Gwyneth Herbert

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Gwyneth Herbert is a British singer, particularly of jazz and swing standards and original compositions.

1 Early life
2 Professional career
3 Discography
4 External links

[edit] Early life

Born into a musical family, Herbert was raised in and around Surrey and Hampshire, in the south of England. She began playing the piano at the age of three, achieving Grade 5 by nine, and she began writing basic songs at the age of five. She also began learning 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 with her studies.

At sixth-form college her musical tastes moved more towards jazz music, and whilst studying at St Chad's College, University of Durham, she met up with fellow student Will Rutter. Together they began to write and perform in the cafés and bars of North East England as a jazz duo called Black Coffee.

[edit] Professional career

After leaving university, Herbert and Rutter moved to London, where they soon met up with 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 lead eventually to the production of a debut CD of both original songs and standards, First Songs. 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.