Jazz Articles

Gia Notte: Shades

by C. Michael Bailey
September 9, 2010

Easy, effortless, breezy, and boundless: a few words to describe Gia Notte's approach to the standards. Shades, from beginning to end, displays an intention to recast standards in a different light. Not a bone-jarring different light, just one that is informative and thoughtfully conceived. Longtime Chet Baker ballad vehicle, “My Funny Valentine," is a case in point. This standard deserves the admonishment that a 50-year moratorium be placed on its recording. However, Notte's autumnal delivery and October ...

Gia Notte: Shades

by Woodrow Wilkins
March 28, 2010

A glance at the set list for Gia Notte's Shades might initially elicit concern about another album of standards. However, fresh arrangements, a solid band, and a charming voice can make a tremendous difference between a ho-hum effort and something that warrants attention. Notte, born Margie but using the nickname Gia, began with piano and voice training at 12. She later developed a taste for performing in various genres. Her debut release, Just You, Just Me, and Friends-- ...

Gia Notte: Shades

by Dan Bilawsky
February 17, 2010

Margie “Gia" Notte's debut recording, Just You, Just Me & Friends--Live at Cecil's, (GNote Records, 2009) was an exciting standards-based journey. Her follow-up, Shades, also finds her interpreting some well-worn songs but the delivery and the arrangements make this more than a run-of-the-mill recording. While the adrenaline-fueled excitement from her live recording is hard to match in a studio setting, she substitutes this quality with a more polished delivery. Each arrangement shows a different side of Notte and the nuances ...

Margie Notte: Just You, Just Me and Friends: Live at Cecil's

by C. Michael Bailey
February 23, 2009

Vocalist Margie Notte has an embarrassment of artistic riches. Among those riches are guts, chutzpah, moxie, or balls, if you will. Her debut recording is a live recording.

Foregoing the safety of the studio, where a musician can digitally correct any burp, hiccup, and musical sneeze, Notte puts it all out there in front of an empathic quartet. Her confidence is further demonstrated by Notte's choice of a well-known repertoire, providing an entire library of performances with which to compare ...