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MICHAL SOLTAN ~ MALOGRANIE
ART HORSE 002 (Barcode: 5902659800329) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Pop Fusion

Recorded: 2017 Released: 2017

This is the debut solo album by Polish guitarist / vocalist / songwriter Michal SoltanFind albums by this artist, who is known to Polish Jazz / Fusion fans from his work with Imagination QuartetFind albums by this artist and the two albums they released earlier on. On this album Soltan is accompanied by many established Polish Jazz / Fusion musicians, the list of which is way too long to be detailed here, as well as a string quartet and guests from US. I should however give credit to the superb rhythm section, which keeps this music rolling: keyboardist Milosz OlenieckiFind albums by this artist (who also co-arranged the music with Soltan) bassist Lukasz MakowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Marcin JahrFind albums by this artist (who plays on most of the tracks). The album presents ten original songs (one features wordless vocalese), all written and composed by Soltan, and one bonus track which goes back to the IQ days and presents the vocalese song in an instrumental version.

The music is a delightful collection of beautiful songs, all carefully weaved and beautifully executed. Bordering somewhere between Jazz, Funk and ambitious Pop, the music is uncompromisingly sophisticated, rich and elegant. Combined with the intelligent texts, vocalese and instrumental solos (especially the unisono vocalese / guitar solos by Soltan himself) the album flows like a dream and seems to be over in a jiffy. The craft of songwriting, which often seems to be completely lost these days, comes alive in these songs like a dream.

Soltan is not a spectacular vocalist (neither was Bob DylanFind albums by this artist or Marek GrechutaFind albums by this artist), but he does not has to be, since his songs call for expressive delivery, perfect diction and above all a heartfelt feeling of the music and the texts. Soltan has all the above in abundance and they all obviously work wanders, as this album is a true gem from start to finish.

The instrumental arrangements are also perfect, all done sparingly and almost entirely acoustically, with short but superbly focused solos and careful consideration of what is right for each song. Although the instrumental parts are almost entirely Jazzy, they do not take control of the overall sound and feel of the music and remain as elegant ornamentation. The focus remains on the songs and the meaningful lyrics, which is exactly right here.

Albums like this one are sadly very rare these days, and almost never manage to catch my attention for a span long enough to fall in love with the songs like in this case. Even if the songs have a tinge of sadness and melancholy, but also a great sense of humor, they are like the proverbial "honey on the heart"; unadulterated intellectual and emotional pleasure! Thank you Michal for the effort to share your world with us! Of course this album is an absolute must for all true music lovers, especially the hopeless romantics ;)
Updated: 02/12/2017Posted: 02/12/2017CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

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