Record Reviews

SABINA MECK ~ SLOWO NA T SJ 048 (Barcode: 5912596066849) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 This is the third album by Polish Jazz vocalist / songwriter Sabina MeckFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Sabina MyrczekFind albums by this artist), recorded in a sextet setting with saxophonist Przemyslaw ChmielFind albums by this artist, guitarist Lukasz KokoszkoFind albums by this artist, pianist Michal JakubczakFind albums by this artist, bassist Piotr NajarowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Szymon MadejFind albums by this artist. Sabina´s brother vocalist Wojciech MyrczekFind albums by this artist guests on one track. The album presents ten original songs, all written (music and lyrics, all bar one in Polish language) by Meck. The album was recorded at the Monochrome Studio and engineered by Ignacy GruszeckiFind albums by this artist with excellent, as usual, sound quality. The album is a perfect document of the process Meck completed in the first five years of her career, both as vocalist and even more so as songwriter. The choices she made here to sing only original material and finally singing in Polish prove to be the right ones in every respect, as this album is definitely the most advanced and sophisticated achievement she made so far, even though the two previous albums were already remarkable by any standard. The most striking quality of this album is the quality of the compositions, which is nothing short of astounding. Although hey are all full of beautiful melodies, they also dare to explore much less conventional areas, sometimes even bordering on Free. The rhythmic patterns are often unusual and convoluted as well. As a result musically the album enters another dimension entirely, stepping beyond what is expected from "song oriented" music. Meck utilizes all her wonderful vocal abilities augmented by an extensive technical range, singing both lyrics and vocalese, spoken word and theatrical phrasing, each and every time perfectly appropriate to the given musical setting. Singing in Polish allows her to emphasize the dramatic qualities of her lyrics, which adds another layer to the songs´ overall effectiveness. She is beautifully supported by the five instrumentalists, who spice the proceedings with superb soloing and steady rhythmic flow, which is extremely important in this complex music. The young generation of Polish Jazz musicians is so full of wonderfully talented people that we take this level of quality for granted, but in fact this is true miracle. 2019 finally proved to be a remarkably fruitful year for Polish vocal Jazz albums after many decades of relative stagnation. This album is certainly one of most impressive of these albums, deserving as much love and attention as possible. I am happy so see that my high hopes and expectations from Sabina Meck, from the moment I first heard her, proved to be justified and it makes me extremely happy to see her consistently reaching for the stars. You make me proud my Dear!

Updated: 26/12/2019Posted: 26/12/2019

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