Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Orkestrada
Label: ZARŠ Records
Release: 2011
Runtime: 49:08
Rating: 2.5/5
Orkestrada is a band of eight musicians serving up exactly what we Slovenians are really good at making and borrowing, and we’ve proven it across plenty of post-war releases! “Spusti” delivers that tried-and-true formula in a slightly different way (mostly thanks to the female vocals), but it’s still a fairly predictable and familiar one. It sounds Slovenian. No two ways about it. The octet gathers various elements of smooth jazz under one roof and works Slovenian folk melos in almost unnoticeably, yet cleverly enough to give the whole thing some spark (the main driver here is the flute, and in places the vocal delivery). Thankfully, because the trivial use of an ear-friendly jazz form really doesn’t stir up anything exciting that would hint at unveiling new musical dimensions. For anything like that, the Orkestrada crew is simply too schooled and stuck in textbook frameworks.
However you slice it, there’s a whole heap of pluses on this album and it’s a pleasure to listen to! That goes for less demanding music consumers. At the same time, it’s clear this octet only really burns at full blast when it’s on stage.
The album is packed with tried-and-true, predictable phrases accompanying the cabaret-style delivery of the female vocalist’s verses, which in places effortlessly blasts you in a time machine into the smoky nightclubs of 1930s New York, when Prohibition ruled in the US.
There’s really no doubting the lofty musical pedigree of the musicians behind the Orkestrada emblem, but let’s be honest. Why cling so desperately to such worn-out forms? A fresh round of Gershwin or another spin of Mancini’s Pink Panther in the CD player does the trick much better. The band is surely proud of the product and surely believes the touch of poetry has achieved its purpose through the music. And yet we can say with certainty that with a bit more musical insight, wit, and out-of-the-ordinary daring, the poetry would have hit harder, and the album as a whole would have earned that pedigree of daring musical freshness.
There’s no arguing with the stylistic variety of the songs (jazz with blues in Kmet, jazz with funk rhythms backing the sharp delivery of verses in Trilogija ulice, the unlived “jazzy tuning of instruments” that goes nowhere in Košček sanj, etc…). A journey through the rustic world of smooth jazz. Simply put, this time there’s too little daring to tickle the gourmet’s appetite for the free-spirited experimentation that the boundless range of jazz has to offer. With this release Orkestrada will undoubtedly stay in radio rotation, since they reliably stroke the ears of the musical masses of average, everyday greyness, which serves perfectly the will and motive of Big Brother’s hawk-eyed control.
“All that glitters is not gold!”
Lineup
Rada Kikelj Drašler – vocals, trumpet
Thierno Diallo – double bass
Boštjan Franetič – electric guitar
Vid Drašler – drums & percussion
Boris Magdalenc – hang
Matija Krečič – violin
Asja Grauf – flute
Nina Kodrič – alto flute
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Petra Onderufova – violin
Production
Iztok Zupan, Dejan Lapanja & Orkestrada
Tracklist
1. Spusti ptico
2. Modra luna
3. Kmet
4. Trilogija iluzije
5. Košček sanj
6. Pika
7. Tisoče zvezd
8. Tiho v noč
