Record Reviews

JUDYTA PISARCZYK ~ KONCERT W TROJCE POLSKIE RADIO 2168 (Barcode: 5907812246204) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Funk Fusion Recorded: 2017 Released: 2018 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz vocalist Judyta PisarczykFind albums by this artist, recorded live at the Polish Radio Studio Three in Warsaw. She is accompanied by guitarist Michal HoniszFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Marek TutkoFind albums by this artist, bassist Bogumil EksnerFind albums by this artist and drummer Roman MajdaFind albums by this artist. The album presents eleven songs, two of which are originals she composed and wrote lyrics for, one is a Polish Pop song and the rest are Jazz standards. Pisarczyk, who won the Grand Prix at the Ladies´ Jazz Festival competition in 2017, puts on a great show from the moment she opens her mouth and sounds like a true veteran, in spite of her young age. She uses her voice skillfully both when singing lyrics and when improvising and singing vocalese. Sadly all the texts, including those of her original songs, except for the one Polish Pop song, are in English, which of course creates the usual uneasiness caused by Polish vocalists singing in English, but overall this is a rather minor vice in the grand scale of things. It is enough to compare her performance when singing the Polish lyrics to the other songs to understand what I mean. The accompaniment by the quartet, which plays mostly electrically, is not the ideal environment to emphasize the vocalist´s Jazzy explorations, and the album would have been infinitely more effective with a classic Jazz piano trio and perhaps a saxophone for a good measure. But again, all things considered, the quartet members play amicably and technically very proficiently, so the music sounds very nicely altogether, although is more Fusion / Funk oriented than focused on Jazz. The two original songs have very little to do with the rest of this album, which perhaps emphasizes the fact that Pisarczyk is still not exactly sure about her stylistic direction, which perhaps will eventually take her away from singing Jazz standards and move towards her own original material. Whatever the future might bring, this album is an excellent calling card showcasing her abilities, rather than a true artistic debut par excellence. It definitely shows her great potential, which she will surely justify with her future achievements. Nevertheless Jazz vocals fans should have a lot of fun with this album, which is a truly enjoyable listen.

Updated: 03/04/2018Posted: 03/04/2018

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