Although they're far and few in between these days, it's always admirable to come across a younger singer that is keeping the vintage sound of decades past alive. Recently I discovered German singer Tom Gaebel when his music video for his cover of "Music To Watch Girls By" was recommended to me in the sidebar on YouTube. I was immediately wowed by his voice, charisma, and -- let's face it -- the fact that he's also easy on the eyes.
Since then I've been referring to Gaebel as "the German Michael Buble" but I like him much more than Buble. (His fans also refer to him as "Dr. Swing.") Unfortunately, he's mostly known in Europe which is why I wanted to introduce him to my American readers. Gaebel leads a big band that is named after himself. Born in January 1975, he hails from a musical family and learned several instruments as a kid (including the glockenspiel) before finding his true calling as a singer. He worked with a few bands and singers in the early 2000s before releasing his solo debut album, Introducing: Myself (a nod to Austin Powers, perhaps?) in 2005.
He's also released a couple of Christmas albums (Easy Christmas, 2010 and A Swinging Christmas, 2015) and several albums that include a mix of classic covers from the '50s through the '70s, along with a few original songs of his own that hit the retro sweet spot in my opinion. His current album is So Good To Be Me, released in 2014, which features mostly original songs. He is especially adept at covering Sinatra.
Gaebel dropped the umlaut from his surname to give his brand some more international appeal. But despite that, he's relatively unknown in the States. Here's hoping that changes soon, and that he gains enough American fans to add some U.S. concert stops eventually! Enough babbling from me; let's hear some of Gaebel's music. Let me know what you think.
