Gabrielle Cavassa - Diavola

Arriving not with fanfare or dramatic flourish but with a refined and quiet elegance, Gabrielle Cavassa is the next jazz vocalist that should be on everyone’s radar. With a power that lies heavily in the intimacy she builds with the listener, every phrase is almost confessional in its delivery – as if the song purely meant for you and you alone – and naturally invites comparison to the likes of fellow smoky songstresses such as Melody Gardot and Cassandra Wilson. 

For those who are fans of fellow Blue Note artist Joshua Redman, you might have already had a glimpse at Cavassa’s vocal talents on his widely acclaimed album where are we, where she featured as a guest performer. Interestingly, her path to wider recognition has a touch of old-fashioned serendipity – Redman’s manager first discovered her while she was singing at a wedding he was attending, and after becoming captivated by her sound, it signalled the start of brand new chapter that would bring her voice into contact with a much wider audience.

Prior to this turn in her career, Californian-born Cavassa impressively spent her early days honing her craft largely through teaching herself and drawing on the Bay Area music scene, before moving to New Orleans in 2017. In 2020, she independently released an eponymous debut record, produced by collaborator Jamison Ross, and in 2021 was awarded the winning title at the prestigious International Sarah Vaughan Jazz Vocal Competition. But it’s now with Diavola that the US singer steps into a spotlight directly with Blue Note, and begins her journey to becoming a real presence on the jazz global stage. 

The album features a stellar ensemble, and Blue Note have pulled out all the stops for Cavassa: Redman features on saxophone (as well as acting as co-producer), Paul Cornish is on piano, Jeff Parker plays guitar, Larry Grenadier is on bass and Brian Blade is on drums. In fact, it’s the band that open the album, sans Cavassa, for Parker’s own instrumental ‘Heaven Sighs’.

Her sublime vocals make their first appearance in a rendition of Bacharach’s ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’ – though the emotional tone is switched up to channel a much more sombre feeling. Cavassa's sincerity in her delivery is clear from the off, and Parker provides a rippling backing whilst Blade eventually introduces a soft and percussive groove. Much like opening her album with a track that doesn’t feature her at all, Cavassa is happy to step back and let Redman ride out the rest of this track with a flowing saxophone solo to close the piece. This, along with many other instances across the album, certainly gives the impression that Cavassa is confidently embracing her role as an artist big on collaboration.

‘Prisoner of Love’ sees an exquisite approach to vocal phrasing, Cavassa making the most of the lower register with sonority and emphasising the lyrical sentiment of the song. The original ‘Bossy Nova’ is intimate and atmospheric, and Cavassa champions her Italian legacy through tracks like Luigi Tenco’s ‘Angelo’ and the closing ‘La notte dell’addio’, the former featuring a dark and moody bowed bass that parries beautifully against her voice, and eventually segues into a rhythmic groove and a lamenting vocal line. 

‘Diavola’ explores the paradox of the angelic and demonic sides that seemingly coexist in human nature, and Grenadier delivers a haunting and chromatic bass ostinato that builds tension, while Blade’s rumbling and bubbling percussion finds moments to come to the fore. It’s an evocative track that paves the way for penultimate ‘Could It Be Magic’, with Cornish performing a beautiful piano opening that has more than the hint of Debussy about it, paring it back for Cavassa’s entrance. This is a lovely rendition, the arrangement bringing an entirely new energy to the well-known Barry Manilow classic. 

For Cavassa, it seems it was only a matter of time before she became an outstanding presence of the jazz scene, and with Diavola, it seems that time is, undeniably, now. Wherever Cavassa chooses to go next will surely be a remarkable continuation of a career that is only just beginning to reveal its full potential.