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ROBERTA GAMBARINI has a goal each time she takes the concert stage. The Italian jazz singer thinks it's silly — but, really, it's not.
She wants her love songs to evoke a certain response from the crowd.
"I'm going to sound really sappy saying this," says Gambarini during a recent phone conversation from her New York home. "But there will a couple near the front of the stage at a small club show and, during a love song, I like to see when the arm of the guy slips over the woman's shoulder. That's lovely. It's like — 'Mission accomplished!'"‰"
Gambarini likely succeeds at her goal most nights; with a glorious voice like hers, how could she fail? Hear for yourself when the Grammy-nominated singer performs at 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 p.m. Sunday at Yoshi's in San Francisco.
Gambarini is touring in support of the splendid new album "So in Love," a work that goes a long way toward securing her place among the top singers on today's jazz scene. The record nicely displays the vocalist's range, moving from a cover of the Beatles' "Golden Slumbers" to the Frank Sinatra staple "I See Your Face Before Me" to the classic "Over the Rainbow" and the lovely Italian song "Estate."
It also features a rendition of the Willie Nelson-penned "Crazy," which Patsy Cline popularized in 1961. The tune is one of the better-known songs in the English language, yet Gambarini, who was born in northern Italian
"I regret to say that I'd never heard of Patsy Cline before moving to the States," she says. "In general, not much country music has translated over to Southern Europe."
Now she's an Americana music enthusiast. Gambarini says she'll someday record an entire jazz album drawn from the great Americana songbook.
Gambarini definitely could make that work, especially if she invites a similar cast to the one that accompanied her on "So in Love." The album's lineup includes trumpeter Roy Hargrove, who helps warm up the ballad "This is Always," and saxophonist James Moody, who sparkles on the Cole Porter classic "Get Out of Town." (Moody, one of Gambarini's most frequent collaborators, will join the vocalist for the Yoshi's gigs.)
If you take in one of Gambarini's Yoshi's gigs, bring a loved one. You don't want a stranger slipping their arm around you during one of Gambarini's pretty ballads. Or maybe you do. Whatever floats your boat.
Tickets for the shows are $18-$22. Yoshi's is at 1330 Fillmore St. Call 415-655-5600 or visit www.yoshis.com.
THE BASSIST WITH THE MOSTEST: I saw bassist Stanley Clarke last week at Yoshi's in Oakland, with pianist Chick Corea and drummer Lenny White — and I'm already looking forward to catching him again when he returns with a different trio, featuring White and young powerhouse pianist Hiromi, Oct. 9-11 to Yoshi's in San Francisco. This is the same threesome that produced "Jazz in the Garden," one of my favorite records of the year.
BRIDGE TO SOMEWHERE?: I like this year's Bridge School Benefit lineup, which brings No Doubt, Coldplay's Chris Martin and others to Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain Oct. 24 and 25 — but I'd like to know your opinion. Think you could come up with a better lineup? If so, go to my blog — blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/category/concerts/. — and post your dream Bridge bill (living artists only, thank you). In turn, I'll print some of the more interesting ones in an upcoming column.
