Gina Sobel is a natural improviser. Accomplished on multiple instruments (flute, sax, voice), she radiates energy and excitement in her live performances and is sought after as a soloist with national and international performers. She is an award-winning songwriter and composer; in her own music, Sobel brings together elements of funk, jazz and American folk music into a fresh and compelling sound.
Sobel is the bandleader of Choose Your Own Adventure, a high-energy funk band featuring a brilliant group of musicians, and she partners with drummer Joey Antico in the lo-fi jazz/funk outfit Gold Sounds. She is active in genres across the spectrum, ranging from hip hop to bluegrass and everything in between.
Sobel’s improvisation and style are in high demand across a massive range of genres. Over the last couple years, Gina has recorded, collaborated and performed with artists including: Emancipator (down-tempo electronica), Rickie Simpkins (bluegrass), Jeff Coffin (jazz), Parachute (pop), Cory Wong of Vulfpeck (funk), Darryl Davis (boogie woogie), John D’earth (jazz), Flory Jagoda and Susan Gaeta (Sephardic), Dopapod (funk/electronica), Wytold (contemporary chamber music), Time for T (Portuguese tropical pop), and McKinley Dixon (hip hop). Recently, Sobel has played Red Rocks Amphitheater, New Orleans Jazz Fest, The Kennedy Center, 9:30 Club and the Richmond Folk Festival. In 2018, she completed both the Strathmore Artist in Residence program and the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship. In 2021 she was a songwriting winner of the Emergent Seed grant. She has a number of her own releases, most recently “Roos in Space” recorded with Choose Your Own Adventure.
Endorsements
Aurumite 9K Flute
OM6 Vocal Mic
ADX10 Flute Mic
ADX20i Sax Mic
Premier Tammany
AG-105E Acoustic Guitar
Travelcaster Deluxe Electric Guitar
Custom Tenor Mouthpiece
Platinum Ligature
33mm Goldplated Rose
Virginia Public Media – Peter Solomon
“No matter what style of music she performs, whether it’s traditional Sephardic music, funk, or indie-folk, there’s a foundational element of jazz and improvisation in Gina Sobel’s music.”
Pulse – Dave Cantor
“Sobel’s not a diffuse talent…though she might be performing in someone else’s band, playing flute or sax in a jazz combo or switching between guitars in a folk-inclined setting, Sobel’s spirit’s one that’s easy to pick out…it’s all in service of better being able to get what’s in her head out through her instrument — no matter what genre she’s playing.”
Cville Weekly – Mary Shea Valliant
“On her new album, World’s Getting Loud, Sobel draws inspiration from touring and traveling…it’s about loneliness and separation, excitement and curiosity.”
Bolder Beat – Dawn Raymond
“Listening to Gina Sobel and the Mighty Fine feels like a mid-summer celebration- you can almost feel the sun kiss your face. The down-to-earth style and the upbeat tempo of their sound nearly demands that you get on your feet and get your groove on.”
Audix Microphones – Sarah Snyder
“Multi-instrumentalist Gina Sobel is a kaleidoscope of musical talent, genres, and pure vibe. A young and vibrant part of the new face of jazz music, Gina rips through long-held stereotypes of genre to forge her own sound, which is being met with enthusiasm by a growing and diverse audience.”
EDM Identity – Logan Garrison
“Sobel has built her career as a leader of improvisation and a mastery of her craft. She has worked with the downtempo-electronica maestro, Emancipator for years while maintaining her demand across a multitude of genres. Her entrancing flute lures in listeners like that of a siren.”
AAA Music – Marguerite Gallorini
“This band (Gina Sobel and the Mighty Fine) has just the right blend between earnest lyrics that anyone can relate to, good jazz, funk and rock improvisation parts from everyone in the band, and a dynamic energy to link it all.”
The Bend Bulletin – Brian McElhiney
“On a given night, you could see Gina Sobel fronting a four-piece rock band. The next night (or indeed, later that same evening) the Charlottesville, Virginia, singer-songwriter might sit in with a jazz group, ripping saxophone and flute solos. Another night, she could be playing with her boyfriend Matt Draper in their rootsy acoustic duo Incognito. Of course, she’s perfectly comfortable by herself onstage with just a microphone and acoustic guitar.”
Cville Weekly
“Multifaceted singer and musician Gina Sobel brings a unique, vibrant energy to the stage. With her melodic voice and the twinge of funk, jazz and improv present in her music, she earns the warm accolades put forth…”
Cville Niche – Erin O’Hare
“Gina Sobel is one of Charlottesville’s most versatile musicians. She sings, plays flute, saxophone and guitar, and her music explores jazz, folk, rock, and many other genres.”