Gabrielle Cavassa has arrived. The award-winning vocalist releases ‘Diavola’ today via Blue Note Records, a debut that establishes her not just as a remarkable singer but as a fully formed bandleader, songwriter, and song interpreter with something genuinely distinct to say. Forbes has already called her “the next major force in jazz.” ‘Diavola’ makes the case without argument.
The album is co-produced by Joshua Redman and Don Was, two figures whose combined experience covers decades of recorded music at the highest level. Redman handled production details while Was focused on listener impact, and together they built a framework that gives Cavassa’s interpretations room to develop their full range of tones and colors. The cast assembled around her is equally formidable: Jeff Parker on guitar, Larry Grenadier on bass, Brian Blade on drums, Paul Cornish on piano, and Redman himself on tenor saxophone.
‘Diavola’ explores the coexistence of opposing forces, the angel and the devil, possession and surrender, urgency and repose. It’s a dualism that sits at the center of Cavassa’s artistry and personal identity, and she refuses to resolve it neatly. “I’m not willing to let go of either,” she says, “or I haven’t been able to.” That tension is exactly what makes the album compelling from start to finish.
Redman’s involvement goes beyond the studio. He first invited Cavassa in as a collaborator for his own Blue Note debut ‘where are we’ in 2023, a partnership that gave her both a major platform and a creative foundation she’s now built something entirely her own upon. “Josh was with me every step of the way,” she says. “He was the comfort and the trust through the whole process. And Don was bringing this wisdom of absolutely one-in-a-million experience.”
The critical world has been tracking Cavassa for a while now. Her feature appearance on Redman’s 2023 album prompted DownBeat to declare her “a star in the making.” Stereophile wrote that her voice “gets under your skin,” calling it “almost physical in its intimacy” and praising her “intuitive interpretations” that make you “sit very still in your chair.” That’s not hype. That’s a specific description of what it feels like to actually listen to her.
The biography behind all of this is as unconventional as the music. Born in Escondido, California of Italian descent and largely self-taught, Cavassa credits the Bay Area music scene rather than formal training as her real education. She relocated to New Orleans in 2017, absorbed the local club scene, independently released an eponymous debut in 2020, and in 2021 won the prestigious International Sarah Vaughan Jazz Vocal Competition. Each step built toward this moment.
‘Diavola’ is out now. Cavassa is on the road through November with dates spanning New York, New Orleans, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and beyond, including a stop at the Detroit Jazz Festival in September and a run of West Coast dates in the fall.
Gabrielle Cavassa Tour Dates:
May 1-3––Birdland––New York, NY
May 5––Caffè Vivace––Cincinnati, OH
May 6––Blue LLama––Ann Arbor, MI
May 7––Edwins––Cleveland, OH
May 8––The Jazz Kitchen––Indianapolis, IN
May 9––Regattabar––Boston, MA
May 15––New Orleans Jazz Market––New Orleans, LA
Sept. 6––Detroit Jazz Festival––Detroit, MI
Sept. 19––Caymus-Suisun––Fairfield, CA
Sept. 25––Callanwolde Fine Arts Center––Atlanta, GA
Nov. 4––Sam First––Los Angeles, CA
Nov. 5––Kuumbwa Jazz Center––Santa Cruz, CA
Nov. 7––SFJAZZ––San Francisco, CA
Nov. 20––Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center––Livermore, CA