Eskaubei - rap
Tomek Nowak - trumpet
Kuba Płuzek - keyboards
Alan Wykpisz - bass
Filip Mozul - drums
Będzie Dobrze
FOR TUNE 0059
By Adam Baruch
This is a very interesting album, which amalgamates Rap and Jazz; a concept that has been attempted many times before, but rarely turned out to be a success. Polish rapper Bartłomiej Skubisz (a.k.a. Eskaubei) combines forces with a Jazz quartet led by trumpeter Tomek Nowak, which also includes keyboardist Kuba Płużek, bassist Alan Wykpisz and drummer Filip Mozul. A few guests appear on selected tracks. The album presents eleven original songs, all composed by Nowak (with the exception of one tune which includes music composed by Płuzek) and with lyrics by Eskaubei (with the exception of two song lyrics written by the a.m. guests). The album also includes the radio edit of the title song as a bonus track.
Rap and
Jazz are seemingly two completely contrasting Art Forms. Rap focuses on the
spoken word, which attempts to deliver a message, and which uses music as a
background stimuli, mostly rhythmically, with the melody part being usually
pretty limited, repetitive and ornamental rather than substantial. Jazz on the
other hand is all about complex melodic and harmonic structures and unlimited
improvisation. The Jazz & Poetry idiom successfully managed to combine
spoken word and Jazz music since the 1950s but Rap & Jazz, as already
mentioned above, has been much less consistent and successful in trying to
present a contemporary artistic attempt of amalgamating spoken word and Jazz.
When
analyzing a Rap & Jazz project, like the one here, I usually try to separate
the contents into two separate planes and than estimate the level of
correlation between them. In this case my feelings are as follows:
The Rap part, i.e. the strength of the lyrics and their delivery (sadly limited to Polish speaking audiences only) is cohesive, intelligent and moving. The subject matter touches upon many of the problems we all encounter in our lives, like social injustice, personal relationships, morality, hypocrisy of the media and the pitiful state of music industry. The delivery is emotional, clearly understandable and above all classy.
The
music is also quite excellent: funky, melodic, uplifting and intelligent. The
performances are excellent with Nowak's trumpet delivering many scorching solos
and Pluzek playing a beautiful soulful electric piano, like a true pro, also
delivering several heartwarming solos. The rhythm section is the backbone of
this music, keeping the beat and pushing the groove rolling. This music could
have easily stand on its own (without the Rap on top), producing an excellent
Funk-Groove-Soul-Jazz album.
But of
course most importantly these two layers placed upon each other produce the
best Polish Rap Jazz effort so far. This result is hardly accidental, in view
of one of the album's songs, in which Eskaubei tells about the deep influence
of Miles Davis on his artistic creation. Overall this is a most enjoyable,
aesthetically pleasing piece of music, which puts a smile on the listener's
face. Warmly recommended!
Brak komentarzy:
Prześlij komentarz