Record Reviews

COTATCHA ORCHESTRA ~ BIG BAND ELECTRONICS BIG ROUND RECORDS 8963 (Barcode: 300844060353) ~ CZECH REPUBLIC ~ Big Band Jazz Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 This is the debut album by the Czech Jazz Big Band, called Cotatcha OrchestraFind albums by this artist, led by trumpeter Jiri KotacaFind albums by this artist and comprising of young Czech, Slovak, Austrian and Hungarian Jazz musicians. The orchestra is conducted by Juraj ValencikFind albums by this artist, and features two guest musicians: vocalist Lenka DusilovaFind albums by this artist and Dutch trombonist Ilja ReijngoudFind albums by this artist, each appearing on one track. The album presents nine tracks, seven composed by the Big Band’s pianist Martin KonvickaFind albums by this artist and one each by Kotaca and Czech pianist / composer Jiri LevicekFind albums by this artist. The album offers a sublime sound quality, and is one of the best-sounding Big Band recordings I have come across in a while. Despite the album’s title, the music is completely acoustic, and the “electronics” is used only as a series of delicate background interludes between the tracks. The music is stunningly beautiful, highly melodic and brilliantly played by the Big Band, which epitomizes the European approach to Jazz Big Band, which becomes an organic expanded one multi-instrumental body, rather than a group of musicians accompanying soloists. There are of course also excellent soli found herein, mainly by Kotaca, who is the leading soloist. But the entire orchestral sound of the Big Band is one continuous delight from start to finish, and a perfect example of what modern Jazz Big Bands should sound like. Konvicka, who composed most of the music on this album, also emerges as one of the heroes, supplying the wonderful melodic content, full of delicate lyricism and non-trivial harmonic buildup, which makes listening to this album a truly delightful experience. Overall, this is a sublime Jazz Big Band album, very unique and brilliantly put together, offering a total musical experience, which combines great compositions and first-class performances, rarely encountered on record these days. This is, of course, beyond recommendation, simply a must to all true orchestral Jazz lovers anywhere on this globe. Hats off!

Updated: 09/08/2024Posted: 09/08/2024

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