Softly is Gergana's newest record of jazz ballads performed in an intimate duet setting, interpreted brilliantly in a French Impressionistic style by pianist Walter Martella. This new musical collaboration presents Gergana's vocal artistry in a completely different light than her 2010 The Thief. Softly aims to bring Gergana's audience back to the old fashioned way of making music i.e., the record was cut "live of the floor" over two days by producer Paul Steenhuis at the Powell River Academy of Music using a Steinway D concert grand piano. In order to preserve the acoustic feel and sound of a live concert, a few imperfections were kept in the recording. In other words, what you will hear on this new record  was produced with little or no editing. Welcome back to the world of jazz art song! 

 

The Thief was produced by Misha Piatigorsky and Joby Baker with Misha on keys, Neil Swainson on bass, Willard Dyson on drums and percussion and Gord Clements on reeds. It features new original compositions by Gergana set to her poems as well as a wild improvisation of a Bulgarian folk tune, a soul original by Eric Dozier and a tribute to Elis Regina in Portuguese.