Record Reviews
11 Reviews Found. Use search to find more reviews or follow the links in the review text.
  | ASIA ~ ENSO KAI
NMC 87 ~ UK ~ Classic Rock
A live recording from 1983 in Japan, never previously available, features the best Asia lineup, with Steve Howe, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer. A very energetic set of their well known material and some rarities, excellent sound quality.
| | | CD 1 Recommend To A Friend |
  | ASIA MINOR ~ BETWEEN FLESH AND DIVINE
MUSEA 4035 (Barcode: 3426300040350) ~ FRANCE ~ Progressive Rock
Recorded: 1980 Released: 1991
2nd and last album by the great Prog group Asia MinorFind albums by this artist, continuing the trend of the debut album by mixing elements of the West and the East. More interesting compositions and great playing all over.
| | | CD 1 Recommend To A Friend |
  | ASIA MINOR ~ CROSSING THE LINE
MUSEA 4082 (Barcode: 3426300040824) ~ FRANCE ~ Progressive Rock
Recorded: 1978 Released: 1992
1st album by the great French group Asia MinorFind albums by this artist, which was one of the first to combine elements of World Music (here Turkish and other Middle East influences) with Prog. Although vocals are used (some in English and some in Turkish), the music is mostly instrumental, intricate and fascinating.
| | | CD 1 Recommend To A Friend |
  | ASIA CZAJKOWSKA ~ PIANISSIMA
NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz
Recorded: 2016 - 2023 Released: 2024
This is the 2nd album by Polish vocalist / songwriter Asia CzajkowskaFind albums by this artist. Ten years in the making, the album presents a very unique project of recording songs with nine different pianists, all hailing from the beautiful Polish medieval town of Torun, the city of Nicolaus Copernicus, but also of music. Finally, the result is in, nine songs by nine pianists / composers: Sebastian ZawadzkiFind albums by this artist, Bartosz StaszkiewiczFind albums by this artist, Mateusz SobiechowskiFind albums by this artist, Bogdan HolowniaFind albums by this artist, Michal MaciudzinskiFind albums by this artist, Tomasz LewandowskiFind albums by this artist, Andrzej FrolowFind albums by this artist, Igor NowickiFind albums by this artist and Jacek CichockiFind albums by this artist. Czajkowska wrote the lyrics to five of the songs and co-composed one of them. On all the songs Czajkowska is accompanied by the respective composer playing acoustic piano.
Although not Jazz per se, the overall musical setting of the album combines many genres with strong Jazzy undertones and the vocals use techniques familiar within the Jazz idiom. But it is entirely up to the listener to decide what king of aesthetics this music sets out for him. What is most important of course is the fact that the quality of the music and the performances are all absolutely brilliant from start to finish and the dedication, energy and determination involved in creating this album are all impeccable.
One has to admit that the days when a singer appears on stage supported just by a skilled pianist are long time over, and today singing without a wall of synthesizers and a loud band behind is almost unthinkable. Therefore, Czajkowska shows a lot of courage doing it here without any hesitation, proving she has all the skills necessary to pull it off, as well as the talent to do it with class. Of course the fact that all nine songs are wonderfully composed and the lyrics are intelligent, helps to make the entire project such a success.
Overall, this is a truly delightful album, full of great songs, performed with heartfelt dedication, good taste and obvious talent. Czajkowska manages to confront the difficulty of singing accompanied just by a piano, doing it elegantly and confidently. The dedication needed to complete such a long-term project is admirable and the result is a wonderful example of calmness, good taste and grace in a world of havoc we live in. You did well my Lady, hats off!
| | Updated: 23/03/2024Posted: 23/03/2024 | CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend |
  | ASIA CZAJKOWSKA / L.A. TRIO ~ MY JAZZY VALENTINE
NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz
Recorded: 2024 Released: 2024
This is the 3rd album by Polish Jazz vocalist Asia CzajkowskaFind albums by this artist, this time recorded with a classic piano trio consisting of pianist Bogdan HolowniaFind albums by this artist, bassist Pawel PantaFind albums by this artist and drummer Jozef EliaszFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten tracks, a mixture of international Jazz standards and Polish songs.
What does it take to be a Jazz singer? Well, this is the million-dollar question, which many have tried to answer before, mostly unsuccessfully. If you ask me, the answer is very really very simple – all you need to do is listen and you immediately know the answer, since you feel it deeply in your guts. Yes, it is all about feeling and when all the elements fall into place, like vocal abilities, interpretation, intelligence, etc. you stop analyzing it, you simply FEEL it, because it is all about feeling after all. So in vocal jazz it is perhaps not “if it ain’t got that swing…” but rather if it ain’t got that feeling, and Asia definitely has more than plenty of it! And when the voice is splendidly supported by a classic piano trio, everything just melts the listener’s heart.
Side Note
The above are my liner notes included on this album's artwork.
I am honored when asked by the Artists to write liner notes for their albums, always hoping that my words reflect the true spirit of the music. This is also a symbol of our mutual respect and friendship developed over the years.
The same is also true when Record Labels ask me to write liner notes for their releases, mostly in the case of reissues of archival albums, which is a symbol of their appreciation of my knowledge and historical perspective and my recognition of their dedication to the preservation of the history of recorded music and the effort to keep human Culture and Aesthetics alive.
| | Updated: 07/12/2024Posted: 07/12/2024 | CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend |
  | KASIA KADLUBOWSKA / DOMINIK BUKOWSKI ~ TRANSIENT
DUX 1221 (Barcode: 5902547012216) ~ POLAND ~ Classical
Recorded: 2012 Released: 2015
This is the debut album by Polish marimba player / composer Kasia KadlubowskaFind albums by this artist recorded in a duo format with renown Polish Jazz vibraphonist / composer Dominik BukowskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine compositions, two of which are original compositions (one each) by Kadlubowska and Bukowski and the rest are by contemporary Classical composers like Terry RileyFind albums by this artist, Philip GlassFind albums by this artist, Steve ReichFind albums by this artist, Arvo PartFind albums by this artist, Eric SatieFind albums by this artist and American marimba player / composer Paul SmadbeckFind albums by this artist.
As the names of the composers suggest, the music is mostly contemporary Classical Music, with belongs to the Minimal Music idiom. Although most of the music was not originally written for marimba or vibraphone, it was arranged and transcribed for these instruments by Kadlubowska and Bukowski.
Marimba and vibraphone, although both percussion instruments, are of course capable of playing melody and harmony, which means that the music offers a lot of melodic content, kept within the limitations of Minimal Music, which calls for slowly developing themes and cyclic repetition. It can be quite demanding on the listener, who is not a priori a fan of the genre, but it is great for relaxation and meditation, in addition to its strictly musical values.
Both Kadlubowska and Bukowski play with incredible feeling and obvious virtuosity, and despite the intrinsic lethargy of the music, the albums offers a diversified listening experience to open-minded listeners. Minimal Music has its fans around the world and enjoyed a peak of popularity during the New Age explosion between the 1970s and 1990s, but a steady interest in it remains in the Classical field over the years.
Bukowski’s appearance on this album, which is rather unexpected since his main field of activity if Jazz, proves his diversity and well schooling, as well as highly aesthetic approach to music in general. The two original composition stand proudly shoulder to shoulder with the well-known Classical material, adding another level of credibility to this album.
I have no idea why it took seven years for this album to arrive on my operating table, but as usual better late than never, as it is definitely worth exploring and a great fun to listen to.
| | Updated: 23/05/2021Posted: 23/05/2021 | CD 1 Recommend To A Friend |
  | KASIA LISOWSKA ~ AURA
REQUIEM / LYDIAN 2023/36 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Pop Fusion
Recorded: 2023 Released: 2023
This is the second album by Polish vocalist / pianist / songwriter Kasia LisowskaFind albums by this artist. The album was recorded with several accompanying musicians, playing on selected tracks, like bass guitarists Piotr ZaczekFind albums by this artist and Wojciech StaniszFind albums by this artist, drummer Przemyslaw KuczynskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Jakub ChmielarskiFind albums by this artist and trumpeter Piotr KrzeminskiFind albums by this artist. The music was arranged and produced by pianist / sound engineer Lukasz KowalskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight songs, all by Lisowska (music & lyrics), and lasts slightly above half an hour, being rather an EP than a full album.
The music is pretty straightforward, very melodic and somewhat repetitious, in contemporary Pop stylistics but with minimal background accompaniment, only at times somewhat Jazzy, which makes it more listenable. Lisowska has a nice and well trained voice, and she is certainly capable of singing a much more ambitious material, than what is present on this album.
But to be fair, the album is well produced and all of the songs offer meaningful lyrics and nice melodies, which could be potential radio favorites, if there was still a radio to listen to. It is a typical singer / songwriter offer, which is easy to like, sounds slick and polished, but is certainly too good for contemporary Pop listener, who expects Hip Hop / Rap vulgarity, and these sentimental lyrical songs are boring to him.
Overall, this is a nice collection of melodic / sentimental songs, well performed and produced, somewhat out of sync with current Pop sensitivities, but certainly a pleasant listening experience. Nor exactly my cup of tea but I appreciate the honest effort and of course talent by everybody involved.
| | Updated: 01/04/2024Posted: 31/03/2024 | CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend |
  | KASIA OSTERCZY ~ TRAVEL ELEGY
AUDIO CAVE 2020/009 (Barcode: 5908298549070) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry
Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020
This is the debut album by Polish Jazz vocalist / composer Kasia OsterczyFind albums by this artist recorded in a trio setting with saxophonist / clarinetist Kuba MarciniakFind albums by this artist and guitarist Piotr ScholzFind albums by this artist. It is a Jazz & Poetry project, which presents eight original compositions, all by Osterczy, two instrumentals and six songs with lyrics by Polish poetess Wislawa SzymborskaFind albums by this artist translated into English by Stanislaw BaranczakFind albums by this artist and Clare CavanaghFind albums by this artist. The album was recorded at the excellent Monochrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy GruszeckiFind albums by this artist.
Form the first moment I took the album in my hands I was taken aback by the concept; why would a Polish singer perform Polish poetry in the English language? Tragically my worst fears turned out to be justified. For the entire duration of the album I was not able to understand a single word pronounced by the singer, that for several reasons:
Firstly the usual problem of pronunciation, accent and delivery that all Polish singers have while singing in English, which is a true plague of the Polish vocal Jazz scene in particular and music scene in general. This madness has been going on for decades and sadly is only spreading.
Secondly the arrangements, which call for the vocals to be accompanied unisono by the guitar or clarinet, hide the vocal parts making them in many instances hardly even audible. The shrill guitar sound and the high pitch of the vocals have a devastating result when heard together.
Thirdly the very idea of singing Polish poetry in English, other than possibly popularizing Polish Culture for non-Polish speaking audiences, is truly absurd. At least a text with the translated poems should have been included in the packaging? It is, after all, not a case where this album will be heard by millions of listeners outside Poland, is it?
There are of course some positive aspects to this album: the music is ambitious and interesting, the musicians are certainly able, and even the vocals are fine as long as they are vocalese only.
It makes me truly sad to think that this project might have achieved a completely different result if Osterczy had stuck to the beautiful original texts in Polish and the balance / separation between her voice and the accompanying instruments was different… oh well, a great pity.
| | Updated: 04/09/2020Posted: 04/09/2020 | CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend |
  | KASIA STANKOWSKA ~ NIE MA SZCZESCIA BEZ MILOSCI
ARTMONIA 5902768831009 (Barcode: 5902768831009) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz
Recorded: 2013 Released: 2013
Polish pianist / composer Wladyslaw SzpilmanFind albums by this artist was one of the great icons of the country´s musical scene for many decades. He achieved popularity already as a very young and exceptional pianist in the 1930s. During the Nazi occupation of Poland during WW II Szpilman, who was a Jew, was hiding in Warsaw and managed to survive the Holocaust, helped by his Polish friends and even a German officer, who was a music connoisseur. Szpilman´s WW II fortunes were the subject of his memoirs and after his death in 2000 it was the subject of Roman PolanskiFind albums by this artist´s movie "The Pianist", which won three Oscars and worldwide acceptance as a cinematic masterpiece.
The lesser know facts about Szpilman, certainly outside of Poland, are his numerous activities in post-war years as the director of Music Department of the Polish Radio, creator of the Sopot Song Contest, which runs now consecutively for over fifty years, composer of many Classical works, concert pianist touring worldwide and additionally also author of hundreds of songs, many of which were extremely popular and eventually became evergreens.
This album by Polish Jazz vocalist Kasia StankowskaFind albums by this artist takes twelve of Szpilman´s popular songs and presents them in Jazzed up versions. She is supported by a trio with pianist Lukasz PerekFind albums by this artist, who is also responsible for the arrangements, bassist Jakub OlejnikFind albums by this artist and drummer Przemyslaw JaroszFind albums by this artist. Saxophonist Maciej SikalaFind albums by this artist is the guest star and contributes some spectacular solos on several of the songs.
Stankowska has a warm and expressive voice, which suits these songs ideally. The piano trio accompanying her does a perfect job, creating a nostalgic atmosphere of a smoky cabaret set sometime in the late 1950s / early 1960s, which I still recall from my childhood, when I was often smuggled under heavy long coat into these sinful establishments, getting my first-hand Jazz experiences. The piano parts are brilliantly arranged and perfectly executed and the rhythm section keeps the music steady and firm, with delicate dynamics and intelligent accents, always at the right moments. Sikala adds great ornamentation, breaking the nostalgic and relaxed mood with his delicate yet forceful solos, which shine like white pearls on a black dress. Szpilman´s status allowed him to select superb lyrics to his songs, written by famous Polish poets and lyricist, that are classy, coherent and elegant, and Stankowska makes the best of that asset, which deserves a special mention.
All in all this is a most pleasant and rewarding musical experience, a classic example of "less is more". Keeping a low profile and avoiding excessive experimentation proves exactly right in this case. Beautifully simple, but not simplistic, beautifully melodic, but nor trivial, beautifully lyrical, but not banal…just beautiful. Diana KrallFind albums by this artist, eat you hat!
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