to give the CD a nostalgic, old time feel. If you have a liking for 1960s bossa music this will give you a contented twenty minutes, but you may be left feeling you would rather have had more tracks and longer playing time.
Reviewed by Derek Ansell
