Sunday 24 August 2025
Inês Loubet Trio
Festival Marquee
Inês Loubet is a Portuguese singer-songwriter who combines Latin Jazz and Brazilian Tropicália, with a touch of soul and funk. She released her debut solo album Senga on the Albert’s Favourites label last year. On Sunday, she was joined in the Festival Marquee by Julio de Castro on electric bass and Jansen Santana on a fascinating array of percussion, including the boom box he was sitting on, metal keys, a small samba drum and plastic bottle tops. Inês Loubet provided lead vocals and acoustic guitar.
An early highlight was Dandē da Bahia from the new album, a song about friends who significantly impact your life, even if you haven’t seen them for a while. Loubet smiled gently as she sang and played guitar, and de Castro played a lovely melodic bass line. Olha o Rio was an ode to carnival and its contribution to Brazilian music. The song began with a samba/bossa nova feel, Loubet sounding like the American jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux. Loubet announced Sambo Mesmo Sem, a song about coming together to celebrate despite the weather, as the first single she ever released, in November 2023. It was a lovely, laid-back song featuring mixed percussion and superb guitar, bass and vocal harmonies. Loubet had a charming stage presence, drawing us into her music and her stories with a mellow, soulful voice. Santana was relaxed and inventive in his percussion playing, smiling gently as he played. De Castro was a virtuosic bass player and played some excellent funky bass on Banho de Folhas, a cover of a song by the Brazilian singer-songwriter Luedji Luna.
Loubet explained that most of the songs in the set were from Senga, a superb album that is well worth investigating. Senga is Agnes (her name) backwards, but it also means fragments, and the record represents fragments of who she is. Guri (child in Portuguese) recounted a long journey in Brazil in a car with a nine-month-old boy, enjoying himself despite the journey. Loubet dedicated this song to the boy, saying she needs to be more like him. She danced while she sang this inspiring song. Semente (‘seed’) told the more serious story of a phone call from her mother in her native Porto ( ‘the best city in Portugal’) asking her to come home from university because her father was ill with depression. It was a gentle, soulful song with an excellent bass solo and anguished vocals at the end.
Two of the songs in the set were about women’s role in society. Sapo Jacaré used a rhythm that only women play, in the mountains in the North East of Portugal, as they sing verses about their struggles as women. Loubet dedicated the final song A Todas as Mulheres (To all women), to all the women in the room, and to family members she had seen in toxic relationships. A haunting song, it was slow and poignant. At one point, she moved away from the mic, and the audience leaned in to this intimate, vulnerable section. At the end of the song (and the set), the Minster bell chimed, as if in agreement with the sentiment of the song.
Performers
Inês Loubet voice, guitar
Julio de Castro electric bass
Jansen Santana percussion