LETIZIA GAMBI

Born in Naples, Letizia Gambi is an Italian singer, songwriter and actress who has a wide-ranging education. She has studied dancing, acting, singing, painting and musical theater.

Letizia Gambi’s music is Cross-cultural combination of her Neapolitan-Italian roots with the heritage of Black American Jazz. Her Mediterranean passion sings through Jazz's language in a contemporary, crossover, personal style.

She lived in New York, Los Angeles and now she is based in Miami and Milan (when she is in Italy).

Letizia began dancing lessons at age eleven, attended art school at thirteen and began showcasing her art and winning awards for her paintings when she was fourteen . At fifteen, she began traveling to London, in the summer, to study musical theater. Continuing to dance, she became a dance instructor and choreographer at a very young age, while continuing to sing and act. She studied acting and worked as an actress. Finally, because of her great love and passion for music, she auditioned for the International Jazz Academy in Milan, out of 60 people who auditioned, she was one of only seven who was accepted into the program.
She studied for four years and became an assistant to the vocal professor in her fifth, "Master Year.” Letizia graduated with a Masters Degree in Jazz Vocal Performance.

Letizia worked as a singer/songwriter, teaching Jazz and Pop singing at several music schools in Milan, Como and Switzerland. In Milan, she played Anita in West Side Story, she also acted in several TV shows. She sang with many well known Italian Jazz musicians and was the lead singer for a jazz big band. Her versatility allowed her to sing many types of music, from Gospel (she was soloist in the choir of Civici Corsi di Jazz in Milan) to dance music, classical repertoire, pop and of course, Jazz.

In 2009 Letizia met the legendary drummer and producer Lenny White, and expressed to him her desire to fuse her roots and Neapolitan musical influences into a contemporary genre. In 2012 their collaboration resulted in her debut recording, "Introducing Letizia Gambi” which was recorded in New York and included such legendary musicians as Ron Carter, Chick Corea, Gato Barbieri, Wallace Roney, Patrice Rushen, Gil Goldstein, Antonio Faraò and her collaborator and producer, Lenny White.

In 2016 she released her second album "Blue Monday" that includes songs written by Letizia and Lenny White. It was recorded in New York and produced by Lenny White, the musicians who performed were Ron Cater, Gil Goldstein, Donald Vega, Dave Stryker, Helen Sung, John Benitez, Jisoo Ok,Hector Del Curto, and Pete Levin.

Letizia performed as a guest with Lenny White and his band during his last European Tour, her American debut was at the Jazz Standard as a guest with Lenny White & friends, featuring Ron Carter on bass and Patrice Rushen on piano. She performed in many festivals and venues in the United States and abroad, including the Blue Note, the Jazz Standard in NYC, the Blues Alley in Washington DC, Auditorium Parco della Musica and Casa del Jazz in Rome, The Piccolo Teatro Strehler and Teatro Franco Parenti in Milan, and the Arena Flegrea in Naples.  At the invitation of Italian Consulates and National Cultural Institutes, she has also performed as a representative of Italian culture in foreign countries, such as Japan, Slovenia and Argentina where she performed with a concert with a 100 piece orchestra and choir.

Her original song Under the Moon was included in Musica Jazz Magazine’s cd tribute to Frank Sinatra for the centennial of his birth.

The American jazz magazine JAZZIZ included her Back to Black cover for the spring 2016 cd issue.

Letizia became a member of the Recording Academy in 2012 and both her records were candidates for Grammy Awards as Best Vocal Jazz Album and Best Arrangements for Vocals.

In September 2016 Letizia received the Award Premio San Gennaro in her hometown Napoli for being an artist who successful brings her Neapolitan heritage around the world.

Blue Monday was also nominated for the prestigious  Italian awards Targhe Tenco  2016.

She wrote lyrics and recorded a song with multi award winning pianist Fahir Atagoklu for his 2020 album "For Love".

Letizia founded an all-women band, with the objective of providing greater opportunity and visibility to female musicians.  The band is called Letizia Gambi in 3D and features an all-women crew. 

Awards

2015 - WeWorld Award - As an International female artist defending Women's rights.

2016 - Premio San Gennaro Award in her hometown of Naples for promoting Neapolitan heritage around the world.

2016 - "Blue Monday" album was nominated for the prestigious Italian award Targhe Tenco 2016.