Emma Rawicz is the new darling of the British jazz press, hailing from the vibrant UK scene.
She’s twenty-one, still studying at the conservatory and Chroma is her second album, following Incantation.
There’s a raw, youthful energy to these two opuses, although Chroma is better channeled, more subtle in form and composition.
Some racists might be tempted to say that Emma Rawicz plays tenor saxophone surprisingly well for a white, blond, blue-eyed woman. One thing’s for sure, she’s no slouch. She’ll go far. Her compositional and arranging talents have certainly not yet reached their peak. Chroma is not a perfect album. But very, very, very promising.
Emma plays tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, with Ivi Naame on piano, Art Law on electric guitar, Conor Chapin on bass and double bass, Immy Churchill on vocals and Asaf Sirkis on drums and vocals;
The vocals add interesting textures. Art Law’s guitar is omnipresent, sounding like a jazz-fusion or progressive rock complement to Emma Rawicz’s jazzy arrangements;
Throughout the album, there’s the Xanadu I II and III suite (tracks 2,4 and 6), which starts out as a romantic ballad, becomes a torrent of dissonant notes in part 2, and ends with electric bass riffs and airy guitar.
To think that this young lady hasn’t even finished her studies yet!
