Marina Pacowski - Inner Urge
(Summit Records, 2022)
Powerful are the forces that French-born, Angelno Marina Pacowski brings to the music arena. A classically-trained pianist bitten by the jazz vocals bug, Pacowski moved from her native France to Los Angeles in 2017, where she immediately became a part of the thriving jazz scene.
For her debut jazz recording (Pacowski was the featured soloist with Ensemble Sans Frontière beneath the baton or Michael Chertock on Frank Proto: Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra (Liben Music Publishers, 2021), Pacowski assembled an impressive band that includes, saxophonist Joel Frahm, bassist John Clayton, guitarist Larry Koonse, trombonist Scott Whitfield, and drummers Roy McCurdy and Peter Erskine, among others. Pacowski assembles an inspired and provocative program for Inner Urge, From the opening title piece, a Joe Henderson composition from his 1965 recording of the same title, Pacowsky set a high bar for scat singing/vocalese. A spit-fire duet with Frahm introduces the piece before the tenor saxophonist takes the first solo out of the head. Pacowsky follows with a gradual and dramatic building to a scat counterpoint to Henderson's original melody.
Pacowski brings this same momentum to a breakneck "Donna Lee," demonstrating her laser-sharp command of the chord changes and her fertile improvisational mind. But scat singing is not all the singer has to offer. Pacowski arranges all songs save for "East Of The Sun." Her arrangements impress, especially on her breezy interpretation of Clare Fischer's "Pensativa" and Miles Davis' "Solar" replete with the singer's French lyrics. She takes on Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose" straight down the mainstream of performance. Her voice is perfect for this song. Pacowski's voice is the thing: on up-tempo scat pieces, she roars with an almost frightening command. On ballads like "My Foolish Heart" and "I'm Old Fashioned," her voice folds in on itself, becoming coy and demure, wholesomely teasing the listener with its mystery. That is what makes this most unusual voice work. It will be interesting to hear what is next for Pacowski.