Paraíso na Terra (Tom-Tom Records)
Rozina Pátkai
Released May 25, 2017
16th Independent Music Awards Winner Jazz With Vocals
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k58x9zvQSGKsnbwhQQNhlD2ja4LDyVBIg
Spotify:
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About:
On her second album, Rozina Pátkai – a Hungarian singer renowned for her highly unique renditions of Bossa Nova classics – is expanding her artistic repertoire to include a selection of new original songs which, although still rooted in authentic Brazilian music, will depart from the traditional form by infusing the genre with elements from jazz, pop and even progressive music.
With instrumental improvisations and exhilaratingly naïve melodies replete in catchy hooks, the dynamics promise to be anything but predictable.
Since the songs themselves are a multicultural celebration of the many unexplored possibilities latent within Bossa Nova and rely on the tradition as more of a launching pad into the contemporary than a nostalgic look into its past, the lyrics are a collection of Portuguese, Spanish and English poems respectively written by Zsófia Bàn, Jane Tyson Clement, Giovanni Pintaude, Ádám Szabó, Rory Winston and the legendary Garcia Lorca.
Track Listing:
1. Dia ó Dia (János Ávéd / Rozina Pátkai / Giovanni Pintaude) 04:21
2. Paraíso na Terra (János Ávéd / Zsófia Bán) 04:47
3. O Que Sera (Chico Buarque) 03:53
4. Passagem (Mátyás Tóth / Zsófia Bán) 04:05
5. Lllagas de Amor (Rozina Pátkai / János Ávéd / Federico Garcia Lorca) 03:22
6. A Rã (João Donato / Caetano Veloso) 02:34
7. Sea Song (Rozina Pátkai / Jane Tyson Clement) 03:20
8. Valerio (Mátyás Tóth) 01:38
9. Vie Diluvienne (Mátyás Tóth / Zsófia Bán) 03:34
10. Interlude (Mátyás Tóth) 01:07
11. Mais Pertinho (Rozina Pátkai / Zsófia Bán) 05:18
12. Fotos de Verao (Mátyás Tóth / Zsófia Bán) 06:00
Personnel:
Rozina Pátkai: vocal
János Ávéd: saxophone (1, 2)
Miklós Lukács: cimbalom (2, 5)
Zoltán Orosz: accordion (9)
Balázs Pecze: trumpet (3)
Wayne Tucker: trumpet (4, 7, 12)
Mátyás Tóth: nylon string guitar (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
Márton Fenyvesi: electric, steel and nylon string guitars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12), backgound vocals and string arrangements
Áron Tálas: piano (1, 3, 4, 11)
Márton Soós: double bass
András Dés: percussions
Balázs Cseh: drums
The RTQ String Quartet (Balázs Bujtor: violin, Erika Kovács: violin, Lázsló Móré: viola, Béla Gál: violoncello)
Norbert Mohácsi: contrabass
Recorded in 2016, at Tom-Tom Stúdió
Production and Editing: Márton Fenyvesi
Recording Engineer: Sándor Nyíri and Attila Kölcsényi
Mixed and Mastered by Sándor Nyíri
Photos by Norbert Zsólyomi
Cover by András Jeli
Artworks by Rozina Pátkai
Review:
Hungarian jazz singer Rozina Pátkai displayed natural feeling for Brazilian music on her self-released debut CD, “Você E Eu”, but her new CD “Paraíso Na Terra” goes beyond that initial fascination, as it explores and challenges many conventions associated with international music. She has created an entire album of original songs, mostly in the Brazilian style, that are filled with unusual touches. For example, the title track is immersed in bossa nova. It features a warm rhythmic vocal duet by Pátkai and guitarist Márton Fenyvesi, and the Stan Getz-like tenor sax of János Áved, but prominently featured in the background is a cimbalom (or hammered dulcimer) played by Miklós Lukács. At one and the same time, the added instrument seems foreign and native to the music. I’m amazed at the imagination it took to add the cimbalom, and the creativity to make it work within the ensemble. The same can be said about Zoltán Orosz’ effortless accordion accompaniment on “Vie Diluvienne” (which sounds like a samba despite its French text) On the album’s sole Brazilian standard, the João Donato–Caetano Veloso collaboration, “A Rá”, Pátkai adds a rap-like recitation of the lyric. Lukács returns for a haunting setting of Federico Garcia Lorca’s “Llagas de Amor” where Pátkai, Mátyás Toth (on acoustic guitar) and Lukács interact in free tempo. Unfortunately, the booklet does not include an English translation of Lorca’s poem, but the one I found online tells of a dark foreboding love, and that is a perfect match to the setting. Actually, it’s too bad that a full English translation is not available for this disc. From her delivery of the Lorca poem, I could tell that Pátkai is a superb storyteller, and knowing the meaning of the remaining lyrics could only help listeners appreciate her interpretive gifts. Rozina Pátkai is a very talented musician whose understated, but exploratory nature could lead to some remarkable discoveries. The world needs to discover her.
Thomas Cunniffe (Jazz History Online)
