Climbing aboard the A-train BUDAPEST SUN * December 7-12 * 2002
(review by Eszter Balázs)
THE name of Annah Dániel would surely be well-known in the jazz world - had she been born in another part of the globe. Unknown outside of Hungary, the 27-year-old has the voice of a mature jazz singer, possessing warm pipes full of rhytm and feeling. Her latest album, her third English-language swing offering, has just been released.
Rambling Alone consists mostly of covers of jazz classics. The title song used to be a southern Slav folk song that Annah’s lyrics and vioce have converted into a unique jazz tune.
One highlight is Paul Desmond’s Take Five, a tune that I last heard by Al Jarreau. Annah’s tempo is slower and the song takes on a whloe new temperament with this arrangement. Showing her versatility, Dániel undertook the brave task of writing lyrics for Duke Ellington’s orchestral work Black Beauty and composed a variation of the George Gershwin classic Fascinating Rhytm.
The album includes an English-language
version of Johnny, previously performed by Vaya Con Dios.
The song is energetic and Annah’s voice is rich, a combination that
continues throughout the entire disc making it an excellent musical
experiment. THe CD also includes a nin-minute concert film and six
articles about the lead vocalist.
Dániel first started to sing jazz at the age of 20, after she heard and Ella Fitzgerald CD. “I was carried away by the lively, dynamic melodies and rhytm of traditional jazz,” she said of the experience. In a few days she learned the songs and then started seeking work as a jazz bar singer.
For jazz (and bar) fans, her name may be familiar from the Long Jazz Club and the Merlin Club, but she has also performed in the Bárka Theater and the Bálint Jewish Community House.
Rambling Alone is a fascinating disc that is likely to make it into the music news abroad as well. However, Annah is not considering a career outside of Hungary “where producers look for musicians out of Harlem rather than Eastern Europe” she remarked. All the better for local audiences Annah’s next concert will be in the Bárka Theater. Keep an eye on this space for details.
Annah Dániel: Rambling Alone Budapest Sun * December 7-12 * 2002
