Marcelina Gawron - Notes Of Life (2019)

Marcelina Gawron

Marcelina Gawron - vocals
Robert Majewski - trumpet
Adam Jarzmik - piano
Michał Barański - double bass
Piotr Budniak - drums

Notes Of Life

SJ 040


By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album as a leader by Polish Jazz vocalist/songwriter Marcelina Gawron, recorded with an excellent quartet comprising of trumpeter Robert Majewski, pianist Adam Jarzmik, bassist Michał Barański and drummer Piotr Budniak. The album presents nine original songs, all by Gawron, seven of which have lyrics in English and two in Polish.

The music is all melodic mainstream Jazz, mostly melancholic and somewhat somber, mostly kept on the same emotional level, which makes the album a bit uniform. The English lyrics are not very helpful either. But all things considered, there is plenty of music herein that should keep vocal Jazz enthusiasts happy.

The accompaniment is of course first class, with Majewski and Barański representing the Polish Jazz veterans and Jarzmik (who was in charge of the arrangements) and Budniak proudly representing the new generation. Jarzmik's wonderful flow and excellent soloing are the album's highlight and Majewski's solo parts add a nice topping. Gawron could hardly find a more able team to support her vocals than the one present here.

The vocal parts, both lyrics and vocalese, are all well executed and combined with the quartet's accompaniment, but they are a bit timid and lack strong emotional expression, which of course is a question of choice and a decision the vocalist obviously made. Overall this is a very accessible vocal Jazz album, which can be listened to by a wide and not necessarily strictly Jazz audience.