Press

Interview on Neon Jazz

“That was a truly magical concert. Gabriela and Maxim communicate effortlessly, as if they are reading each other’s minds. It’s an experience that draws you deep into that space where you can witness and feel part of the creation of something unique and beautiful, that just happens in that very moment through a conversation between brilliant musical minds. The joy, honesty and freedom that they express throughout their performance is contagious and goes right to the core of what making music is about.”

  • Damiano Pascarelli (composer / arranger )

“In a constantly growing community, Maxim and Gabriela break boundaries to create on the spot. They are creating a musical environment to enhance freedom of creativity through improvisation: be it a text out of a book or a poem, a non-lyrical piece or simply an idea of one motif – Maxim and Gabriela will think of a creative way to express themselves in the very moment.”

— from an audience member, Boston US - 2022

“If I hadn’t known the performance was completely improvised in the moment, I would have assumed Gabriela Martina and Maxim Lubarsky were performing precomposed music… A dazzling display of two brilliant musical minds thinking as one organism."

- Jesse Rowan (audience member from Amsterdam in Sept 2023)

Explorations In Sound (Independent Release; **** 101:12), a collaboration between Gabriela Martina and Ukrainian pianist Maxim Lubarsky, lives up to its title with five improvised originals, one standard and a cover of Bette Midler's "The Rose." They're performed as duets, with Martina singing and Lubarsky adding melodies and rhythmic flourishes. Together, they push the boundaries, with unexpected twists and turns. "One Note." "In Momentum" and "Crazy" were improvised on the spot, with Martina scatting up and down the scale and Lubarsky adding bass notes and trills that follow her as she explores the limits of her voice, blending growls, trills and percussive syllables. "Gertrude" uses the words of Gertrude Stein's poem "Rooms," from her book Tender Buttons. The words don't rhyme, but Martina makes them dance. Lubarsky's piano weaves around Martina's phrasing.

- J. Poet , Downbeat Magazine, 2025

It is hard to believe that a performance like the one given life to by vocalist Gabriela Martina and pianist Maxim Lubarsky in Exploration in Soundis mostly the result of extemporaneous ideas and not of meticulous studies on scores of different origins. Original compositions or radical rereadings of other people's pages (Exactly Like You), here we find ourselves in front of two musicians in total, absolute and spontaneous harmony, a pair of authentic talents of improvisation capable of creating almost from nothing (emblematic in this regard is One Note, the opening title of the program) music so exquisite, intense, dynamic and engaging. A PROJECT THAT DEMANDS AND DESERVES ATTENTION.

- Elio Bussolino, Rockerilla Magazine, Italy 2025

JAZZ? LÄUFT! Radio Broadcast

The duo of Gabriela Martina & Maxim Lubarsky have gifted us with one of the most accomplished creative improvising releases of the burgeoning new year. Gabriela Martina continues to impress mightily with her maturation as an artist with each new release. On this record she uses her extended vocal technique to coo, croon, scat, whistle, and sing a lyric right through the middle of your heart. She is accompanied by the remarkable pianist Maxim Lubarsky, who supports and at times leads the singer down richly textured improving avenues of aural delight. This is a delicious record and they save the best for last with a sweetly nuanced, improvised composition based on a Gertrude Stein poem. This album is more than half improvised and with interpretive takes on Great American Songbook classics like Amanda McBroom’s The Rose; McHugh & Fields’ Exactly Like You. Poetry, classics, new tunes and great artistry all add up to a major upcoming release.

— John Hammell, Mozart to Motorhead Radio, NJ, Link To The Article