Matti P
Every now and then I shuffle through the JMA database to find something interesting I haven't heard before. Vocalist LUCIA CADOTSCH (b. 1984 in Switzerland, living in Berlin) hasn't been reviewed here yet, so all the more rewarding it is for me to share this discovery with you. I'm not saying this highly personal album would deeply charm me right from the start, but with time I would very likely grow a certain affection with it. The CD was released by We Jazz Records from Finland, my home country.
The vocalist forms the Berlin-based Speak Low trio with tenor saxophonist Otis Sandsjö and a double bassist Petter Eldh, this album featuring also some organ and cello guest appearances. The trio mixes jazz, avant-garde and minimalism in a way that can sound both spatially introspective and daringly experimental and playful. All nine tracks are covers, a fact that doesn't diminish the music's originality at all in this case. Some of the choices are unexpected happy surprises to me. Indeed if the song material had been totally unfamiliar, my initial interest towards the album would have been radically smaller.
The trio's approach to 'Azure' from Duke Ellington's repertoire immediately reveals they're doing things exactly their own way. The double bass is used in a rather percussive manner while sax and organ wave at times nearly neurotic textures behind the vocals. Cadotsch's vocal expression is not too peculiar in itself, although it has a slightly detached, introspective thoughtfulness in it. There's a bit of frailty à la Jennie Abrahamson (whom some of us know from Peter Gabriel's live sets) but Cadotsch's voice is not as high.
The melodic substance of the songs, and in Cadotsch's singing, is a safe anchor in an otherwise avant-ish musical environment, best showcased on Randy Newman's classic 'I Think It's Gonna Rain Today'. 'What’s New / There Comes a Time' is slightly less accessible in that sense.
'Wild Is the Wind' (Washington / Tiomkin) is familiar to me especially as either David Bowie's or Nina Simone's version, both very enjoyable. Here the song's moody melodicism is a bit too buried under the avant-garde minimalism, thus not being among my faves. The traditional 'Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair' is another Nina Simone classic. On this spatial version Cadotsch has a folky sincerity in her singing while the lengthy instrumental sections drag it closer to the experimentalism. Anyway I like this one more than 'Wild is the Wind'.
Two of the most interesting song choices are Brian Eno's 'By This River' which sounds delightfully fresh, and 'Ballad of the Drowned Girl' (Weill / Brecht) which as a slow-paced, dark-toned interpretation is a highlight (even though I'm still much more impressed by Liisa Tavi's gorgeous Finnish cover).
I admit my concentration is put on the test over the 40 minutes of this album, and occasionally I do miss a bit more conventional approach from the trio. Let's say my appreciation is higher than my actual enjoyment.