Gabi Hartmann at Smalls Jazz Club

However much we have to say about Gabi Hartmann, no-one will necessarily know where her voice has taken us. To a cellar where there’s jazz, a tropical beach at sunset? To a hillside terrace in Lisbon... or maybe the back of some Paris restaurant one evening in winter. Close your eyes and you see embracing shadows, those of a jazz legend or a diva of the bossa nova, a great lady in black who sings in French or Portuguese, all of them passing by at a crossroads between exquisite chic and dizzying nostalgia, comforting softness, and low spirits that can be shared. Fifteen months after introducing herself with an EP, the first full album by Gabi Hartmann, produced with Jesse Harris, has been released at long last. They had met in New York at a 2018 recording session, and Jesse brought talents that have already produced glorious collaborations with such singers as Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux and Melody Gardot....

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However much we have to say about Gabi Hartmann, no-one will necessarily know where her voice has taken us. To a cellar where there’s jazz, a tropical beach at sunset? To a hillside terrace in Lisbon... or maybe the back of some Paris restaurant one evening in winter. Close your eyes and you see embracing shadows, those of a jazz legend or a diva of the bossa nova, a great lady in black who sings in French or Portuguese, all of them passing by at a crossroads between exquisite chic and dizzying nostalgia, comforting softness, and low spirits that can be shared. Fifteen months after introducing herself with an EP, the first full album by Gabi Hartmann, produced with Jesse Harris, has been released at long last. They had met in New York at a 2018 recording session, and Jesse brought talents that have already produced glorious collaborations with such singers as Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux and Melody Gardot.

On pourra discuter à l’infini, mais on ne sait pas forcément très clairement où la voix de Gabi Hartmann nous transporte : un bar jazz en sous-sol, une plage tropicale au crépuscule, une terrasse dans une pente de Lisbonne, le fond d’une brasserie parisienne par une nuit d’hiver ? On ferme les yeux et passent, enlacées, l’ombre d’une légende du jazz, d’une diva de la bossa nova, d’une grande dame en noir de la chanson française ou portugaise, quelque part au carrefour du chic exquis et de la mélancolie vertigineuse, de la douceur consolante et du spleen partagé. Quelques mois après un EP introductif, paraît enfin le premier album de Gabi Hartmann, produit avec Jesse Harris. Ils se rencontrent en 2018 à New York. Il apporte tout ce qui fait la gloire de ses collaborations avec Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux ou Melody Gardot.

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