Record Reviews

ANGELA GABER ~ OPOWIESCI Z ZIEMI AURA ART 03 ~ POLAND ~ World Music & Folklore Recorded: 2012 Released: 2013 This is the debut album by Polish World Music / Folk vocalist Angela GaberFind albums by this artist, recorded in a trio setting with multi-instrumentalist Lukasz SabatFind albums by this artist and Kazakhstani guitarist Aleksander CzikmakowFind albums by this artist. Of the eleven songs included on the album, nine are traditional folklore songs and two are composed by Czikmakow, one of which has lyrics written by Gaber. Although seemingly just another World Music gathering, this album is full of beautiful moments and surprising arrangements, which turn it into a splendid debut effort. The origins of these songs include Poland, Ukraine, Serbia, Russia and Gypsy Music, which are sung in their native tongues, but the instrumental arrangements often transport them to different parts of the World, sometimes quite far away from their origin. Sabat´s wonderful duduk parts have a distinctive Caucasian / Middle Eastern feel which immediately takes the Slavic songs on a carpet ride way to the east. Gaber´s voice has a nice, worm tonality and sounds perfect in this folksy environment, but really explodes to its full capacity when she starts to improvise and sing vocalese and produces unconventional sounds, which are truly amazing. Sadly these advanced vocal techniques are an exception rather than the rule on this album and hopefully will be explored to a much grater extent on her future endeavors. The last five tracks on the album are all much less constrained and spacey, with a greater freedom of expression and embrace both vocal and instrumental improvisation, and as a result prove to be much more interesting than the preceding tracks. If the whole album was kept in similar atmosphere and artistic direction, it would have turned into an exceptional one. The album has a beautifully designed cover art and an interesting sound quality, which is really down to earth in its authenticity, without being overproduced. The album was (at least partially) financed by the Polish crowdfunding portal "Polak Potrafi", which of course is a great idea, which I always recommend during mu Music Business lectures. Overall this is a most impressive debut effort, which promises great things to come, as well as placing Gaber on the list of Polish vocalists to watch and support. Well done lass!

Updated: 03/01/2016Posted: 03/01/2016

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