Record Reviews

NOVI ~ FIVE, FOUR, THREE GAD 025 (Barcode: 5901549197310) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1974 - 1975 Released: 2015 This is a reissue of the fifth album by the Polish Jazz vocal ensemble NOVIFind albums by this artist, recorded after the ensemble´s founder / leader / primary composer / arranger Bernard KawkaFind albums by this artist left Poland for the greener pastures of the Big Apple, following a whole wave of his compatriots, like Michal UrbaniakFind albums by this artist, Urszula DudziakFind albums by this artist, Adam MakowiczFind albums by this artist and others. Kawka´s departure seemed to have little impact on the remaining three members of the ensemble: Ewa WanatFind albums by this artist, Janusz MychFind albums by this artist and Waldemar ParzynskiFind albums by this artist. They immediately embarked upon the recording of this album, which as usual included original material, composed by Parzynski (seven of the nine compositions on this album) and Mych (the other two compositions). Three of the compositions included also lyrics (in English). The ensemble was accompanied by an instrumental combo, which featured top Polish Jazz musicians: keyboardist Wojciech KarolakFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marek BlizinskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Pawel JarzebskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Czeslaw BartkowskiFind albums by this artist, and the Polish Radio Jazz Studio OrchestraFind albums by this artist conducted by Jan Ptaszyn WroblewskiFind albums by this artist. In addition to the original album, this remastered edition includes four bonus tracks, two of which feature the vocalist Tomasz OchalskiFind albums by this artist, who expanded the ensemble to the original quartet lineup for a brief period. The original album was released only three years after it was recorded, which was an example of how political bureaucracy dictated the fate of musicians behind the Iron Curtain. Musically this album was a continuation of the fantastic work they did on the previous releases, but the stress of loosing their leader and the confusion that followed is pretty obvious. The selection of material and inclusion of songs is obviously a step towards commercialism, but the album still presents several top-notch numbers, beautifully and skillfully executed, which stand up to par with their earlier work. But overall the glory days of NOVI were over and although they would record a couple of additional albums, they were moving further away from the revolutionary and innovative vocal achievements of their early days. Considering the fact that this music has been unavailable for such a long time this is definitely another project by GADFind albums on this label Records, which deserves to be praised. NOVI fans will find this an indispensable part of their collection and hopefully we will get a complete set of NOVI reissues sometime in the future.

Updated: 13/10/2016Posted:

CD 1 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend