Vocalist Gail Dobson is one of the Bay Area's leading performers and educators. Her first big time gigs were playing legendary North Beach haunts such as the Purple Onion and the Hungry i. She was also a frequent performer at the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in Half Moon Bay. Married for 27 years to jazz pianist and singer Smith Dobson, she continued her musical journey with Smith until his untimely death in April of 2001 in a car accident.
Smith Dobson was one of the Bay Area’s great arts educators, and served on the boards of San Jose Jazz, the Stanford Jazz Alliance, and the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. In tribute to Smith’s legacy, San Jose Jazz hosts the Smith Dobson Youth Jazz Festival, which gives young musicians an opportunity to learn from the masters. All Summer Fest performances at the Bella Mia Stage are dedicated to him.
One of Gail’s most personal projects is the Dobson Family Band, which has performed over 100 concerts throughout the Bay Area and in Canada. The group’s work highlights the "Dobson" philosophy of allowing the music to unfold naturally through player interaction and soloing. In 2003, Gail recorded a tribute CD for Smith called Parallel Reflections, and recently put a new band together, Gail Dobson and her Latin Jazz Sextet. Gail is also heavily involved in music education, both as a vocal coach and in supporting programs like Music in Schools Today.
