Gaby Moreno !


Gaby Moreno,
from blues and jazz to pop, R&B, soul, and Latin folk styles..
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María Gabriela Moreno Bonilla (born 16 December 1981 in Guatemala City, Guatemala), professionally known as Gaby Moreno, is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her music ranges from blues, jazz, soul, to R&B. 
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Guatemalan Gaby Moreno is an award-winning singer and songwriter whose music encompasses a broad spectrum of genres, from blues and jazz to pop, R&B, soul, and Latin folk styles. She sings in both Spanish and English, and calls her more recent sound "Spanglish folk soul."

Though she began singing as a toddler, Moreno discovered Latin pop on the radio at home and was given over to music entirely when her parents took her on a trip to New York City, where she saw a production of Les Misérables. While visiting a record shop in New York, she heard Koko Taylor's version of Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle" playing on the sound system and instantly became obsessed with the blues. She bought several recordings. A big influence was Sister Rosetta Tharpe, but a little later she discoveredthe Boswell Sisters and the music of the Mexican group Trio Los Panchos.

After graduating high school, she moved to the United States and attended the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, where she met her bassist and drummer and began performing live. She entered her song "Escondidos" in the 2006 John Lennon Songwriting Contest and won the competition. She followed it by self-producing her debut album, Still the Unknown, in 2008. The recording was given play by KCRW and gained notice from National Public Radio as well, leading to her opening slots on national tours for Tracy Chapman and other artists.

In 2010 she issued her sophomore album, Illustrated Songs, and also co-composed the instrumental theme song for the television series Parks and Recreation, winning an Emmy nomination. Subsequently, her original music was used in a handful of other television shows. That summer she performed with Van Dyke Parks at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark in a program of Latin American music, calypso, and Americana songs. In 2011 she sang on theRicardo Arjona hit song "Fuiste Tu," and followed it with her third album, Postales, in 2012. She won a Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in 2013. That same year she sang on Hugh Laurie's second full-length, Didn't It Rain, subsequently touring with him across the United States, Europe, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.

 On her own, Moreno issued the 2014 Christmas album Posada, which included bilingual seasonal songs, hymns, and carols from a variety of traditions. She stayed busy headlining tours for a year and a half, including her own Festival Acústico: Gaby Moreno y Amigos in Latin America, Europe, and the United States, before reentering the recording studio. Her pre-release single was issued simultaneously in Spanish as "Se Apagó" and in English as "Love Is Gone" (the latter with special guest Jonny P) in July of 2016, in conjunction with the release of her singing the title theme for the Disney film Elena of Avalor.Ilusión, her fifth album, was released in September of that year.
(Artist Biography by Thom Jurek)



Critical praise 
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--KCRW's Ariana Morgernstern, producer of Morning Becomes Eclectic, featured Moreno in an October 2008 podcast and bestowed "Today's Top Tune" status on her song "Song of You." She said she was "caught by surprise with its organic and understated feel. She sings beautifully both in English and Spanish." 
NPR.org reviewed Moreno's debut record Still the Unknown and said: "Whether Moreno decides to stick with pop, soul or Latin (or a fusion of all three) for future releases, Still the Unknown is a promising debut that indicates she won't go unnoticed for much longer." NPR.org - Gaby Moreno Song of You '
-In 2006, she won the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest with her song "Escondidos," first in the Latin category, then overall.
-In July 2010 Moreno was nominated alongside her co-writer Vincent Jones for an Emmy in the category of "Outstanding Main Title Theme Music" for their theme song to NBC's "Parks and Recreation.".
-In 2010 Moreno was awarded "Favorite American Latino Indie Artist" at the American Latino Awards (run by American Latino TV).



2011 Critical Praise:
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-"Gaby Moreno's soulful vocals and ability to switch languages and genres have made her a rising star." -NPR All Things Considered
-"The Guatemalan songwriter Gaby Moreno plucked ragtimey syncopations on a well-worn acoustic guitar, and let loose a tangy, bluesy voice with the feistiness of Édith Piaf."- NY Times
-"Moreno's breathtaking voice is passionate and stylistically malleable, as she glides back and forth easily between bossa nova and bluesy rock."-NPR Tiny Desk Concerts
-"This Guatemalan American singer-songwriter alternates fluidly between languages, whether spoken (English and Spanish) or musical, easing in and out of everything from folksy alt country to retro blues rock …Plucky, quirky and insightful, Moreno has the grace and the skill to make it big." – Rhapsody: #3 Top 10 Latin Alt Albums of Spring 2011
-"Our little secret is neither little nor secret any more ...[On] Illustrated Songs, influences of soul and Spanish ballads explode in a synergy of musical pieces that impeccably represent a young artist with a rich, old soul" – Al Borde
-"I really fell in love with this record, because there is so much to her voice …her voice really stands out - very sweet and soulful … adapting to different genres of music … she can go from a dreamy/folksy, very laid back feel, to a tougher edge blast of R&B, to a song that reminds me of something from the 1920's ...to a Brazilian bossa nova song that she sings in English and Spanish." – Felix Contreras, NPR's "Alt. Latino"
-"The Best [New] Latin Music... Meet your next favorite from the Spanish-speaking world: Gaby Moreno, Old-School, soulful pop... Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald are hard acts to follow, but Gaby Moreno takes her idols' signature bluesiness and marries it with a little Latin flare" – Latina Magazine 



2012 Critical Praise:
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-"5 Latinos to Look Out for in 2012" - "Joan Smalls, Gaby Moreno, Jorge Garcia, Thomas Suarez and Mayra Alvarez will probably become household names in the months to come. Her new album, Illustrated Songs, was listed one of "The Best Latin Music Albums of 2011" by About.com, and she will be busy touring Europe, Latin America and the U.S. in 2012." - NBC Latino
-"The more a thing is stereotyped to death, the more refreshing it is to encounter the skilled reaffirmation of its ideal. With Guatemala-born, L.A.-based Gaby Moreno (October 9, McRaney's Tavern), it's the female singer-songwriter form that she has rescued from the abyss of cliché. She doesn't radically change its rules or anything – she just does it with a little more flavor and a lot more skill. And that's what separates her from typical coffeehouse fare. With an exceptionally rich and assured voice, and a palette that spans Latin, blues, folk, jazz and pop, she's a marquee talent. Her singing is effortlessly bright with purpose and not just a display of ostentatious acrobatics. In fact, there's something very classic about her expression. In her voice, the flame of the female greats is alive." -Orlando Weekly 

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