Anka Koziel

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Born: March 4 Primary Instrument: Vocal

Anka Koziel - born in a small Polish town and currently living in the Netherlands, works as a free-lance vocalist, educator at the jazz dept of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, arranger and composer. In 2008 she released her debut album Tales of the Forest, and in 2010 a live concert on DVD - “Requiem Para El Mundo” with Nueva Manteca. Koziel’s dynamic vocal range and variety of sound is almost unlimited. She can sing anything from powerful blues and beautiful ballads, to up-tempo swings and free improvisation. The music on the album is the manifestation of those skills. It is a combination of jazz and Polish folk with a touch of electronics (in a few songs she uses a vocal harmonizer) put together in a story full of twists and turns that surprises you to the very last note. All the musicians harmonize with each other beautifully. In a concert situation the quartet bursts with energy and new ideas, so no performance is the same.

Last Updated: June 9, 2012

What is possible in jazz can be heard in the debut CD of Anka Koziel. The young Polish singer (who studied at the Royal Conservatory, the Hague) goes back to the songs she grew up with. Her jazz versions of two songs of compatriot Chopin with texts by the poet S.Witwicki, three Polish folksongs, her own ‘Spring Night’ inspired by Fauré’s ‘Clair de lune’ and her ‘Forest tale’, with its instrumental suggestion of mysterious sounds of woods, fit together wonderfully.

Romantic with pep; as well wild and high-spirited as dreamily enjoying the poetry: The force of spring, a very earthy ‘Red berry blues’ (Czerwone jagody) up to the funnily jumpy ‘Goldfish’ (Zlota rybka). ‘The face I love’, the only standard (M.Valle and R.Gilbert) fits like a glove with its first line ‘Just think of things like daffodils and peaceful sheep on clovered hills’. Koziels well-wrought arrangements guarantee the harmonious marriage of all these elements. Her international trio (Brice Soniano, bass, Oriol Roca, drums, Michal Vanoucek, piano) gets ample room for perfect counteraction with a beautiful role for the Slovak pianist.

'Tales of the Forest' OAP Records 2008

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Primary Instrument:
Vocal

Willing to teach:
Advanced students only.

Credentials/Background:
Teacher at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague since 2007 (jazz singing & jazz choir director) Teacher of Complete Vocal Technique.

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