Buenos Aires Singer Grisel D’Angelo is a singer-songwriter who engages as much as she entertains. A native of Buenos Aires, she is delightful and gentle like a cool summer breeze.
I was invited by Jazz Voyeur to stop in and review the show by Grisel D’Angelo, who seems to be quite the Jazz circuit darling of Buenos Aires. Her show is more than that of a singer going through her set. It’s more of an intimate love of entertaining that she silently requests you to join and share with her. She’ll sing, recite stories, make jokes, and often engage members of the audience in short discussions. It’s a sharing of the space they’re sharing, at that moment in time. In a way, I felt like I was at a family gathering with everyone’s favorite niece doing an impromptu performance, even though she has a well-defined cadence.
Grisel first emerged on the Buenos Aires scene as a one-night guest singer at the famed Notorious Supperclub. Since then she has performed at all the renowned hotspots in Buenos Aires, including here at Jazz Voyeur, Bebop Club, Thelonious, and Sheldon.
Her show is a mixed bag. Tonight she went from older Gershwin standards to Bond film title tracks — such as You Only Live Twice, and Live or Let Die, along with her own penned originals. After the show, she lingered, meeting and spending time with members of the audience.
After the show, we met up at the Hyatt Hotel Oak Bar over drinks for a casual interview.
The original songs she composes are from her life experiences. Gato Nego (Black cat), which she performed tonight, was about her black cat. I had liked it, I told her, noting it was complex and moody I told her. She went on to explain that “While I was writing it, he died, so the depth and mood of the song changed and became more of a memorial.”
Buenos Aires Singer Grisel D’Angelo
During a performance cruise in Europe, she had a moment to leave the ship when they docked in Paris, and she penned “2 Hours in Paris”.
Having studied with famed singer Barbie Martinez, Grisel is small in stature but large in personality. The smallest of gestures come to life and take on a dramatic, albeit natural, flair. So I was prompted to ask if she had any acting experience. Her presence struck me as someone who would be a natural on the theater stage. No. She hadn’t. Not yet.
Ms. D’Angelo is inspired by film and literature, and she is a fan of Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin. But her musical interests are wide and varied, from Italian canzonetta to jazz and swing. To my ear, I thought she shined brightest when singing the latter. The light bounces of swing provide a canvas for her easy and effortless playfulness, drawing images with her movements and light voice.
When you meet Grisel you might get the impression that she is a young, starry-eyed singer embarking on a new career. You’d be wrong.
She is young, perhaps, but during our interview, she revealed an extensive travel resume. She recounted with jubilance her 2015 “The Voyage to South Africa Tour.” It was a 45-day cruise where she did more than a hundred shows. It also provided her the opportunity to visit Spain, Morocco, Cape Verde, San Tome and Principe, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa.
She also appeared with Robin Banerjee, guitarist of Amy Winehouse, in 2016.
In 2017 she was selected by the Italian company MSC Crociere to sing at the opening of the new flagship “Meraviglia” — with Cirque Du Soleil in the city of Le Havre. She took the stage in front of an audience of dignitaries, including acclaimed actress Sophia Loren, the president of France, and the most prestigious of the European press. The tour continued through Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa, Naples, Sicily, and Malta.
Back in Buenos Aires, she shape-shifted again for her show “Dolce Far Niente.” The entire jazz show was sung in Italian. She did more than 20 successful and consecutive performances at the Bebop Club.
She remodeled herself once again in 2018 with her Jazz & Philosophy show. It was praised by many prestigious cultural figures, including Alejandro Dolina, Jose Pablo Feinmann, Víctor Hugo Morales, Tom Lupo, Bobby Flores, and Roman Lejtman, among others.
That same year she also sang as a guest at The Rum House in Time Square, New York City Later that year she had another show, comprised of nothing but Bond film songs, aptly entitled Jazz Bond.
Grisel D’Angelo recorded two studio albums: “Satin Blonde” (2014) with a selection of jazz standards and “La Edad de la Razón” (2016), a collection of jazz and existentialist blues with original songs inspired by the works of great authors such as Sartre, Cortázar, Rubén Darío, Kafka, Dostoievski, Borges and Camus. She also has two live albums: “Swingin Cinema: Live Vibes Sessions” (2017) and “Dolce Far Niente” (2018).
FOLLOW GRISEL ONLINE
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GISEL IN THE PRESS
https://www.pagina12.com.ar/109078-la-filosofia-con-el-tempo-del-jazz
https://bajazzmagazine.blogspot.com/2018/04/jazz-y-filosofia-en-bebop-club.html
https://argentjazz.com.ar/grisel-dangelo-con-acento-italiano-en-el-bebop/
Reseña de Alejandro Dolina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0CXF7I9YHA
Reseña de Victor Hugo Morales: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQsjW8Q7sj8
En Telefé Noticias: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6kQI8iazJs
