Cătălina Beța, a well-known vocalist on the Romanian jazz scene, is releasing her long-awaited debut album, Bluebird Vol. 1. She will also embark on a national tour to celebrate the release, but for more details, we have Cătălina Beța herself on the phone. Welcome, Cătălina, to Radio România Muzical.

Thank you, it's great to be here.

After so many years of performing, you're releasing your debut album, which has a title that feels like a promise. What can you tell us about this album and the addition of "Vol. 1" in the title?

This album has indeed been long-awaited. I was fortunate to collaborate with one of the best musicians in Bucharest and Romania, pianist, composer, and arranger Albert Tajti. I performed with him for several years, and our collaboration resulted in some arrangements he wrote for my favorite songs-both jazz standards and pop pieces. The idea for the album actually came from this Charles Bukowski poem, Bluebird, which talks about what is hidden inside us and sometimes struggles to see the light, to find a way out. The promise in Bukowski's poem is the promise of letting this "bluebird" in our hearts emerge into the light. A few years ago, I set this text to music, and the "Bluebird Vol. 1" promise refers to Volume 2, which is planned for next year and will feature original compositions.

Tell us about the full band, since these are very talented musicians on the Romanian scene.

On piano and musical arrangements, we have Albert Tajti; on bass, the excellent Michael Acker; on guitar, the young genius Bogdan Tănase; and on drums, the outstanding Gabi Matei.

I believe that practically everyone in the band, along with you, studied with the late Mircea Tiberian.

That's right. Words are inadequate to express the loss of such a great teacher, musician, composer, and cultural figure. We all learned something from him. I only studied at the Conservatory for one year, but meeting Mircea Tiberian was a life-changing experience for me-he is a giant in Romanian music and culture.

About the album itself, could you reveal a few of the tracks included?

The album includes several jazz standards, such as Softly, as in the Morning Sunrise, My Foolish Heart, Night and Day, and My Heart Belongs to Daddy. We also explore some South American music, like Jobim's Samba de Uma Nota Só. There are a few pop songs in Albert's arrangements as well, including Close to You, Blackbird, and Purple Rain. At the end of the album, we have a doină I found online-it's a traditional song from Bessarabia called Măi, puiuț de rândune'.

Where can we find you online with this material?

More information about the album and our concerts can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages. I am on Facebook as Catalina Beta and on Instagram as catalina.beta. We'll also post teasers and a few tracks on my YouTube channel, Catalina Beta. The launch concerts will start on Sunday in Iași at Club Acaju. On Wednesday, there will be a concert in Bucharest at the wonderful JazzBook Club. On Friday, November 7th, we'll be in Timișoara at Stage Pub, and the following Sunday, November 9th, we'll be in Brașov at Tipografia.

I find it interesting that you're starting the tour in Iași, a city connected to your jazz story.

It's actually a coincidence that we're starting in Iași, but it's where I was born. I was studying psychology at the time, and Professor Romeo Cosma, who was teaching at the Iași University of Music at the time, gave me my first jazz cassette tapes and invited me to sing jazz at the Richard Oschanitzky Festival. Back then, I sang blues and folk, and he told me that my voice and sensitivity were meant for jazz, opening the doors to this universe of jazz for me.