Jazz Articles about Polly Gibbons

About Polly Gibbons

Album Review

Strictly Smokin' Big Band: Strictly Smokin' & Friends

Read "Strictly Smokin' & Friends" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
May 22, 2024

They can be stuffy and old-fashioned. That is the view that many, especially the younger demographic, have about big bands. Making serious headway into changing those perceptions is Michael Lamb. He is the main composer, arranger and trumpeter for the Strictly Smokin' Big Band. He set up the band in 2003 and they have steadily developed to be the top big band in the North East of England and one of the most exciting in the UK. What ...

Interview

Polly Gibbons: Jazz or Blues, It's The Feeling

by R.J. DeLuke
August 2, 2019

British singer Polly Gibbons is past the up-and-coming stage. Her strong will, passion and impressive talent continue to propel her down a path where more good things are sure to come. An indication of her prodigious talent is heard on her latest release, and third for Resonance Records, All I Can Do. It's a joyous romp through jazzy and bluesy standards. When she swings and sings jazz, gruff traces of the blues emerge through her rich vibrato. And ...

Bailey's Bundles

Ten Artists: June 2019

by C. Michael Bailey
June 1, 2019

Polly Gibbons All I Can Do Resonance Records 2019 Polly Gibbons's 2017 Resonance release, Is It Me...? was positively received by All About Jazz and other outlets when it appeared. That recording featured a crack trio augmented with soloists, establishing Gibbons as a sensitive yet muscular interpreter of the American Songbook and beyond. All I Can Do finds Gibbons in larger company and in front of a live audience. If Gibbons betrayed any shyness ...

Album Review

Polly Gibbons: All I Can Do

Read "All I Can Do" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
May 15, 2019

È sufficiente ascoltare qualche brano dell'inglese Polly Gibbons per lasciarsi prendere dal suo esuberante feeling. Niente a che vedere con le molte vocalist che hanno invaso la scena con una mediocre e plastificata sintesi di pop, jazz e soul. La giovane scoperta dal produttore Ian Shaw è qualcosa di speciale. Il suo timbro è profondo, la tecnica vocale è scintillante e sorretta da slancio e immaginazione musicale: doti che l'avvicinano alle grandi vocalist del jazz. Ma l'identità artistica di Polly ...

Album Review

Polly Gibbons: Is It Me...?

Read "Is It Me...?" reviewed by Roger Farbey

by Roger Farbey
May 7, 2017

With half a dozen albums to her name, British vocalist Polly Gibbons has no need to prove her worth but that hasn't inhibited her from pulling out all the stops on her second album for Resonance following on from 2014's My Own Company. Thomas Dolby's “Ability To Swing" proves just that, courtesy of a first class powerhouse of an American horn section (the album was recorded in the States where Gibbons plays gigs with increasing frequency, such is ...

Album Review

Polly Gibbons: Is It Me...?

Read "Is It Me...?" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
April 25, 2017

British songstress Polly Gibbons made her U.S. debut back in 2015 with the well received and seriously-acclaimed Many Faces of Love (Resonance, 2015), and now presents the highly-anticipated and swinging Is It Me...? . Touching on some R&B, pop-styled songs as well as including music from The Great American Songbook, this is one musical experience that turns out to be bold, brassy and brilliant. A staple of the UK jazz scene since the mid-2000s, the beautiful Ms. Gibbons is armed ...