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Jazz, it has to be admitted, is pretty unfashionable at the moment. Sure,
your mum and dad put on a bit of Ella and Louis from time to time, and you
might enjoy listening, but that's jazz designed for middle class white
folks, and not the real thing.
While there are, of course, those people who
actually genuinely dig real jazz, things like John Coltrane or Sonny
Rollins, they are growing fewer in number. The sad truth is that France has
become a lonely haven, one of the few places where jazz is still cherished
and pushed forward by more than just a small minority.
So it was indeed good fortune that, after selling all her possessions to buy
a guitar and a plane ticket, Dominican-born Afro-American Natalia M King
picked France as her destination of choice.
The press release for 'Milagro'
describes her rise to prominence in fairytale terms: she was spotted busking
outside a Metro station and was chosen as a subject for a documentary on
French TV channel Canal +, plucked from obscurity to become the proverbial
overnight sensation.
A successful support slot with Diana Krall was then
followed by Universal's jazz arm signing her to cut her first record.
Before saying how good or bad 'Milagro' is, it's necessary to point out that
all of the songs on the album are written by King. Oh, and that she used to
be a busker.
Because, to be honest, this is an infuriatingly mixed album in
terms of quality. The first three tracks announce King's style of music, as
her slightly wailing vocals compete for prominence with a minimal but
suitably discordant 'modern jazz' accompaniment. In common with the final
three tracks, the jarring non-harmonics compliment songs that lack any real
vocal variation. In terms of length, the songs are epics (the shortest being
over five minutes, the longest over nine), but they fall down because they
lack that epic sound. When a song isn't very good, it needs a big sound to
justify it going on for anything more than the standard three and a half
minutes.
This description of the six songs that bookend 'Milagro' seems indeed
damning, yet what is so remarkable about the record is that the middle three
songs are truly stunning. At the start of title track 'Milagro', King
introduces a tribal edge to the music. I don't know what the song's chorus
"Insha Allah O iman, Shookaran shookaran" means, but King certainly does, as
she sings for the first time with real conviction and soul.
'Milagro' means
miracle, and the miracle here is her incredible voice which we hear properly
for the first time on this track. On the next two tracks, 'Angel' and 'The
Edge', the songs again seem to inspire her with true passion, while the
accompaniment accordingly retreats to let us hear all the magnificence of
King's soulful cries. For the middle section of the album we are entranced,
completely held by the glorious power and clarity of King's vocals.
Sadly, the magic is over all too quickly. King cites Jeff Buckley as one of her idols, yet it would do her good to
note that Buckley often sang cover versions or collaborated in the writing of
his songs. In truth, the majority of the songs are what we would expect from
an ex-busker - except much longer. Though only nine tracks long, the
marathon 'Milagro' lasts over an hour, and, considering the overall
standard, that's a good twenty minutes too much.
So, I guess it's pretty simple then. If King collaborates and sings covers,
she could surely maintain the form she shows in the middle section of
'Milagro' over the course of a whole record. And it would indeed be a
beautiful one. Good luck, Natalia!
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