Record Reviews

ADELA KONOP / GRZEGORZ PLESZYNSKI ~ FINLANDIA ANTIDEPRESSIVE ~ POLAND ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2018 - 2020 Released: 2021 This is the debut album by the Polish Avant-Garde Jazz duo comprising of vocalist Adela KonopFind albums by this artist and multi-instrumentalist / composer / lyricist Grzegorz PleszynskiFind albums by this artist, a representative of the Bydgoszcz scene, which has been the most creative Avant-Garde environment on the Polish scene. Saxophonist Tomasz LicakFind albums by this artist and drummer Maciej WrobelFind albums by this artist guest on the final track. The album presents eight original compositions / improvisations, not credited on the album’s artwork and assumed to be co-created. The music is a completely unique amalgam of human voice and layers of electronic sound vistas with some additional sounds like plastic trumpet and keyboards. Shocking with its forwardness at first, the music soon becomes flowing and penetrating the listener’s consciousness, trans-like and overwhelming, but constantly changing and offering an intrinsic tension, which keeps the listener mesmerized. Pleszynski proves again to be a class by himself as far as crossing musical borders and completely shunning stereotypes. The focus of the music is obviously concentrating on the vocal parts, and Konop stands up bravely to the challenge, as nothing could have prepared for what she is required to do here. She wonderfully utilizes the entire known and expands into the unknown scope of vocal vocabulary, which includes everything from straightforward melody to completely wild vocalese, multi-tracking vocal effects, and other wonders that don’t have a name for it yet. She is absolutely sensational from the first note she utters to the last second while the music is playing. Pleszynski wisely steps back supporting the vocals with his instrumental work reduced mostly to creative background, showing a beautifully minimalist approach. His sensitivity and imagination are also brilliant and complete the vocal parts most amicably. The music created by the duo is a perfect example of the result being way more than just the sum of the ingredients. I don’t precisely know why, but the music sounds deeply sacral to me, without any specific religious references. The sound resonance and echo used during the recording create an atmosphere of a great cave / huge cathedral space, and the trumpet often sounds like church organs. This is completely subjective of course, but it made a powerful impact on me while listening to the music. Overall this is a phenomenal album, surely one of the most innovative and impressive vocal recording I happened to come across in many years. An absolute must hear to all followers of Jazz / Avant-Garde vocals and all lovers of beautiful weird music the world over. An eye (well, ear) opener like few others.

Updated: 02/05/2021Posted: 02/05/2021

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