Gaby Warren: Best friend of jazz

Gaby Warren: Best friend of jazz
By Charley Gordon

Nobody loved jazz more than Gaby Warren. He was well-read in other fields and he had a distinguished career as a diplomat, but when he ran into you he wanted to talk about jazz. “By the way …” he’d begin, and immediately launch into an enthusiastic description of his latest musical discovery.

Gaby’s love for jazz led him to the improbable decision to begin a career as a jazz singer at the age of 60. That led him to JazzWorks jazz camp, where many of us encountered him in the Christie Lake days. JazzWorks was part of his voyage of discovery. He found musical friends and mentors there, future collaborators.

Whatever you thought of Gaby’s singing, he was not half-hearted about it. He took lessons, not only in voice but in musical theory. He wanted to sing not just tunes but the hippest and most complicated tunes. That was clear on his recordings. He didn’t want to sing All of Me; he wanted to sign Crisis by Freddie Hubbard—and he wanted to write lyrics for it.

When Gaby recorded and performed (memorably on two CDs and at his annual Christmas Jazzworks jam), he surrounded himself with the best musi­cians, often including jazz camp faculty members. You’d think those musicians, performing with an amateur, after all, would just go through the motions. But no: they played full-out, because they respected Gaby’s courage and commitment to
the music.

That commitment to the music was also a commitment to his friends who played it. If you knew Gaby and you performed in Ottawa, he’d be there. And if you were lucky, you’d hear his shouted “Bravo!” at the end of a set. We were lucky to have him as part of our community.

Bravo, Gaby.

Gaby died June 26, 2025
Gaby's official obituary

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