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Kadi Vija Key Project: Roaming in the Contemporary Society to Make Peace With It
by Geno Thackara
Kadi Vija's voice often feels like some exotic Asian string instrument, particularly the kind with a resonant droning tone that flows and bends in the hands of an expert player. She uses her natural instrument in much the same way, almost always eschewing actual words for a nuanced vocalese that is every bit as expressive. The things she feels like conveying don't necessarily need to be spelled out in lyrics (or indeed at all). Her swoops and glides can paint ...
read moreKadi Vija Key Project: Roaming in the Contemporary Society to Make Peace With It
by Troy Dostert
Although her album's title is a bit unwieldy, vocalist Kadi Vija's summer 2020 release does convey the artist's distinctive approach to living in challenging times. Rather than aiming for dramatic gestures or the boldest imaginable change, perhaps the more sensible strategy is simply to figure out how to keep going—not resignation, exactly, but a willingness to yield, and to remain open to whatever new possibilities may appear. With a well-chosen quartet attuned to this vision, Vija's music has a lilting, ...
read moreKadi Vija: Ugly Beauty
by Nick Davies
Kadi Vija has a long history in vocal jazz improvisation and defines herself primarily as a vocal instrumentalist. Vija's music explores sounds from modernism, jazz and electronics, as well as a deep fascination with rhythmic variety. Her work at prestigious institutions such as the Berklee College of Music, Conservatory van Amsterdam and Sibelius Academy has built her status as a current modernist, open to jazz history. This release, called Ugly Beauty, sees Vija collaborating with pianist Lucas Dann ...
read moreKadi Vija & Lucas Dann: Ugly Beauty
by Geno Thackara
Countless musicians have tackled the songs of Thelonious Monk, but it's arguably a rare performer who comes out just as angular and quirky as the man himself. When two such voices join together, both sharing an excellent feel for his tricky offbeat sensibility, it's a distinctly unusual pleasure. Through the brief half-hour of Ugly Beauty, Kadi Vija and Lucas Dann manage to pay loving respect exploring the skewed nooks of Monk's pieces while improvising their way through to ...
read moreKadi Vija and Lucas Dann: Ugly Beauty
by Troy Dostert
It's hard to imagine anything more daunting for an up-and-coming vocalist than to tackle a vocal album of Thelonious Monk material--wordless, no less--with nothing more than piano accompaniment. Yet that's exactly what Finnish singer Kadi Vija has done here, along with Canadian pianist Lucas Dann. Hitting those crazy intervals and capturing the unique logic of Monk's compositions is a herculean task, and it's to Vija's credit that she does so fearlessly on these ten challenging tracks. Along the way, she ...
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