Record Reviews

JAZZ CITY CHOIR ~ JAZZ CITY CHOIR AMI 001 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Classical Fusion Recorded: 2012 Released: 2012 This is the excellent debut album by Polish vocal ensemble Jazz City ChoirFind albums by this artist, which comprises of nine female and male vocalists singing together arrangements of Jazz compositions in a new and unprecedented way. Although vocal Jazz ensembles, usually quartets, have a longstanding tradition in Jazz, and even in their native Poland (the superb NOVIFind albums by this artist quartet), there were very few attempts to take Jazz vocals to the full extent of choir level, like this one. Listeners familiar with this particular niche might remember the work of Singers UnlimitedFind albums by this artist, which also used a choir effect, but it was achieved by multi-tracking the four members of the ensemble, whereas here we have a genuine choir at hand. The album presents six compositions, four of which are Jazz standards arranged by Pawel ZielakFind albums by this artist, the choir´s house arranger, and two compositions created especially for the choir, one by its soprano singer Joanna KucharczykFind albums by this artist and another by composer Jan SanejkoFind albums by this artist, a young and very talented person worth watching!. Five of the six compositions feature a lead soloist, which in four cases is the choir´s music director and conductor Anna GadtFind albums by this artist and in one case the wonderful Polish singer Grzegorz KarnasFind albums by this artist. Five of the compositions feature vocalese only and one – Chick CoreaFind albums by this artist´s "Spain" – features partly lyrics, written by Al JarreauFind albums by this artist and sung in English. The initial impact of this album is completely overwhelming; the power, complexity and inherent beauty of human voices harmonizing and building up multi-layered structures, multiplied by ten individual sound signatures, is breathtaking. Of course in time the initial shock gives way to a more articulate reception, but moving on into the music the stimulation of brain cells continues up to the moment when the very last sound resonates into silence. This is really something else… Of course a detached and coolheaded analysis reveals certain problems and imperfections, most serious of which is the dichotomy between the musical devices (in this case choral devices) used by the choir, which almost all originate in the world of Classical Music or even earlier musical forms like Medieval chants or early Church music. The transition of these devices into the world of Jazz has puzzled many composers / performers over the years, with varying results. Nevertheless, Jazz City Choir manages to swing at all times, which after all is the basic quality one expects from anything under the Jazz umbrella, even if their tools and paraphernalia originate in another world. Using lyrics, and especially in English, was a completely unnecessary move, exposing their weakest link, but considering it is a minor part of the entire presentation, it can be easily forgiven and hopefully forgotten. Overall this is a stunning debut and the thought what these people might come up with next is scary (in a positive way). I simply can´t wait! It´s an absolute most for anybody fond of vocal Jazz in all forms and shapes and of course for connoisseurs of the Jazz-Classical Fusion sub-genre. Respect!

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JOANNA KUCHARCZYK ~ MORE FISK 001 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2013 Released: 2013 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz vocalist Joanna KucharczykFind albums by this artist, accompanied by a piano trio with Czech pianist / composer Vit KristanFind albums by this artist, bassist Max MuchaFind albums by this artist and drummer Karol DomanskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine original songs, four of which were composed by Kristan, three by Kucharczyk, one co-composed by them both and the remaining one by Domanski. Kucharczyk wrote (or in two cases co-wrote) the lyrics to all the songs, which are all in English (see the Side Note below). The songs are pretty straightforward mainstream efforts, where the ones composed by Kristan are significantly better and more eloquent that the others. Most of the material is soaked in the typical Slavic melancholy, which although deeply touching and beautifully atmospheric, tends to get somewhat repetitive and almost boring after a while. The trio performs the music with elegance and sensibility, again Kristan clearly arising as the most experienced and obviously talented player, deeply romantic and bringing to mind recollections of the young fellow Czech virtuoso Emil ViklickyFind albums by this artist when he was at the same age. The rhythm section does its job very well, with the firm bass pulsations and dynamic drumming perfectly suiting the music and pushing it forward, especially during the less exciting moments. Kucharczyk emerges sadly as a limited vocalist, not taking any risks and providing little, if any, excitement. She employs almost no vocal devices other than simple singing, which of course is not nearly enough considering contemporary vocal standards. She struggles desperately with the English texts (which she wrote herself), losing time after time... I´ll give Kucharczyk the benefit of the doubt, considering this is her debut album, and if she records her next album with Polish lyrics I´ll be ready to listen to "more". I truly pray she gets the message and wish her success with all my heart. Until then, adieu… Side Note: I find it really disturbing when vocal Jazz albums originating from Poland feature English lyrics, and even more so if these are original lyrics written by the vocalists themselves (as opposed say to Jazz standards where the lyrics are already out there as part of the original songs). In almost all such cases the results sound simply ridiculous, incomprehensible and sometimes are even plainly painful to listen to. Why on earth would anybody, who is not a natural English speaker, want to sing in that language is a total mystery to me? It is plainly obvious that the articulation, the pronunciation and the accent will be always against you no matter how hard you try, so why do it at all? For Polish vocalists singing in English is a challenge, which makes them concentrate on trying to pronounce the foreign language, rather than simply sing, as they would do when singing in their mother tongue. And then there is the question why write lyrics in English, a foreign language that the writer knows only to a degree, usually almost embarrassingly superficially? No wonder that most such lyrics are shallow, primitive and pitiful. The assumption that if one can sing (which in itself is often a question) gives one the right to suddenly write their lyrics is completely unjustifiable. Usually one should restrain from writing publically unless one has something significant to say. The Polish Cultural Heritage includes thousands upon thousands of superb poems written over time by magnificent masters of the language, old and new alike. Why not use that legacy in your own work, sing in Polish and forget all that "singing in English" folly? And if you don´t like your own language, sing wordless vocalese, shout, meow and scat, do anything but please don´t sing in English! It´s beyond my comprehension why nobody learns from the mistakes of others and why the people giving guidance to the singers (producers, managers, fellow musicians and most importantly teachers) don´t discourage these self-destructive decisions? Well, c´est la vie…

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