Małgorzata Markiewicz – Bring The Light (2020)

Małgorzata Markiewicz

Małgorzata Markiewicz - vocals
Nikola Kołodziejczyk - piano, keys
Maciej Szczyciński - bass
Michał Bryndal - drums
and others

Bring The Light

REQUIEM/LYDIAN 2020/7


By Adam Baruch

Although her career goes back over two decades, this is finally the debut album by Polish vocalist Małgorzata Markiewicz. It was recorded with the vocals supported by a basic trio consisting of keyboardist Nikola Kołodziejczyk, bass guitarist Maciej Szczyciński and drummer Michał Bryndal. In addition a string quartet, which is 3/4 of the Atom String Quartet (violinist Dawid Lubowicz, violist Michał Zaborski (Małgorzata's husband) and cellist Krzysztof Lenczowski) and violinist Marta Zalewska takes part in the recording as well as eight other musicians playing/singing on selected tracks.

The album presents twelve original songs, nine of which were composed by Markiewicz (two co-composed with others) and three were composed by Gabriela Kapczuk. She also wrote three of the lyrics and co-wrote one with the rest being by different authors. Six of the songs feature lyrics in Polish language and the other six feature lyrics in English. The album is elegantly packaged and offers the lyrics, arty photographs and stylish design.

The songs are all typical contemporary Polish Pop, very melodic and solidly written but slightly samey. The album offers a modern production and sound, which I personally don't appreciate very much. But the instrumental arrangements, with just a tinge of Jazz here and there, and the playing / singing are absolutely perfect and professional. If not for the Polish lyrics, this album might have been mistaken for an American album, which proves that the Poles can beat the Americans at their own Smooth Jazz production game, but as such does not offer much originality.

With that said, Markiewicz proves she can write great tunes and sing them with true feeling, even in English, which most of her local vocal colleagues fail at badly. It is obvious that a lot of thought and work was invested into creating this album and the result is highly entertaining and offers a great listening experience, which Pop and Smooth Jazz listeners should enjoy immensely. Overall this is an excellently produced and beautifully performed album, full of great tunes and typical Smooth Jazz feel, which should make aficionados of that genre perfectly happy.