Record Reviews

MATUSIK & GHOSTMAN ~ LIVE NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2013 Released: 2013 This is a debut album by Polish duo, which pairs keyboardist / composer Piotr MatusikFind albums by this artist and vocalist GhostmanFind albums by this artist (Grzegorz LulekFind albums by this artist). The music was recorded live and it was the duo´s debut performance. The album presents nine original compositions / songs co-credited to both members of the duo. I have no idea why this album landed on my lap over two years after it was released, but better late than never. I must admit that I fell in love with this music from the first moment and I am still completely stunned by it. Mind you, it is only marginally Jazzy, but nevertheless it is one of the most original musical ventures on the Polish scene in the last few years. Matusik, who is a very gifted pianist and composer as evident from his other recording projects, uses a plethora of keyboards to accompany the vocalist and skillfully changes the sounds / samples / timbre of his instruments to support his partner amicably, playing on the way some truly beautiful solos. He manages to be a complete and sufficient "one man orchestra", utilizing a drum machine and other tricks of the trade, doing it all with taste and respect. But the real surprise for me is Ghostman, the vocalist. Not only is he blessed by a wonderful voice, which brings fond memories of the great Al JarreauFind albums by this artist, but he also manages to do something I never heard before and that is to improvise the songs´ lyrics inventing them in a gibberish language, which sounds as if spoken in a language, but in fact has no meaning whatsoever. The listener is convinced he is hearing Portuguese, Spanish, French or Italian but in fact this is all gibberish. Of course since most people do not speak many languages, they are convinced that they simply don´t understand the lyrics, but the devilish trick of fooling them all is Ghostman´s illusion. Honestly this can´t be accurately described by words and the only way to experience it is to hear it live, which I intend to do on the first opportunity arising. In the meantime listening to this superb music and absolutely stunning vocal shenanigans is all that I can do. If I´d received this album a couple of years earlier I´d have selected it among the top 10 albums of 2013, but alas this was no to happen. Buy I pay my respect now: hats off to both of you! And where is that studio album we all want to hear?

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