The Artists
DR LISA YOUNG
Lisa is well known to Choral, Jazz, A Cappella and World music listeners as a creative vocal stylist and composer, incorporating Indian and African elements in her work. A longtime student of (late) Guru Karaikudi Mani in Chennai, India, Lisa specialises in konnakol - South Indian vocal percussion.
She enjoys a rich, collaborative performing and recording life with Coco’s Lunch and the Lisa Young Quartet. Her awards include Thulele Mama Ya winner ‘Best Folk/World Song’ in the Contemporary A cappella Recording Awards (USA) (with Coco’s Lunch), BELL Award: Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album 2007 (Grace album Lisa Young Quartet) and winner of the 2021 Art Music Award for 2021 Choral Work of the Year for Sacred Stepping Stones commissioned by Gondwana Choirs.
Lisa is passionate about the transformative power of ensemble singing, and has created a distinct body of engaging choral repertoire that is sung by choirs throughout the world, with local and internationally commissioned works for The Australian Voices, Gondwana, Young Adelaide Voices, Four Winds Youth Festival, Grand Rapids Women’s Chorus (Michigan), and Santa Sabina College Sydney. Her workshops and artist in residence programs showcase a sharing of her unique approach to vocal expression. Her driving rhythmic works which incorporate South Indian vocal percussion and scat language like Sacred Stepping Stones, Thulele Mama Ya and Tha Thin Tha, have become choral classics. For a number of years she composed children’s songs for the television show ‘Playhouse Disney’.
In 2015 Lisa was awarded her PhD in Music Performance from Monash University which received the Best Doctoral Thesis – Music Performance award.
‘Young has created a fine balance between accessible composition and exciting improvisation. Her sophisticated blend of Indian and jazz idioms seduces from the start and never releases its hold...’ Ian Patterson, All About Jazz.
‘Other-worldly...totally engaging… Her art is an awesome rhythmic control. Not to be missed, this is one out of the box.’ Leon Gettler, The AGE.
‘Remarkable grace in amazing voice.’ - Jessica Nicholas, The AGE.
JACQUELINE GAWLER
Jacqueline is a first-class Arts Honours (languages) graduate from the University of Melbourne, where she was awarded two Melbourne University Language Scholarships to study in Japan and Italy. Her love of languages later translated into a passion for Brazilian jazz (sung in Portuguese), and she is now recognised as one of Australia’s most authentic singers of this repertoire.
Jacqueline has performed as a special guest singer/percussionist with a multitude of high calibre Australian and international ensembles, including América Do Sul, the Jacqueline Gawler Band, Coco’s Lunch, Stoneflower, Christopher Hale’s Sylvan Coda, Panorama Brasil feat. Doug De Vries, The Picture Box Orchestra (UK/Pakistan/Australia), Bossa Negra (Brazil/Singapore/Australia), Andrea Keller, the Dan Mougerman Quintet, Silverbeat, Avatar, Red Fish Blue (Syd/Melb), the John Montesante Quintet, Casey Bennetto and award-winning Bolivian pianist / composer Danilo Rojas.
In 1998 Jacqueline studied at the Berklee Jazz Clinics in Italy and has since become one of the country's most original improvising singers, releasing her Arts Victoria funded debut album AMBROSIA to excellent reviews and packed houses in Australia and Brazil. In 2012 the album reached No. 2 in the KK Box Rock Charts and no. 7 in the same Jazz Charts in Hong Kong (over 80,000 subscribers) and also made the Top 20 in the KK Box Rock Charts in Taiwan (8 million subscribers).
‘… a songwriter of intelligence, with a sense of poetry and a love of language...' Ausjazz Blog
In 2009 Jacqueline sealed her passion for Brazilian music by traveling to Brazil to record a pop album with some of Rio de Janeiro's most acclaimed, Grammy-nominated artists including Armando Marçal, the late Sergio Brandão, Renato Fonseca, Marco Brito & Joâo Castilho. She also recorded a duet in English & Portuguese with Brazilian pop star Jorge Vercilo, and wrote the official English lyrics to the iconic Brazilian song A Rã by João Donato. Jacqueline returned to Rio De Janeiro in 2011 for a 6 month stint to live in Ipanema, study Portuguese, launch her album Ambrosia, film the music clip for Sahara Nights, and immerse herself in the local culture and music. She also collaborated with Brazilian singer/songwriter and The Voice Brasil finalist Paulo Loureiro to write lyrics for his new album, as well as writing her own Brazil-inspired material.
‘Apart from (some, not all) members of the Brazilian-Australian community, there aren’t many people in Melbourne (or even Australia overall) that may be coming close to Jacqueline Gawler’s grasp and deep appreciation of Brazilian music. Still, it would be unfair to pigeonhole her as an expert on Brazilian singing – this is only one part of her multifaceted artistic persona, there’s much more to her…’ AustralianJazz.Net
Jacqueline is also a trained West African percussionist and has studied drum & dance in Senegal (West Africa), Bali and the USA with some of the world’s foremost educators, including the late Grand Master Drummer Mamady Keita. She currently performs with Drummergirl (Simone Lang) who appears on the latest Coco’s Lunch album Misra Chappu and in the upcoming new video clip Chanson Pour Anaïs.
Jacqueline is in demand as a tertiary educator, choir director and freelance adjudicator, and recently assessed the 2022 Victorian All-State Jazz Championship.
GABRIELLE MACGREGOR
Gabrielle MacGregor is a vocalist, percussionist and composer. Gabrielle specialised in Improvisation at the Victorian College of the Arts (Bachelor of Music Performance). Her ‘cheeky and playful’ compositions (Herald Sun) feature in Australian short films and on compilation albums, and her song Invisible Rhythm has been included in curriculums for the Melbourne University Music Education course and the VCA Bachelor of Music.
As a freelance recording and performance artist, Gabrielle has been guest soloist on several albums, including Ngulmiya’s 2022 self-titled album, and works by Yilila and Osh10. Her pure voice can be heard on recordings for children, including Hal Leonard’s Choral Time and Music Time! Let’s Begin! by Ros McMillan, as well as I’m Still Awake, Still! by Elizabeth Honey and Sue Johnson.
Gabey’s passion for breakdance led to an appearance in the Diafrix music video In Tha Place, and gave rise to an original hip hop collaboration, Creatures of a Daydream. Street dance and hip hop have remained central to her life and creative practice. As has skiing and the magnetic pull of alpine country and landscapes.
Her extensive work in Arts Administration has also assisted other artists to perform internationally.
‘A Whole New Way of Getting Dressed and Unreserved (Nicht Reserviert) are testimony to bold originality.’ Herald Sun
EMMA GILMARTIN
In 2001 Emma completed a Bachelor of Music Performance (Improvisation) at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia. It was here that she met acclaimed pianist and composer Tony Gould, with whom she recorded her debut album, Tomorrow, Just You Wait and See (Move Records).
Since the success of this first recording, Emma has performed regularly with her jazz quartet throughout Australia and beyond. Emma’s second album Songe was released through Move records in 2005. This CD features Will Poskitt (piano), Ben Robertson (Double Bass), Rajiv Jayaweera (drums) and EugeneBall (trumpet), and is a collection of well-known jazz standards, lesser-known covers and two of Emma’s original compositions.
In 2005, Emma was selected as one of ten finalists in the National Jazz Awards. The finals were held at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival where Emma was honoured to perform alongside some of Australia’s finest young jazz vocalists.
‘Emma Gilmartin has gained a reputation as one of Australia’s most talented jazz vocalists. Her voice is undeniably beautiful with “a crystalline purity of vibrato-less tone and flawless pitch.’ Leon Gettler, The Age Green Guide.
Since 2006, Emma has toured extensively throughout Australia and the world with renowned Acappella group Coco’s Lunch. She recorded Blueprint with the ensemble, which was nominated for Best World Album in the 2007 ARIA awards. In 2010 Emma released her third CD through Move records. Home is another album of heartfelt duets with pianist Tony Gould.
In December 2016, Emma released Live at Bennetts Lane, with James Sherlock, Frank Disario and Danny Fischer at the Melbourne International Women’s Jazz Festival. Current performing projects include Coco’s Lunch, The Emma Gilmartin Quartet, The Gianni Marinucci Nonet, Gianni Marinucci’s Swing Train and the Anton Delecca Quartet.
Emma is currently teaching voice at Monash University, Box Hill Institute, The University Melbourne and Presbyterian Ladies College.
Emma regularly adjudicates and assesses voice competitions and exams (most recently, the 2022 Victorian All-state Jazz Championship).