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“Her piano playing, though based in such favorites as Wynton Kelly and Oscar Peterson, is quite original within the modern mainstream of jazz. She is also an inventive composer and an appealing singer with a laidback style.” – Scott Yanow, liner note, For All We Know  Gaea Schell One of the West Coast’s best kept secrets, pianist/vocalist/composer Gaea Schell takes her multiple talents to the “other” coast this week, with gigs at Sofia’s (9/24) and The Knickerbocker Bar and Grill (9/25-26) with acclaimed bassist Essiet Essiet, and at Puppet’s Jazz Bar in Brooklyn (9/27) with her trio (trumpeter Nate Birkey and bassist Scott Richie). A homecoming of sorts, Gaea lived and worked in New York earlier in her career, which has taken her from her native Alberta, Canada to Montreal, Portland, and ultimately LA.
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, she started piano at five, but went on to study a variety of instruments, including flute, saxophone and harp. As a teen sax player, she discovered the recordings of Charlie Parker, but initially went to college as a classical harp student. But the pull of bop was undeniable. “I checked out a lot of jazz recordings from the very good collection at the college library and decided I wanted to be in a good jazz program, so applied for the program at McGill in Montreal for piano. I still didn't really know what I wanted to do, but once I heard and understood ‘swing,’ I was hooked and went out and played at jam sessions, gigs, wherever I could.”  Gaea Schell Gaea Schell “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.” 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 All We Know, her second release, features five originals and seven covers. Gaea noted that “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.” And the listener instantly relates to Gaea Schell, as she pulls us in with a minimalist approach that shines with interpretative sensibility rather than pure musicality. [Click here for a Jazz Police review of For All We Know] Gaea's career is in high gear these days, with frequent gigs at LA's Vibrato and recent appearances (as well as recording sessions) in Portland. The new recording is due out later this year, featuring Portland-based bassist Scott Steed and LA-based musicians, tenor saxophonist Chuck Manning , bassist Roger Shew and drummer James Alsanders. In New York, she will present some new and original material from the upcoming release. New York gigs for Gaea Schell:
Visit Gaea Schell at www.gaeaschell.com
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New York 
Thursday, 23 May 2013
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