Gabrielle Cavassa

Singer Gabrielle Cavassa is an award-winning performer with an intimate style steeped in jazz, soul, and Italian pop traditions. The winner of the 2021 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, Cavassa broke through as a featured member of saxophonist Joshua Redman's group before making her Blue Note debut with 2026's Diavola. Born in 1994 in Escondido, California, Cavassa became interested in music at a young age listening to jazz and soul artists like Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Phyllis Hyman, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nancy Wilson. She also grew up as part of an extended Italian family and spent time abroad, where she developed a passion for Italian pop and cabaret icon Ornella Vanoni. While she started taking piano lessons at age ten, as a vocalist she was largely self-taught. After high school, she studied music at San Francisco State University. She moved to New Orleans where she worked with artists like Adonis Rose, Jamison Ross, and others. It was Ross who produced her self-released eponymous debut in 2020. In 2021, she garnered wider attention after winning the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. More high-profile work followed, including appearing with saxophonist Joshua Redman on both 2023's Where Are We and 2024's Words Fall Short. In 2026, she made her Blue Note solo debut with Diavola, mixing originals alongside covers. Co-produced by Redman and Don Was, it also featured contributions by guitarist Jeff Parker, pianist Paul Cornish, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade. ~ Matt Collar