Record Reviews

BEATA PRZYBYTEK ~ THE ISLAND PRK 057 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2003 Released: 2004 This is the second album by Polish Jazz vocalist Beata PrzybytekFind albums by this artist, recorded with her quintet, which comprises of saxophonist / flautist Marcin ZupanskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Dorota ZaziabloFind albums by this artist, bassist Robert SzewczugaFind albums by this artist and drummer Ryszard BalcerFind albums by this artist. Same as its predecessor, which was recorded eighteen month earlier, this album presents nine classic Jazz vocal standards, sung in their original English version. There are no arrangement credits on the album´s liner notes. The album was recorded while Przybytek was still a student at the Academy of Music in Katowice where she studied Jazz vocals and her group comprises of her fellow students from the same school as well as students from the Academy of Music in Krakow. The result is in many respects a direct continuation of what the debut recording offered, but it is much more relaxed (and even somewhat lax), suggesting more self-confidence. Effectively it lacks the youthful enthusiasm and spontaneity and therefore also looses some of the charm of the debut album. Przybytek saves the day by exposing her ability to stretch her voice and use a husky tone most effectively, which brings her closer sonically to Soul and Blues rather than to the straight-forward Jazz format. On this album her talent obviously outgrows the abilities of her cohorts and with a different band she would have probably achieved a much better result. All in all this is still a very nice mainstream vocal Jazz album, which should make most of the fans utterly satisfied. Przybytek is a very talented singer and once she reached her full potential as singer / songwriter all her qualities came to full bloom. In the meantime this is a nice souvenir from the student days. Definitely worth investigating!

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BEATA PRZYBYTEK ~ YOU DON`T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS PRK 049 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2002 Released: 2003 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz vocalist Beata PrzybytekFind albums by this artist, recorded with her quintet, which comprises of saxophonist / flautist Marcin ZupanskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Dorota ZaziabloFind albums by this artist, bassist Robert SzewczugaFind albums by this artist and drummer Ryszard BalcerFind albums by this artist. Violinist Krzysztof MaciejowskiFind albums by this artist guests on one track. The album presents nine classic Jazz vocal standards, sung in their original English version. There are no arrangement credits on the album´s liner notes. The album was recorded while Przybytek was a student at the Academy of Music in Katowice where she studied Jazz vocals and her group comprises of her fellow students from the same school as well as students from the Academy of Music in Krakow. The result is certainly well above the expectations one might have from a group of very young and inexperienced musicians. Both the vocals and the instrumental backing are quite excellent and most importantly have a unique sound and afresh approach to these standards, which have been tried countless times before. The arrangements include enough space for the instrumentalists to be able to show their skills, which they do repeatedly. Przybytek unveils her warm and expressive voice, which she playfully stretches between seductive meows and heartbreaking howls, all in good taste and with obvious talent. She does not use often the husky tone, which she utilizes on her later recordings, but her enormous potential is quite evident here. She also is one the very few Polish vocalists that can get away with singing in English without sounding utterly ridiculous, which works in her favor. Her intonation tends to be on the Gospel / Blues side, which suits her well. Overall, although not very innovative or groundbreaking, this is a very solid offering, which as a debut can be definitely regarded as an outstanding effort. Vocal Jazz fans will find this quite delightful, combining youthful enthusiasm and innocence with talent and dedication. Well done!

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VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ STANISLAW MONIUSZKO: Z DOMOWEGO SPIEWNIKA REQUIEM / LYDIAN 2020/13 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Classical Fusion Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 This is one of many albums recorded by Polish Jazz artists as part of the birthday bicentenary celebrations of the Polish Classical composer Stanislaw MoniuszkoFind albums by this artist (1819-1872). This album presents Jazzed up arrangements of eight songs taken from his "Home Songs" collections, performed by mezzo-soprano operatic singer Aleksandra OpalaFind albums by this artist, pianist Piotr MatusikFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Marcin ZupanskiFind albums by this artist and accordionist Wojciech GolecFind albums by this artist. The approach is quite original, and offers a direct contrast between the Classic songs performed by Opala and the improvised / Jazzy parts by the three instrumentalists, which harmonize beautifully, even when they "clash" stylistically when the instrumental parts are almost Free Jazz oriented. As a result this is definitely one of the most interesting Moniuszko related Polish Jazz projects the "Moniuszko year" produced. As magnificent and interesting as the Polish Jazz scene is, easily topping the European scene in the last two decades or so, it suffers from local "obsession" when dealing with its National Musical heritage. A huge part of Polish Jazz recordings is related either to Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist (the Godfather of Polish Jazz) or Frederic ChopinFind albums by this artist (the National composer), and lately Moniuszko – all totally out of proportion and in complete contrast to the need to respectfully leave the past behind and look ahead. Of course such projects find support more easily from the Ministry of Culture and other financial support bodies, but such opportunism should be kept at bay as much as possible. Having said all that, this project is definitely "forgiven" for riding on the Moniuszko wave, due to its originality and overall splendid music it offers and for being quite different from most Jazz-Classical Fusion offerings the world over. Personally I enjoyed this music immensely, as weird as it sound at first – well done Lady and Gentlemen!

Updated: 15/07/2021Posted: 04/01/2021

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