Record Reviews

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

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BEATA PRZYBYTEK ~ TODAY GIRLS DON`T CRY FLID 003 (Barcode: 5908254159718) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Soul Fusion Recorded: 2015 - 2017 Released: 2017 This is the long anticipated fifth album by Polish singer / songwriter Beata PrzybytekFind albums by this artist. It presents twelve original songs composed by Przybytek, nine of which feature English lyrics by Alicja MaciejowskaFind albums by this artist, two feature Polish lyrics by Dariusz DuszaFind albums by this artist and one features Polish lyrics by Grzegorz WasowskiFind albums by this artist. There is also a bonus track (lucky thirteen) written by Polish poet Andrzej PoniedzielskiFind albums by this artist and guitarist / composer Jakub ChmielarskiFind albums by this artist. The recording of the album lasted for almost two and a half years, spans several recording studios and features some of the best Polish Instrumentalist, many of them associated with Polish Jazz. Keyboardist Tomasz KalwakFind albums by this artist is again in charge of the arrangements and production and other musicians involved include keyboardists Boguslaw KaczmarFind albums by this artist and Pawel TomaszewskiFind albums by this artist, guitarists Damian KuraszFind albums by this artist and the a/m Jakub Chmielarski, bassists Adam KowalewskiFind albums by this artist, Robert SzewczugaFind albums by this artist and Andrzej SwiesFind albums by this artist, drummers Pawel DobrowolskiFind albums by this artist, Filip MozulFind albums by this artist and Arek SkolikFind albums by this artist, percussionist Slawomir BernyFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Marek PodkowaFind albums by this artist and Mariusz MaczkaFind albums by this artist and trumpeter Sebastian SoldrzynskiFind albums by this artist. Vocalist Beata BednarzFind albums by this artist guests on one track. About five years ago the previous album by Przybytek ("I`m Gonna Rock YouFind albums with this title") landed accidently on my desk and my enthusiastic review expressed my delight and joy experienced while listening to it, heralding her as one of the great hopes of the Polish vocal scene, despite the fact that she was almost completely unknown at the time. After a long wait it is even more delightful to hear that my "discovery" proved to be spot on and Przybytek delivered another masterpiece, not only on the Polish scale, but surely on a world scale as well. There are only a handful of other singer / songwriters active today who are able to write such wonderfully heartfelt songs and deliver them with such passion, conviction and seductive magnetism. Each and every one of these songs is an absolute gem, with no weak moments on the entire album. Although rooted in Jazz, Przybytek made a very conscious and in retrospect astute decision to move towards Soul, Rhythm And Blues and sophisticated Pop, which suit both her warm, sexy voice and obviously also her musical inclinations better than the Jazz idiom she started with. It takes a lot of intuition and self-confidence to make decisions like that, which in Przybytek´s case paved the way for her spectacular success. She truly "found herself" perfectly on this album, which directly projects on its quality, making it as "perfect" musically as albums get. Of course Przybytek´s vocals are more polished than on her earlier recordings, luckily not destroying her natural vocal qualities, which are still convincing and heartbreaking. Although I prefer her singing Polish lyrics (as usual in my case) her delivery of the English lyrics are spotless and completely natural. The instrumental work by all the musicians involved is absolutely stunning, as expected. My personal favorites are the organ parts played by Tomaszewski, who is superb as always, but the overall level of performances is simply extraordinary. This is obviously one of the best Polish albums released in 2017, regardless of what other critics may say. Over the years I have completely lost confidence in the Polish music awards scene, including the "Fryderyki", which have become a complete farce, but if any Polish album deserves the title of album of the year 2017, this is it! Przybytek is the epitome of talent and professionalism, which sadly are not in high esteem any more. Personally I wish to thank you Beata for fulfilling my belief in you, for writing such beautiful songs, for singing them so exquisitely and for making this dark, sad world a better place, even if only for some fifty six minutes and twenty two seconds ;) Go Women!

Updated: 08/05/2023Posted: 24/12/2017

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