Bed Time by Gina Leishman

Sharing the CD are her unique settings of Shakespeare songs, drawn from her work as an acclaimed theatrical composer on both coasts. The richness of these songs reflect her own innate understanding of the language plus a musical sensibilty born in Europe and bred in downtown New York. Originally created for others to sing and play, Gina is joined by a band of internationally renowned musicians for these new arrangements. The words of the immortal Bard have never sounded quite like this...

Listen to this extraodinary combination of ballads from the wee hours, and Shakespeare as he is rarely heard.

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www.ginaleishman.com

THE ARTIST

Composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer Gina Leishman was born in England, studied music at the Vienna Conservatory and Edinburgh University, and has made her home in the U.S. since the late '70s, first on the west coast, and for the past ten years in New York. She has written for the theater, opera, dance, film, TV and concert stage, garnering numerous awards

Ms. Leishman is co-leader of the septet KAMIKAZE GROUND CREW, which has been performing and recording together for 20 years, on both coasts of the US and in Europe. Their recordings can be found on both Koch Jazz and New World Records (and at CDBaby!) Members of the ensemble are Gina Leishman (co-leader, alto and bari sax, bass clarinet, keys, vocals), Doug Wieselman (co-leader, clarinets, sax), Peter Apfelbaum (tenor sax), Steven Bernstein (trumpet, slide trumpet), Art Baron (trombone), Marcus Rojas (tuba), and Kenny Wollesen (drums).

She also co-leads the MR. WAU-WA band, a quintet dedicated to the songs of Bertolt Brecht, for which she is the chief arranger and lead singer. She performs with infrequent regularity as a solo artist and with various other diverse downtown projects, as well as sitting in as occasional guest vocalist/arranger with Steven Bernstein's Millenial Territory Orchestra.

Considering herself more of a "musician who sings", rather than a "singer" per se, music has always been for her primarily about story telling, even when purely instrumental, something that has been fed by her many years of working in the theatre. She also considers songwriting "cheaper than therapy, and a lot more fun". While her instrumental compositions have been influenced by everything from Palestrina to pointillism, her vocal work harkens back to the American balladeers of the '30s through '50s, with a heavy dose of dark European angst.

"one of New York's most versatile composers" - Time Out

"...Leishman stole the show" - New York Times

"an inspired composer" - S.F. Chronicle

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