BIOGRAPHY

Gabi Hartmann belongs to the atypical universe of an artist who blurs the lines between styles like pop, folk, jazz, soul and world music. She sings from inspiration, and she does so in several languages which help her escape from those usual categories. Over time, she has established a style that is completely her own, while also imposing ambiguous emotions. Her voice has a warm and limpid tone that is soft, nostalgic and soothing, and yet Gabi is one of that new generation of musicians who are less willing to show a sense of belonging to this or that music genre, to a pure tradition, but who prefer to cultivate perpetual renewal; her generation is on a quest for fusion, or mixtures, and their sensibilities are very much their own. Her first album was released under her own name in 2023, and it was listened to more than twenty million times worldwide. It earned her a Japan Gold Disc Award that year as a newcomer in the International Artist category, as well as plaudits in French and Canadian media. She also made appearances at numerous famous events including the Francofolies in La Rochelle, the Nice Jazz festival and Jazz à Vienne, not to mention the celebrated Marciac and Montreal Jazz festivals. Gabi has also collaborated with many international musicians as Julian Lage, Jesse Harris, Louis Matute, Oan Kim and Joao Selva. She has been seen with the Newgaro Project – a tribute to the songs of the Toulouse-born Claude Nougaro – and her other appearances include singing with the Sacre du Tympan Orchestra and with artists like Souad Massi , André Minvielle, Marion Rampal and Thomas de Pourquery. Gabi Hartmann, singer songwriter, guitarist and producer, was born in Paris in 1991. Her parents, both of them doctors and music lovers (her mother practises in the humanitarian field), raised Gabi in an open-minded family environment. She began a classical music education at the age of eight, and quickly discovered a taste for voices of soul and jazz music thanks to the songs of Nina Simone, Otis Redding and Billie Holliday. By the time she was sixteen, Gabi was writing her first songs together with friends in high school. After studies in the political sciences, philosophy and eth- nomusicology, she lived for a while in Rio de Janeiro, where she fell for the voices of Joao Gilberto, Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa, and then studied in London before short stays in South Africa, Portugal and Guinea. When she was twenty-four she moved to Paris and decided to make music her future, studying jazz at the Conserva- toire. There were decisive encounters during this period; it was at that time that she met producer/songwriter Jesse Harris– known for his collaborations with Norah Jones, Melody Gardot and Madeleine Peyroux – at a recording-session in New York. Their meeting led to the decision to release Gabi’s first EP in 2022, entirely cowritten and coproduced between Paris and New York alongside Jesse Harris. During that period, Gabi began attracting attention in Parisian jazz circles: her appearances in the capital’s clubs sold out quickly, and this in turn led to appearances at concerts where she opened for Jamie Cullum or Melody Gardot, as well as major French artists such as Mathieu Chedid (aka -M- ) and Ayo. In January 2023, Sony Master- works would release her first album, simply entitled “Gabi Hartmann.” She had writ- ten its contents over several years and, like an album of photographs, it related her life-story so far and her varied encounters. Today Gabi has returned with her second album, this time under the title La femme aux yeux de sel. It is constructed like a three-part tale which relates the story of Salinda, a woman living on an imaginary island. Salinda has eyes of salt, and they dissolve with each tear she sheds; to soothe her sight, Salinda undertakes a journey to find the secrets of salt. This tale is the story of a woman whose journey moves from innocence (chapter one) through life’s disillusions (chapter two) for her to find serenity in the third and final chapter. In the course of the record, Gabi reveals who she is through her songs. As she evolves, she learns to know herself with the questions she has for those around her, and also the ones she asks of her inner self, her life as a woman. Above all, we can hear her emotions: in the joy of her travels, in the difficulties that lie in opening oneself to others, the periods of melancholy that cross her path, and in her anger when faced with a suffering world. But she also reveals her feelings of wonder at the care that nature provides. She draws inspiration from female artists: Salinda was inspired by the Rumba des îles in the soundtrack of the Marguerite Duras film India Song (composed and arranged with Oan Kim). She pays tribute to the music of Latin America, especially female voices like that of Mercedes Sosa, but also South African singer Miriam Makeba, who has inspired Gabi for many years. Lastly, the new album is the fruit of beautiful collaborations that date from yesterday (Oan Kim, Jesse Harris) and also from today: we can hear Syrian flautist Naïssam Jalal on the track Le lever de Soleil, which questions the state of the world. That title, like Love High and Ton monde secret, was composed and produced with saxophonist/composer Laurent Bardainne (who has worked with Camélia Jordana, Jeanne Added and November Ultra). We can also hear the voice of the singer Julia Johansen from the band The Oracle Sisters in the song Drink the Ocean composed with Oan Kim. Listeners can also recognise the creativity of jazz pianist Baptiste Trotignon, with whom Gabi wrote the song Mélancolie, a title enhanced by the emotion and elegance of string arrangements written by Brazilian composer Maycon Ananias. Little by little, sustained by her latent nostalgia in this universe that is so rich in colours and rhythms, Gabi Hartmann permeates the frontiers between eras and styles to inscribe the story of a dreamlike world that is totally her own. And therein lies the secret of a highly personal record that has multiple facets, an album that in the same breath is both demanding and open to everyone.