Gabrielle Wortman

Posted by Tim on February 20, 2012 · 1 Comment

Gabrielle Wortman is a singer / songwriter from the USA. Originally raised in Connecticut, subsequently moving to New York and now residing in Los Angeles. The classically trained pianist, who is also a dab hand on guitar – ploughs a line I think can best be summed up as - alternative-pop.

Gabrielle Wortman

Gabrielle Wortman is already developing a strong fan-base and her career seems to be on the pick-up, but it is good to catch what is still an emerging artist, who has the potential to break in to a far larger space. I just hope it doesn’t come at the cost of the material becoming packaged in lip-gloss.

I am writing this on the day that the death of Whitney Houston is breaking across the world and I am immediately drawn to a comparison in the strength of vocal. What is far more impressive is the structure of the sound, which has real depth, as she has crafted the out-put on the disparity of environs in which she has lived, with melody utilising significant sharps and flats, to add emotional context to the out-put.

The cross-over between urban angst with the wider spaces is allowed to develop, due to the sheer musical ability of Gabrielle. I use the label alternative-pop, as a positive indicator, the music has the mainstream sound, which is more than off-set by heart-felt and relevant musical composition.

I do always struggle with ‘solo’ performers who require a full band to make the sound make sense as it can appear more of an ego trip than a genuine love of music, but there are composers who can get away with this and I think Gabrielle is one of those artists.