One of the West Coast’s best kept secrets, pianist/vocalist/composer Gaea Schell will celebrate the release of her second recording, For All We Know, at locations throughout the Los Angeles area in February. Her trio will perform at Galli’s in Alto Loma (February 7); at Chaya Brasserie in Beverly Hills (February 11); and with Ricky Woodward at Steamers (February 23); she will also join forces with regular bassist Chris Colangelo for a duet at Spazio (February 19).

If not well known outside the Los Angeles metroplex, Gaea Schell has a strong following close to her adopted home, where LA Jazz Scene writer Glenn Mitchell hails her “precise enunciation,” “laid-back refreshing style” and “beautiful” piano playing. But jazz piano was not Gaea’s first musical direction. Growing up in Alberta, Canada, she started piano at five, but went on to study a variety of instruments. “My parents played music and were supportive, but mostly I was just drawn to it. We were fairly poor and someone gave us a piano. I would sit down and try to play, even compose, when I was very young, as a way of expressing myself, of expressing pain perhaps. I was also a writer and danced among other things, but was drawn to music the most. I loved the sound of different instruments.”

With the influences of the masters of swing and lyricism—Oscar Peterson, Hank Jones, Wynton Kelly, Red Garland and Bill Evans, Gaea’s jazz education continued outside the classroom as she gigged with veteran musicians, absorbing the great traditions, and learning to appreciate and “experience it - to feel swing.” A 1999 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts gave her the opportunity to study with the great pianist/composer Richie Bierbach in New York. She then worked and taught in New York and Portland before settling in the LA area. After her west coast debut at the San Jose Jazz Festival, Gaea has become an increasingly popular performer in a variety of formats, from solo to trio to big band and orchestra, and as supporting artist for the likes of Nancy King, Tootie Heath, Bob Sheppard, Ingrid Jenson and Bobby Watson.

Gaea Schell only recently added her own voice to her performances. “I initially started singing, thinking I might get more work and only sang occasionally, but recently it's really become part of my arrangements, a way of expressing more of myself, and creating another color and I love it.” As with piano, her sources of inspiration are diverse. “Generally, I've been more influenced by instrumentalists, but Chet Baker and Shirley Horn are definite influences. I prefer subtler phrasing and inflections. When I lived in Portland, I used to check out a great vocalist, Nancy King, a lot.”

For All We Know

In 2004, Gaea released her debut recording, Dream Away, described by CD Baby as a “romantic and enticing collection of standards and original compositions, played with an intuitive blend of authority, subtlety, and abundance of swing.” For her new release, featuring five originals and seven covers, Gaea noted that “I'd been through a period where I felt 'growth' musically and personally, and I'd been playing some recent originals and arrangements with the same trio - at least with my bass player [Chris Colangelo] - for a while, and suddenly it felt like time to record them…A number of them appeared in my head as a collection of tunes that fit together and represented me at that period of time. The vocal tunes have lyrics I personally really related to.”

Simpatico partners are also key to this new project. “Finding players I have chemistry with and who have similar concepts of time, rhythm and swing is very important to me,” she says. “I'm looking for empathetic sidemen…who have an appreciation for subtlety, creating a vibe, and who understand where I'm coming from…I'm particular and it's hard to find players who have either lived the history of the music, or who understand it and 'hear' it.” Drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath is one who has both lived it and hears it, and he has been a favorite source of support in both live performance and on Gaea’s earlier and new recordings. “He has a lot of personality, amazing brushwork and has played with so many giants - you can really hear the history in his playing.” Bassist Chris Colangelo “is very empathetic, swinging and professional,” notes Gaea, “which I really appreciate. Everything I've written and brought to the gig, he's played exactly like I heard it with a lot of energy. This inspires me to write more! A warm acoustic tone is important to me with bass players, too, harder to find in Los Angeles.”

Subtlty, vibe, swing, acoustic warmth—all aptly describe the feel of For All We Know. Schell’s connection to Bill Evans, Hank Jones, Red Garland et al. is clear, yet she also evokes more modern lyricists such as Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, and particularly Lynne Arriale with her masterful blending of an Evans-touched elegance with a Monkish rhythmic playfulness. For the most part, the tracks—7 instrumental, 7 vocal - are relatively short, featuring few long sequences of keyboard improvisations but more than enough to display her chops without getting bogged down in the adventure. Vocally, hers is not a powerful voice, rather thin but engaging with a Stacey Kentish lightness although the style is totally different. Where Kent’s charm is in her girlish swing, Schell pulls in the listener with a minimalist approach that shines with interpretative sensibility rather than pure musicality.

But unlike other pianist/vocalists who are competent at the keyboard but clearly in their element in song (Diana Krall, Karrin Allyson), Gaea Schell is competent vocally and brilliant as composer/instrumentalist. With a luxurious touch and firm sense of swing, the passion seems closer to the surface on her original compositions as “Yes,” “Conclusion,” “Contemplation,” “Ledges” and “Still”—together these would make a dazzling suite. “Yes” is filled with some rhythmic changes, gentle but enough to make you listen; Colangelo’s bass solo is full of quirky starts and stops, supported by Heath’s feathery brushes and Schell’s light phrases. “Conclusion” starts off with an arco bass intro, moving along as an introspective exploration worthy of Fred Hersch while Colangelo provides the perfect blend of pathos and pulse. Like the next movement (though a separated by two tracks), “Contemplation” is marked by Colangelo’s outstanding bass work and Heath’s tingling cymbals, while the piano solo sparkles with exquisite interweaving lines.

“Ledges” has a contagious melody and rhythm, featuring a thumpy pulsating solo from Colangelo, Gaea’s left hand serving as a second walking bass, and Heath conducting a master class in brushwork. The pianist here recalls Evans with a more idiosyncratic sense of time and space. “Still” is more introspective, Heath switching his concentration to figures on the toms, which fit elegantly with the basslines and piano. Schell here is as melodically elegant as Brad Mehldau without falling into tself conscious rumination.

The remaining all-instrumental tracks are more up-tempo. On JP Maramba’s “We’ve Heard It All Before,” Gaea swings like Hank Jones with a country accent; Heath lightly the snare and cymbals while maintaining a deep pulse on the bass drum, and Colangelo walks all over with conversational phrases—maybe we haven’t heard it all before! “Taking a Chance on Love” (more often a vocal) provides an upbeat—and short (2 ½ minute) ending. Schell is not taking a chance on her music here—she’s confident and sure, setting a brisk tempo with deconstruction of time and melody after the first brief chorus.

The vocal tracks are all nevertheless fine displays of Gaea’s keyboard skill as well as opportunities to become acquainted with her laid-back song stylings. On “My Foolish Heart” she cuts the phrases down to the bare essentials with a spare sultriness; nothing lingers except the piano, the effect almost conversational although the framework of melody remains. The piano solo is more interesting in contrast, filling in where the voice left space, yet also using clipped phrases on the melodic line mirroring the vocal. “I Thought About You” features a conversation between vocal and piano in the first verse, Schell barely singing some of the lines. On piano, she creates a nice left-hand ostinato to introduce the second verse (which will also reappear on the out chorus), the trio heating up to a swinging rhythm, heroes Hank Jones and Red Garland are not far removed. The longest track at over 8 minutes features some zippy trades with Heath who makes the most of his brushes.

The trio provides a robust introduction to “I’m Old Fashioned,” the bass and drums swinging hard while on vocal Schell offers some hesitations in phrasing that keep it a bit on the edge. The piano is anything but old fashioned here, with some mildly dissonant notes keeping it slightly off kilter—again Schell the pianist mirroring Schell the vocalist, her strong left hand suggesting it she could break into stride at any moment. Most effective among the vocal tracks is Jobim’s “Once I Loved,” melodic lines sailing over a more abstract comping that is more post bop than samba. Colangelo’s basswork here is simply stunning. The title track brings the vocals to a close with a wistful interpretation.

CD Release and Beyond

For All We Know will be officially released in the LA area this month: at Galli’s in Alta Loma on February 7^th with Chuck Manning joining Gaea and Chris Colangelo; at Chaya Brasserie in Beverly Hills on February 11^th with Jimmy Branly handling drum duties; in LA at Spazzio on February 19^th (Schell and Colangelo in duet); and at Steamers in Fullerton on February 23^rd, with Ricky Woodard (sax) joining the full trio (Schell, Corlangelo and Heath).

And what’s next for Gaea Schell? “My goal and strategy is to get more work with my own trio (not always so easy) and work on myself more, because the more I do, the more I can be myself, which seems to allow me to naturally come up with my best arrangements/compositions. I try to do a lot of listening, too, and I pay attention to little details in an arrangement I like.”

For All We Know should go a long way toward helping Gaea accomplish these goals—more gigs, more inspiration, spinning those “little details” into acoustic gold.

For information and reservations, visit Galli's (Alta Loma) at www.gallis.net; C haya Brasserie (Beverly Hills) at www.thechaya.com; Spazzio (LA) www.spazio.la; and Steamers (Fullterton) at www.steamersjazz.com. For CD information and more about Gaea Schell, visit her site at www.gaeaschell.com