CD Review: Beata Pater - Tet

(Review by Ann Alex)

Tracks: Little Sunflower; Lazy Afternoon; I Feel You; Crystal Silence; Old Devil Moon; Invitation; The Contessa: Strays: Ode To Max

Called Tet because there are 9 tunes on the album, 'tet' is the 9^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the symbol for number 9. The singer explains that 'tet' is also symbolic of creativity, a womb for creation. It's Ms Pater's ninth album on which she attempts to push her creativity further than ever  with a selection of jazz standards and tunes by contemporary composers accompanied by an 18 piece ensemble (a doubletet?) without drums, in order to give a looser feel.

Pater has an interesting wide-ranging voice, which sounded quite sweet on the first track, a catchy Latin rhythmic Little Sunflower (pleasing alto flute and bass clarinet with the strings, and the bass keeping the rhythm); on later tracks, the voice was much more of a strong alto. Other standards included, (as above) are a slow, atmospheric Crystal Silence, with the strings prominent; Old Devil Moon (a lively Latin version, repeated riff from the strings, and gentle scat singing.) The contemporary songs were all new to me, I Feel You (Bill Cantos); The Contessa, Strays, Ode To Max, all written by Alan 'Chip' White. That last song is a tribute to Max Roach. There are skilled piano solos on most tracks, for instance, I Feel You has a piano and bass opening, and is a rich, deep-voiced love song.

Beata Pater is Polish and widely travelled, having lived in England and Japan, toured in the USA and now lives in San Francisco - her musical vision influenced by her travels. Experienced in many other kinds of singing such as pop and TV commercials, Pater is also a classically trained violinist with a jazz sensibility, which is obvious from this pleasing CD.

Currently available online (B&B Records - BB0422). See www.beatapater.com      

Ann Alex.

Beata Pater (vocals, arrangements); Hiromu Aoki (piano, arrangements); Dan Fieszli (bass); Peter Jandula-Hudson (viola); Brynn Albanese, Emily Lanzone (violin); Barbara Spencer (cello); Alex Danson (strings arrangements); Aaron Lington (bass clarinet, alto flute, brass/wind arrangements); Steffen Kuehn (trumpet, flugelhorn); John Gove (trombone); Meredith Brown (French horn); plus 6 jazz and classical musicians not named.