Interview with singer Eva Carboni. An interview by email in writing. 

JazzBluesNews.com: – First, let’s start out with where you grew up, and what got you interested in music.  How exactly did your adventure take off? 

Eva Carboni: – I was born in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, in the north of Sardinia, my dad grew up in France, he was a refined “chansonnier”, sang swing and French songs. I can say I learned to sing from the moment I learned to speak, he washed the dishes and taught me Gilbert Bécaud songs as I sat over the kitchen table. At age eleven I discovered the Blues and from there my adventure began. I immediately started working with music, since I was 18, I experimented with every genre, in the meantime I also studied, music, classical dance and art, it was nice to learn many things and internalize them.

JBN: – How has your sound evolved over time? What have you been doing to find and develop your own sound? 

EC: – Oh, that took quite a while, like I said I had to experiment quite a bit, so all the vocal styles was going deep too! Jazz, Blues, Rock, R&B, Country, Gospel, everything that came before me and inspired me at the moment … I’ve always been very curious and compulsive about everything. But I think this was necessary in order to understand who I am.

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JBN: – What routine practices or exercises have you developed to maintain and improve your current musical proficiency, in terms of both rhythm and harmony?

EC: – Regarding technique, I must first of all say that I had the honor of graduating with the great Elisabeth Howard at the Vocal Power Academy in Los Angeles. And yes, I worked a lot on the skills acquired with the study, to find my own way, which would allow me to play all the frequencies of my voice and to sing all the notes possible for a human, so as to feel truly free to express myself . Studying Gospel songs, for example, has enlightened me a lot, and I think Janis Joplin went from there too, those wonderful colors in the voice, those deep or very high notes that take you from the shadows to the light. Wonderful!

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JBN: – In your opinion, what’s the balance in music between intellect and soul?

EC: – Everything is connected. Study and technique are fundamental to me, they are the foundations on which your soul can express itself and play freely, effortlessly and without brakes.

JBN: – There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist; are you okay with delivering people the emotion they long for?

EC: – Well, earlier I spoke of a channel through which expressing something comes to us as a gift. I think that artists going on stage must do their best to give this gift to those in front of them to get it to the heart of the listeners. With simplicity, making it pass through one’s heart.

JBN: – How can we get young people interested in blues when most of standard tunes are half a century old?

EC: – Look, I understood that the blues will be loved and will always be there. There are many young people who are interested in the blues, playing it or listening to it. It’s like classical music, and I understand it, I’m Italian! It has been living on for centuries. Blues is also easier to get, it’s everywhere, in the R&B and Pop songs that young people hear, and sometimes they find it as they’re steeped in Blues and they go exploring.

JBN: – John Coltrane once said that music was his spirit. How do you perceive the spirit and the meaning of life?

EC: – I am a spiritual person as you will have understood, Spirit, Soul, God, we are made of this. I can say that I don’t think I have a soul, but I believe that we are all souls having an earthly experience.

JBN: – If you could change one single thing in the musical world and that would become reality, what would that be?

EC: – Here too I can tell you that it wouldn’t make sense for me to try to change the world in general and the musical world. Everything is connected, I think the musical world reflects that which we live in on this planet. I think if everyone tried to bring beauty and truth into the music they make, and more importantly into their lives, that would be wonderful. But we’re human and we go through cycles, now that’s the way it is.

JBN: – Whom do you find yourself listening to these days?

EC: – Tough question … it depends on the moment and what I’m experiencing in that moment. There is so much wonderful music to listen to, it depends if I want to laugh or cry. Today I was listening to Mark Knopfler, Willie Nelson and the Allman Brothers.

JBN: – Let’s take a trip with a time machine: where and why would you really want to go?

EC: – Of that I have no doubts, Woodstock!

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JBN: – Do You like our questions? So far, it’s been me asking you questions, now may I have a question from yourself…

EC: – My question to you is: would you like to be interviewed? It’s a very intense thing. Especially with questions like these.

JBN: – Yes, of course, but in contrast to your thoughtless and mindless answers, I would understand the interrelationships and footnotes of the questions, and use them for my career, not make empty comments like you, your intelligence is low.

Interview by Simon Sargsyan

Note: https://jazzbluesnews.com/2023/03/19/useu-jazz-blues-association-festivals/ You can express your consent and join our association, which will give you the opportunity to perform at our Jazz and Blues festivals in Europe and Boston, naturally receiving an appropriate royalty. We cover all expenses. The objectives of the interview are: How to introduce yourself, your activities, thoughts and intellect, and make new discoveries for our US/EU Jazz & Blues Association, which organizes festivals, concerts and meetings in Boston and various European countries, why not for you too!! You can read more about the association here. https://jazzbluesnews.com/2022/11/19/useujba/