Record Reviews

VERTIGO ~ NIC ANIMAL MUSIC 107 (Barcode: 8594211850100) ~ CZECH REPUBLIC ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2022 Released: 2022 This is the eighth album by Czech / Slovak Jazz ensemble VertigoFind albums by this artist, which comprises of saxophonist Marcel BartaFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Oskar TorokFind albums by this artist, cellist Dorota BarovaFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Vojtech ProchazkaFind albums by this artist, bassist Rastislav UhrikFind albums by this artist and drummer Daniel SoltisFind albums by this artist. The album presents fourteen original compositions; eight by Barta, two by Prochazka, one by Uhrik and three collective improvisations. The music was recorded at the Sono Records studio and engineered by Milan CimfeFind albums by this artist, with the usual stunning sound quality. The music is a sublime amalgam of cross-genre explorations, including contemporary Jazz, Chamber Classical Music, some Rock / Fusion elements and everything in between, completely shunning any simplistic definitions. Perfectly melodic at one moment, it becomes almost Improvised Music at the next, taking the listener on a see-saw journey of epic proportions. This music remains definitely a breath of fresh air with its chutzpah and seemingly complete disregard of conventionalism or populism. As a result, the listener gets exposed to something different with each track on the album and yet the entire continuity preserves an aesthetic coherence, despite the diversity. The emphasis on creating an ensemble sound rather than featuring expressive soloing is typical of contemporary European music, and Vertigo functions perfectly within that realm. The ominous title (“nothing” in English) reflects well the emptiness of the contemporary non-culture, which dominates our lives, and perhaps suggests how the void can be filled by something else, with a tinge of pessimism attached. Overall, this is a brilliant album from start to finish, which continues the Vertigo legacy, now twenty years in existence, filling our hearts with hope for the future. As long as European music has ensembles like Vertigo creating music, not all is lost. This album is well beyond recommendation; it is an absolute must to every true music connoisseur anywhere on this planet, as are in fact all their earlier recordings. This is bloodcurdling (in the best meaning of the word) stuff!

Updated: 05/10/2022Posted: 05/10/2022

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