Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Angelica Matveeva: Vocalese
Angelica Matveeva: Vocalese
ByAnother grand example is the polyglot Angelica Matveeva's appropriately titled Vocalese. Aside from Dorian Devins' whose The Procrastinator (Self Produced, 2013) carries the vocalese torch, Matveeva's offering provides a definitive look at the art in the 21st Century. An outgrowth of Louis Armstrong's "scat singing," vocalese typifies that jazz singing is. In equal measure, Matveeva addresses new vocalese offerings and classics by the masters.
Matveeva starts things off with the Asplund composition to which she provides the lyrics. The arrangement is fresh and busy, full of horn riffs and deft vocal gymnastics that would make Betty Carter proud. There is even a bass solo. Matveeva favors Wayne Shorter on the release, adapting his "Ping Pong" and "Yes or No" to her vocalese ends. She readapts "You Go to My Head" from The Lou Donaldson-Clifford Brown recording Memorial Album (Blue Note, 1953) to great effect.
Matveeva pays homage to Jon Hendricks on Clifford Brown's "Joy Spring" and Eddie Jefferson's "Moody's Mood for Love." She updates Joni Mitchell's "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" and dusts off Perrin's "Scrapple from the Apple. Matveeva support from her sextet is seamless and refined. Vocalese makes a good place to start digging into this essential part of jazz vocals.
Track Listing
Wonderyear; You Go To My Head; Ping Pong; Moody’s Mood for Love; Yes or No; Joy Spring; Goodbye Pork Pie Hat; Scrapple from the Apple.
Personnel
Angelica Matveeva
vocalsAngelica Matveeva: vocal, Manuel Dunkel: tenor saxophone, Jukka Eskola: trumpet, flugelhorn, Fabio Giachino: piano, Davide Liberti: double bass, Ruben Bellavia: drums.
Album information
Title: Vocalese | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Self Produced
< Previous
Thelonious Monk
Comments
About Angelica Matveeva
Instrument: Vocals
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar To