Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Gwyneth Herbert (born in Wimbledon, London, 1981) is a British singer-songwriter and pianist, initially known for her interpretation of jazz and swing standards, and now established as a writer of original compositions. She lives in Hackney, London.
Herbert performs with a band comprising: Al Cherry - guitars; Sam Burgess - bass; David Price - percussion; Steve Holness - piano.
Early life
Born into a musical family, Herbert was raised in Surrey and Hampshire in the south of England. She began playing the piano at the age of three, achieving Grade 5 by nine, and was writing basic songs at the age of five. She also learned the French horn, achieving Grade 8 by the age of 15.
Throughout her teenage years she played music with local orchestras and bands such as the Surrey County Youth Orchestra and also briefly formed a short-lived punk band called Wasted Minds. At 14 she recorded a demo tape of her own songs at Trinity Studios, Woking; however, despite music industry interest, she chose to continue with her studies.
At Alton College her musical tastes moved more towards jazz music. While she was studying at St Chad's College, University of Durham, she met up with fellow student Will Rutter and together they began to write and perform in the cafés and bars of North East England as a jazz duo called Black Coffee.
Professional career
After leaving university, Herbert and Rutter moved to London, where they soon met a former member of Boney M, who was shortly to judge a Polish television music competition. She and Rutter were invited to enter, and Black Coffee won the competition.
After returning to London, Black Coffee continued to perform in local bars, before being introduced to Ian Shaw, a noted jazz vocalist. This led eventually to the production of a debut CD, First Songs, credited to "Gwyn and Will", of both original songs and standards, which was launched at London's Pizza Express Jazz Club in September 2003. The song "Sweet Insomnia" featured guest vocals from Jamie Cullum. The album received a significant amount of radio airplay on Jazz FM and Radio 2, and was promoted by Michael Parkinson.
Soon after, Herbert was signed to the Universal Classics and Jazz label, and released her first major label album, Bittersweet and Blue. This comprised mainly standards, with several Herbert/Rutter original tracks.
Herbert left Universal Classics and Jazz to pursue a less commercial and more personal musical direction. Collaborating with Polar Bear's Seb Rochford in a production role, Herbert's Between Me and the Wardrobe was recorded in three days and never intended for general release. The album was initially released on Herbert's own Monkeywood label before being picked up by Blue Note Records, making Herbert their first UK signing in 30 years.
In early 2008, Herbert was commissioned by a collaborative project between Peter Gabriel and Bowers & Wilkins to record an acoustic album at Gabriel's Real World Studios. The result of these sessions – "Ten Lives" – was released as a digital download in July 2008, available only from the Bowers & Wilkins website as part of their Music Club.
Remixed versions of these songs were to form the basis of Herbert's album All The Ghosts, which was released by Naim Edge in July 2009 in Europe to critical acclaim;the album was released in the United States in June 2010. This album also featured two further recordings by Robert Harder, who had previously collaborated with Herbert as recording engineer of Between Me And The Wardrobe. All The Ghosts featured a cover version of David Bowie's "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide".
In October 2009, Herbert returned to Harder Sound Studio to record the song "Perfect Fit" which she gave away as a free download, available exclusively from Naim Edge. It was also released as a single on 7 March 2011. The track was also one of nine tracks on her EP Clangers & Mash, released on 1 November 2010, which included remixes, by Seb Rochford of Polar Bear, of some of her previously published songs.
In January 2010, Herbert was commissioned by Snape Maltings as artist in residence to write, record and perform a new body of work based on stories of the sea. This was performed in October 2010 at Snape Maltings.
Herbert's version of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", taken from her second album Bittersweet and Blue, was featured on the soundtrack of romantic comedy Leap Year, directed by Anand Tucker and starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode.