March 13, 2026
Award-winning vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa makes her artistic arrival with the May 1 release of her Blue Note debut, Diavola, an album that unveils her range as a band leader, a songwriter, and a fearless song interpreter who treats each gesture with subtlety and reverence. Co-produced by Joshua Redman and Don Was, Diavola is a collection of original songs and luminous arrangements that features an extraordinary cast of collaborators with Jeff Parker on guitar, Larry Grenadier on bass, Brian Blade on drums, Paul Cornish on piano, and Redman on tenor saxophone.
At once intimate and anthemic, Diavola subverts the self-portrait. The album explores coexistences of the angel and the devil — a dynamic central to Cavassa’s artistry and personal identity — engaging a dualism of possession and surrender, of urgency and repose. “I’m not willing to let go of either,” says Cavassa, “or I haven’t been able to.”
Luigi Tenco’s “Angelo” and Cavassa’s “Diavola” – released today as a double single – serve as inverses of each other and capture the dichotomy at the heart of the album. On the former, Grenadier’s lamenting arco empathizes with Cavassa’s despairing vocal, delivered in its original Italian; on the latter, his stalking bass line over an extended drone foreshadows a fall from grace. “Diavola” captures Cavassa’s own turmoil in her honest, lamenting vocal.
“In ‘Angelo,’ this character is coming from a really dark place and almost coming to the light,” she says. “Who knows — maybe it’s just a manipulator in the cycle of abuse. But I absolutely love its honesty.” At the other end, “‘Diavola’ is coming from an angelic place, being in a relationship and trying to appease the other person. It’s really feeling like too much and she breaks, and devolves into Diavola. ‘Angelo’ and ‘Diavola’ are a pair because they sort of turn into each other. There are cracks in each of them where a piece of the other can be seen.” Presenting the character Diavola as a flawed archetype as opposed to a true villain creates real tension on the record. “The whole album reflects Diavola,” says Cavassa. “She is a character but also an idea that holds these two opposing parts.”
Diavola was introduced last month with the lead single “Prisoner of Love,” as well as a live video of Cavassa performing the song in a stripped down duo with guitarist Gabe Schneider. The album is available for pre-order now on Blue Note Store exclusive signed color vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and digital download.
