Album Review: Moods by Michaela Rabitsch & Robert Pawlik Quartet

Album Name: Moods
Artist: Michaela Rabitsch & Robert Pawlik Quartet
Year/Label: 2008 / Independent

Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds

Sometimes I think people send me jazz music just to watch me write squirm-ily about it. But then I remember that not everyone who submits a CD is actually is a reader of the website and they don’t know of my past issues with jazz fans.

I’ve long said that I don’t hear much jazz so I am not really qualified to critique it. Well, over the past few years I can safely say that I have now, indeed, heard a lot of jazz. However, it is a genre that lovers of it take very (painfully, some bordering on militarily) seriously and in order to really “know” jazz you must study it. For years. I am not in a position to do that. So if you are one of these jazz lovers, please take that into consideration before sending me that email telling me I know nothing about the genre. You won’t be telling me something I don’t already know.

That said…this isn’t a jazz record. Hah, I’m kidding! It is. But wouldn’t that have been a weird intro to a review that wasn’t jazz? Oh, I do crack myself up.

So…I like this. The overall general sound is smooth without being cheesy (what Hubby calls ‘limp-dick jazz’). It’s still up tempo and lively.

There are a lot of ‘shoo-ba-baaah’ sort of vocalizations which get sort of old for me. But when they’re singing actual lyrics it’s good. Michaela Rabitsch has a voice matching the genre (remember people, in my opinion). It’s strong and clear and on key (rarer than you’d think). The album notes say she’s the only female top singer and jazz trumpet player in Austria.

There are a lot of horns which again, grows tiresome for me. I tend to prefer music that goes places instead of spinning in circles, which is what this sounds like to me. It seems it’s more fun to play than to listen to. But that’s just personal taste on my part. It’s clear these are talented people. It just takes someone more sophisticated than I to accurately critique them.

Any jazz fans want to give it a shot? Please comment!

Track Listing
Listen to track samples
1 In Silent Moments
2 Afrika
3 The End
4 Put It in the Pocket
5 Moon in the Dark
6 Tren NÚmero Uno
7 Moods
8 Quartual Guitar Madness
9 Dance
10 Knozen Beim Mnozil

[Michaela Rabitsch & Robert Pawlik Quartet Official Site]

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