Marcelina GawronMarcelina 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.
