HISTORY Abbie began singing Jazz standards with The Galvanized Jazz Band in 2001 and has since cut her teeth as a vocalist with The Stan Rubin Orchestra, Vince Giordanos Nighthawks, The New Deal Orchestra and Herb Gardners Groundhog Band. Her singing style has been compared to Billie Holiday and Norah Jones.
Abbies interest in music started as a young child. She played flute classically throughout school and began singing in a cappella groups in 1992. As the musical director for the Boston University Treblemakers, Abbie released an a cappella CD in 1997 called Treble in The Waters. In 1998, Abbie began playing guitar and has been writing and performing original acoustic blues/folk songs since then, with independent recording efforts Tea and a Cookie, Southern Rain, and self-titled CD Abbie Gardner. Performing in coffee shops across the country led Abbie to develop the Open Mic Directory, a portion of her website that has been an invaluable resource to independent musicians nationwide since 1999. Abbie was recently named a finalist in the 2003 Hank Williams Songwriting Contest and a runner-up in the 2003 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, folk category, for her original songs The Game of War and One Love.
RECORDING Abbies debut jazz recording, My Craziest Dream, will be released late January 2004. The CD is a father-daughter effort, featuring Herb Gardner on piano and consummate and in-demand NYC musicians Dan Levinson (reeds), Robbie Scott (drums) and Mike Weatherly (bass). These cats bring to life such favorites as Mean to Me, Them There Eyes and Paper Moon, while Ms. Gardners vocals glide along top like Fred Astaire in a movie made long before her time.
LIVE Abbie sings regularly with Stan Rubins Orchestra downtown in NY at The Cajun Restaurant and several father-daughter shows are in progress. Upcoming performances include: The Pee Wee Russell Memorial Stomp, Jim Lowe and Company Radio Show and The Millpond Tavern Mardi Gras celebration with the Galvanized Jazz Band. A CD release show is in the works for March 2004.
