On their self-titled first album, the multitalented, multicultural New York-based trio known as Greta’s Bakery draw upon their diverse backgrounds and common creative chemistry to deliver a remarkably accomplished, consistently intoxicating debut.
The three young musician/songwriters who comprise Greta’s Bakery—vocalist Greta Panettieri, bassist/guitarist Mike LaValle and keyboardist Andrea Sammartino—merge a wealth of influences and experiences into a vibrantly eclectic jazz/pop/funk mix that’s both sophisticated and effortlessly catchy, making Greta’s Bakery one of the freshest musical surprises in recent memory.
The 11-song album—which the band members produced in association with Stewart Lerman—resists easy categorization, thanks to such memorable tunes as the infectiously uplifting “What You See Is What You Get,” the bubbly, exotic “Smoke From Incense,” the hauntingly bittersweet “Hard To Read” and the bossa nova-inflected “Aurora,” which the Italian-born Greta sings in her native language. Those numbers showcase the band’s formidable songwriting abilities, wide-ranging instrumental talents and inventive arranging skills, as well as Greta’s charismatic vocals, which range from seamless jazz scatting to intimate introspection.
In addition to the band’s own compositions, Greta’s Bakery features a smoothly soulful reworking of OutKast’s “Prototype,” along with distinctive readings of material by veteran hitmakers Diane Warren (“Useless”) and Jules Shear (“Satisfied,” “Everything”), plus the slyly funky “If This Ain’t Love” by Steve Christanthau and John Beck, best known for their work on Corinne Bailey Raye’s smash debut album, and “Se Telefonando,” a ’60s-vintage Italian gem song co-written by legendary soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone.
“I think it’s a bit of complex album, and it definitely reflects our different backgrounds and the different kinds of music that we like,” Greta says. “But more than anything else, it’s a pop album. I think that it’s very easy to like, but I also think that it works on a deeper level, because of the composing and arranging.”
Greta’s Bakery reflects the diversity of the band members’ abilities, and the creative bond that drove them to bridge geographical boundaries in order to make music together. Growing up in Italy, Greta Panettieri studied classical violin, but her real passion was for American jazz and Brazilian music. At 19, she won a scholarship to study at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, but chose instead to move to New York to check out the city’s jazz scene. There, her talents were quickly recognized, and she soon became in an in-demand vocalist in a variety of bands. In one of those combos, Greta struck up an instant rapport with bandmate Mike LaValle, a jazz bassist whose passion for Brazilian music had led him to study the music extensively.
When Greta temporarily returned to Rome in 2005, she reconnected with longtime friend Andrea Sammartino, a versatile keyboardist as well as a skillful recording engineer. After Mike came to Rome for a visit, the three began rooming together in Greta’s apartment, and soon the trio was became a vibrant creative unit.
“It was a pretty organic situation, and it just came together without anyone really pushing it,” Mike recalls. “One person would come up with an idea, who would pass it on to the next person, who would come up with something and pass it to the next person. Before we knew it, we had a bunch of songs, for this band that didn’t even exist yet.”
Greta, Mike and Andrea spent several months together in Rome, writing and performing their original material, before deciding to move the budding band back to the States. Despite the red tape created by immigration issues, the threesome’s effervescent live performances began to win them a reputation around New York, and they won further acclaim for a European tour opening for Joe Jackson.
By then, the band had christened itself Greta’s Bakery, in a punning, but oddly appropriate, reference to the English translation of Greta’s surname. “I kind of like the association between baking and making music,” the singer observes. “In a bakery, you can create so many different things with the same few ingredients. It’s the same in music; the same group of notes can create extremely different vibes or emotions when used differently. ”
After signing with Decca Records, Greta’s Bakery won the right to take a hands-on role in producing its debut album—a rare honor for a new band. “Making the record was definitely a challenge, but I think we proved ourselves,” Mike adds. “The label was very patient and allowed us to go through the whole difficult birthing process of this record. And I think that we came out of the experience a stronger and better band.”
Indeed, the confident, effortless musicality of Greta’s Bakery belies the trio’s status as a new act. “Our music is an amalgam of so many different things, and there are some pretty complex rhythmic and compositional and harmonic things going on,” Mike notes. “But I hope people don’t think that it’s some kind of novelty or gimmick just because it’s eclectic. All of these influences are so deeply ingrained in us that they come out in our songwriting, without us really thinking about them.”
“When I hear us,” Greta adds, “I think it always sounds like us, whether we’re playing a Brazilian song, an Italian pop song or a jazz thing.”
“When the three of us started making music together, we weren’t thinking about anything other than just playing music together,” Mike asserts. “Everything else that’s happened for us has grown out of that. We’re not too concerned about where we fit in the grand scheme of things. It’s more about just trying to make magic and then seeing where that leads us.”
