MUSIC: Liverpool debut at last for favourite of the jazz pundits

Mar 5 2008 by Philip Key, Liverpool Daily Post

Gwyneth Herbert, singer/songwriter _320

HER rise in popularity has been described as the “young pretender’s breakthrough” by jazz pundits, and yet Gwyneth Herbert doesn’t actually regard herself as a jazz singer.

If her latest recording is a guide, she is not really the pretender to the tiaras of contemporary young jazz princesses like Jacqui Dankworth or Norah Jones, but the latest to pick up the baton from the likes of Joni Mitchell or Suzanne Vega and other Sixties folk heroines.

It’s also been commented on before, and Gwyneth herself admits to it, that her style and vocal range is uncannily similar to Janis Ian.

“I think I’ve found my own voice at last but Janis has certainly been a huge influence,” commented Gwyneth who likes to think of her work as more narrative driven.

“I actually was in touch with Janis recently by email and it was amazing. She is such a strong woman and I am so pleased to be compared to her,” adds Gwyneth who is on a short UK tour to promote the new album Between Me & The Wardrobe.

The album was almost abandoned until picked up by the Blue Note jazz label who, says Gwyneth, was so encouraging and positive about her style. “I had a bad time with previous labels and figured I would be best doing it myself,” she explained. But Blue Note persisted.

With her band in full flow – pianist Steve Holmes, bassist Sam Burgess, drummer Dave Price and guitarist Al Cherry – Gwyneth is something of a showstopper.

She’s making her first visit to Liverpool this week but will be accompanied only by Al Cherry, who is from Liverpool.

“ I can’t quite figure out why we’ve never played Liverpool before, we’ve hit every other major UK city,” said Gwyneth whose boyfriend Nathan Penlington is the nephew of the late Adrian Henri, Liverpool poet, painter and raconteur.

* GWYNETH HERBERT appears at the Barfly, in Seel Street, Liverpool, on Friday, March 7, at 7.30pm. Tickets £8.00. Call: 0844 8472424