by Len Lear

Of all the singers and musicians who have ever performed at Paris Bistro, it is a pretty safe bet that none has ever come from as far away as Gemma Sherry, who will be singing her favorites from The Great American Songbook at the Chestnut Hill jazz venue on March 8 and April 9, three sets each time.

According to Wikipedia, it is exactly 10,285 miles from Melbourne, Australia (the closest big city to where Gemma grew up), to Philadelphia. In other words, if you were traveling at the speed of light, you could get to Paris Bistro from Australia in less than one second. However, Gemma, a delightful, charming 30-ish jazz singer (time has not laid a glove on her) and accomplished saxophone player (she may play the sax at Paris Bistro), took a more circuitous (and somewhat slower) route.

“I always knew I wanted to go to New York because that’s where so many jazz greats have been,” said Gemma, who grew up in Castle Main, a small town in the Australian outback (“We had one high school with 300 students, and everybody knew everybody”), taught music in school, had her own “acid jazz funk band” with her brother and was a child librarian.

So eight years ago, Gemma walked out on the high wire, left everything behind and traveled to Harlem in New York City, where she lived for five years, followed by three years in Brooklyn. “I shared a room with four people at 145th Street and Nicholas in Harlem,” she said. “The town I grew up in Australia was all white, but there were very few whites living in Harlem. I loved living there. Everybody was so nice to me that I felt right at home.”

Gemma taught first grade in Harlem and later second grade and kindergarten in Brooklyn. “It was very rough; I wasn’t ready for it.” She also worked as director of music licensing for a music company, enabling her to travel to Los Angeles once a month, and she earned a master’s degree in special education at City College of New York.

Since moving to the U.S., this soul-jazz singer, songwriter and saxophonist, whose voice has all the herbs and spices, has released a number of house music records on various European record labels and has just released her debut jazz album, “Songs I Love,” on her label, Tunley Records. The album is a collection of her favorite jazz songs not just lyrically but also melodically.

So how did this audacious Aussie wind up in Philly? She met and married a resident of Washington, D.C., last May. (Sherry requested that his name and workplace not be mentioned.) They decided to live someplace between New York and D.C. “with lots of trees.” So they came to Philly and looked at several neighborhoods.

“Fishtown was like Brooklyn but not enough trees. So we got on a train and got off at the Allens Lane Train Station. Right away we liked the coffee shop at the train station. And the area around it was beautiful.”

So the jazz singer/saxophonist and her husband wound up purchasing a house in Mt. Airy, and they fit into the neighborhood like a tree in Wissahickon Park. “We love the area,” said Gemma. “It is like my home town with friendly people, events on the street, a real community, a hidden secret. It makes you want to immerse yourself in the community. My mom and dad visited us here and loved it. I cannot imagine living anywhere else in America.”

Gemma, who knows her true north and orbits in a galaxy all her own, started listening to jazz at age 12 and has always connected with that music as opposed to pop music. In the last month she has played gigs in New York and D.C. and is booked to play the same venues in March and April, respectively. And she has a tour lined up for cities in Australia in May and June. She also works part-time at Germantown Friends School teaching pre-school children.

“I'm always looking for great songs to sing,” said Gemma, “but it has to be a song I can really connect with. If someone requests a song, I will sing it, but I will not record a song unless I feel passionate about it. If you are singing a song you don't believe in, it is very obvious to the audience.”

Why did Gemma record her first CD, which was released Dec. 17 last year, in England when there are so many studios locally where it could have been done? “Because my uncle Billy lives there as well as his musical contacts. He worked on a cruise ship and then moved to England in his 20s, about 50 years ago. He invented an amazing loud speaker system, but he also had liver and kidney transplants about 30 years ago, and he is about to undergo a triple heart bypass. I believe he is the longest living double-transplant survivor in the world, And he is a really great guy!”

Gemma also wanted to take this opportunity to publicly thank her parents for “the immense support they gave me with my music growing up. My mum and dad drove me to numerous gigs, concerts, music lessons, auditions and rehearsals for most of my childhood. Without them I wouldn't be where I am now.” 

For more information, visit www.gemmasherry.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com. Gemma donated several copies of her CD to the Local. If you would like one, email Lear.