Roberta Gambarini at Kuumbwa Jazz Center

Born and raised in Turin, Italy, to music loving parents, Roberta Gambarini grew up constantly listening to her father’s record collection. Her first vocal inspiration was Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, but she soon discovered Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Carmen McRae, as well as gospel and blues artists such as Mahalia Jackson and Bessie Smith. At age 12 she began studying clarinet, but realizing the versatility and talents of her clear alto, she moved to voice, singing and performing in clubs by the time she was 17. In 1998, Gambarini received a scholarship to study for two years at the New England Conservatory in Boston and surprised the jazz world by finishing third in the 1998 Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition...

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Born and raised in Turin, Italy, to music loving parents, Roberta Gambarini grew up constantly listening to her father’s record collection. Her first vocal inspiration was Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, but she soon discovered Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Carmen McRae, as well as gospel and blues artists such as Mahalia Jackson and Bessie Smith. At age 12 she began studying clarinet, but realizing the versatility and talents of her clear alto, she moved to voice, singing and performing in clubs by the time she was 17. In 1998, Gambarini received a scholarship to study for two years at the New England Conservatory in Boston and surprised the jazz world by finishing third in the 1998 Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition. With this recognition as a springboard and the assistance of some of the greatest musicians in the world, who immediately appreciated her talent and invited her to perform with them, she quickly became a fixture on the international jazz circuit.

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