Our band of the day, Contessa Blue gave us hope in the music again thanks to their version of “Black Cow” by the legendary Steely Dan. The band seduced us from the first notes, a splendid remake rocked by jazz, soul, and touches of blues. A song that is effortlessly savored, where real music, made by multi-instrumentalist David Robert and guitarist Chris Sabbarese, reigns perfectly, and the vocal performance of singer Tarah Olivier is bewitching.
We had the honor to interview lead singer Tarah Olivier and we invite you to discover our conversation after listening to “Black Cow”.
Welcome to our redaction! Can you tell us how you started to make music together?
We started working together around five years ago. It began as a duo with myself and David Anderson performing locally around our metro area, which is Phoenix, Arizona. Chris Sabbarese joined us three years ago rounding us out on electric guitar, while David alternates between piano and acoustic guitar. All of us had mutual friends in our local music community and we’re often on the same page in regards to what projects we want to do.
How would you describe your music?
It’s hard to define what genre we are in. Our biggest influences are jazz, R&B, classic rock, and alternative. Some of our musical heroes include Steely Dan, Amy Winehouse, Swing Out Sister, Corinne Bailey Rae, Etta James, and The Rolling Stones. I used to work in the radio industry and saw first-hand how music is categorized into these specific genres for the sake of marketing – where you are either one or the other. Many musicians don’t fit into a box like that and we count ourselves among them.
What is your creative process?
As far as our creative process is concerned, David is a prolific songwriter who enjoys the process of creating, composing, and producing music. He will often create the music first and I come up with lyrical ideas that’ll work with it. We are kind of old school in a way as we actually collaborate a lot over the phone. We do most of our recording at Cozettas Studios with well-regarded sound engineer John Wroble. John has worked on projects for the likes of Johnny Depp and George Benson, so we’re thrilled to have him on our team.
Can you share a few words about your latest release?
Our latest release, “Black Cow,” is our tribute to a Steely Dan classic from their 1977 hit album “Aja”. It’s one of our favorite songs to perform live and we wanted to share our version of it with the world.
What do you plan for the future?
Our plans for the future include creating and releasing new original material. We would also love to do a European club tour someday!
Official Website: www.contessablue.com
