Record Reviews

VOICE ACT ~ LIVE REQUIEM / ZAWIEJE 43 ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2025 Released: 2025 This is a live album by Polish Jazz vocal quartet Voice ActFind albums by this artist, which comprises of Anna GadtFind albums by this artist, Marta GrzywaczFind albums by this artist, Natalia KordiakFind albums by this artist and Gosia ZagajewskaFind albums by this artist. The album presents one continuous track, with a series of vocal pieces, all of which are spontaneously improvised. The music was recorded at the RequiemFind albums on this label Records performing space, called “Zawieje”, and the music was copied to CD-R discs immediately at the end of the concert and made available to the people who attended the event, so called an “instant live” album, packaged into a beautiful cover pressed in advance – a unique concept by Requiem’s owner Lukasz PawlakFind albums by this artist, one of the most passionate and creative people in Polish record industry. This was the 43rd edition of the “Zawieje” series, which I had the immense pleasure to attend. The music is absolutely stunning, a sublime proof of the fact that the human voice is the ultimate instrument. Sadly, improvising vocal quartets are very rare in Jazz / Improvised Music these days, but this miraculous performance took me back to the days when I attended concerts by Vocal SummitFind albums by this artist and other vocal ensembles, which included vocalizing improvisers like Urszula DudziakFind albums by this artist, Jeanne LeeFind albums by this artist, Lauren NewtonFind albums by this artist, Jay ClaytonFind albums by this artist, Julie TippettsFind albums by this artist, Bobby McFerrinFind albums by this artist and others, which pioneered pure vocal improvisation. In some respects, this concert offered more complex vocal techniques than those used decades earlier, less melody oriented and concentrating on the interpersonal communication and harmony of the four voices, in solo, duo, trio and quartet versions, offering a constant flow of ideas and exchange of emotions, often entirely based on pure sound, rather than on melodic flow. Gadt is of course already recognized as a pioneer of vocal improvisation on the contemporary Polish Jazz scene since over a decade, and her many recordings offer excellent examples of her ground-breaking approach. Kordiak released so far a couple of albums and I am not aware of any recordings as leaders by Grzywacz or Zagajewska, but hopefully those will appear soon. Overall, this is a very unique and beautiful album, which should be a proud part of every Improvised Music record collection, especially since it is a very limited edition. If you can find a copy, grab it instantly. Side Note: Recently the Requiem Records lost the premium location residence, where it operated in recent years, including the concert space, which produced 45 editions of the “Zawieje” concerts. This means, that until Lukasz Pawlak is able to find a new home for his label, his activities, including the concert series, will be (hopefully only) temporarily suspended, which is a great loss to the ambitious Polish music scene, a sad reflection of the times we live in.

Updated: 09/09/2025Posted: 09/09/2025

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend