Singer-songwriter Akiko Pavolka manifests heartfelt globalism

Times are exciting. Due to the media revolution in the past 15-20 years, arts has become widely accessible, and is now authored in every corner of the round globe. New blends are born at such a pace it would take a governmental commission to find a genre name for all of them. While it is no news that jazz is strong in Japan, few artists penetrate to the world jazz scene like Akiko Pavolka. The Tokyo-born singer-songwriter has lived in the United States for nearly twenty years. She first studied at Berklee College of Music and has since 1995 worked as a composer and vocalist in New York.

Her two first albums House of Illusion, and Bridge illuminate a visionary who hears music contrapuntally. That's rare among today's chord oriented jazz artists. Her husband, bassist Matt Pavolka, is the co-composer of some songs. Polytonal superimposed ostinatos accompany Akiko's slightly – but not overly – raspy voice. Here her vocal contribution is truly equal to the rest of the band, whereas most other vocalists' support is strictly kept in the background. Especially "Bridge" offers so many rays of musical exploration, that it would be hard to pigeonhole the band's expressive objectives. Apart from the Pavolkas, Peter Hess contributes with beautiful reeds, Pete Rende is an accomplished pianist in both the acoustic and electric domains and Blake Lindberg assures the relaxed band maintains a rhythmic spine. Akiko Pavolka makes concert music, but this works equally well for late-night parties and some tracks even as progressive dance cuts. Highly recommended.