Blueberry w/Gail Ann Dorsey @ Colony Woodstock

BLUEBERRY

Gwen Snyder lives on her own planet – the planet Blueberry. And if you have even the tiniest drop of soul in your sauce, you’re really going to like it there. It’s a place where lush folds of velvet vapor rise like street steam after a summer rain; where soft, sexy keyboard swells rub up against hip-swaying, sole-sliding bass lines; where Erykah Badu, Prince, and Donovan make sweet love to the sounds of Stevie wonder’s Innervisions and Roxy Music’s Avalon. A landscape where quiet storms hover and glide over endless fields of deep, funky hooks. Ready to visit this enchanted world? Good news: It’s closer than you think. Conveniently, Blueberry also happens to be the name of the ever-changing, party-bringing psychedelic-soul collective that New York singer and multi-instrumentalist Snyder formed in 1999 to play her songs.

Snyder has lent her talents as a musician and vocalist to a diverse and impressive list of industry names: Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner, jazz great Don Byron, Eighties pop act Tears for Fears, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, singer-songwriters Ben Taylor and Jonathan Rice, Brand New Heavies singer N’Dea Davenport, David Bowie bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, New York bands Nervous Cabaret and Johnny Society, and many others. And her songs have been used on the soundtracks of such hit TV shows as “Roswell,” “Providence,” and “Felicity.”

But Snyder’s roots as a performer don’t only extend into music. After graduating from New York University’s experimental theater program in the ’90s, she quickly became a key player in the Downtown scene, providing the voice of Janis Joplin’s ghost in the Off-Broadway production “Distortion Taco,” working with famed composer-choreographer Meredith Monk, and starring in several indie films and music videos. Her theatrical lineage makes Snyder a strikingly

visual artist, and her performances with Blueberry are a natural outlet for her singular style. Outside of a Blueberry gig, perhaps the best way to get a glimpse of her glittery flash and panache is via the video for the Organika track “The Little Ones.”

“The days, there really aren’t any acts out there like Blueberry. O, sure, there’s a raft of neo-soul pretenders that reference the class names mentioned elsewhere on this sheet. But few of them have the chops to do their elders’ legacies justice. And even if they do, in most cases they come off as little more than slavish tributes to the greats. With Blueberry, however, the virtuosic Snyder brings something to the party that none of these shallow contemporary R&B claimants has: herself. Snyder’s aesthetic, which combines a sense of childlike, fairytale wonder with the confident wiles of a seasoned seductress, is uniquely and utterly her own. And her music is pure, hook-heavy, pop genius. Don’t let it pass you by.”

Chronogram magazine and contributor to AllMusicGuide.com,

AllAboutJazz.com, Jazz Improv, Your Flesh Quarterly, and the Kingston
-– Peter Aaron, music editor
Daily Freeman

GAIL ANN DORSEY

Gail Ann Dorsey is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and recording artist with a unique and impressive career in mainstream and independent music spanning more than three decades. Most widely known as one of the music world’s most influential and highly rated bass guitar players, Gail is equally revered for her outstanding vocal talent, contributing her dynamic voice to many projects from the music industry’s top artists as well as her own solo recordings and live performances.

One of the most notable GAD vocal pairings is her show-stopping duet with music legend David Bowie on the Queen/Bowie classic “Under Pressure”. Dorsey occupied the bass guitar/vocalist chair in David Bowie’s touring bands from 1995 to 2004. She also contributed to Bowie albums ‘Earthling’, ‘Reality’ and ‘The Next Day’, including the posthumous releases of the Bowie studio recordings ‘Toy’ and box set ‘Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001). Her skills and talents can also be heard on several recent live concert releases including Bowie live at ‘Glastonbury 2000’ available on Spotify and other streaming services.

Aside from her long tenure with David Bowie, Gail has recorded and toured the world with a variety of artists whose music spans an impressively wide range of genres. From folksinger-activist Dar Williams to British crooner Seal, soulful songstress Joan Osborne to pop icon Gwen Stefani, Brit post punk pioneers The Gang Of Four to the sophisticated pop stylings of Tears For Fears, celebrated indie band The National, and one of Dorsey’s personal favorites, the iconic Olivia Newton-John, Gail has delivered her solid, signature bass style and vocals as a prominent feature to these artists and many more around the globe. From 2011 to 2020, Dorsey held the position as bass player in the touring line-up of soul-pop-rocker, Lenny Kravitz.

As bassist and featured vocalist, GAD has most recently been recording, touring, and collaborating with the artist -M-; the “alter ego” symbol of French superstar guitarist, singer-songwriter, producer, and award-winning composer, Matthieu Chedid. The -M- 2022-2023 ‘Rêvalité’ Tour consisted of 150 concerts dates throughout France and a few other French-speaking countries beyond that concluded in October of last year.

As a solo artist, GAD has released three albums, including ‘The Corporate World’ (WEA Records 1988), ‘Rude Blue’ (Island Records 1993), and the independent released ‘I Used To Be…’ in 2004, which can be heard on Spotify. Taking a break from the touring machine, Gail is once again directing her focus on writing, recording, and releasing a much anticipated and long awaited new solo album to be released before the end of the year