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Vivian Buczek: Curiosity

By Bruce Lindsay
January 7, 2015
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Vivian Buczek is blessed with a glorious voice—warm, emotional, engaging—and a talent for sophisticated interpretations of established but not over-worked songs. Curiosity, the Swedish singer's fifth album, places her in the company of a piano trio led by the excellent pianist and arranger

Martin Sjöstedt

piano
b.1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Martin Sj?stedt. It's company she clearly relishes and in which she shines brightly.

Buczek has put together a group of songs that draw on the American Songbook ("How Deep Is The Ocean," "For All We Know"), bop and post-bop standards ("Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," "Nica's Dream") and a few numbers from Scandinavian writers including her own "Once You Love," co-written with her father Bruno. Mostly these are songs of love, but it's not always the romantic kind and the lyrics tell many different stories.

Whatever emotion or image the words aim to evoke, Buczek delivers. She captures the self-deprecation of "It Might As Well Be Spring," gives the romance of "How Deep Is The Ocean" an added touch of sensuality and lets her voice float over Sj?stedt's lovely arrangement of "For All We Know" with a perfect combination of longing and wistfulness. On "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"—

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus and

Rahsaan Roland Kirk

woodwinds
1935 - 1977

" data-original-title="" title="">Rahsaan Roland Kirk's eulogy for

Lester Young

saxophone
1909 - 1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Lester Young—she celebrates the saxophonist's legacy just as much as she mourns his passing. The tune's impact is itself heightened by a bluesy solo from guest guitarist

Elias Källvik

" data-original-title="" title="">Elias K?llvik.

Johan Bj?rk's "Lighthouse" celebrates a relationship, the trio at its punchiest and most upbeat. Claudia Campagnol's "I'm Strong" reflects on the loss of a relationship: the album's most poignant song, backing vocals from the composer and K?llvik's understated guitar help to create a smooth '80s soul vibe. Alongside these numbers the arrangement for

Ray Noble

composer / conductor
1903 - 1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Ray Noble's "Cherokee" sounds fresh, but Noble's lyrics seem archaic and clich��d—although Buczek's performance is once again impeccable.

Curiosity is delightful, thanks to the song choice, the arrangements, the instrumentalists and, of course, Buczek's vocals.

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Track Listing

Lighthouse; I'm Strong; Indian Love Song (Cherokee); Goodbye Pork Pie Hat; It Might As Well Be Spring; Once You Love; Curiosity; How Deep Is The Ocean; You're Everything; Nica's Dream; For All We Know.

Personnel

Vivian Buczek

vocals

Vivian Buczek: vocals; Martin Sj?stedt: piano, Fender Rhodes, organ; Niklas Fernqvist: bass; Johan L?fcrantz Ramsay: drums, percussion, backing vocals; Elias K?llvik: guitar (2, 4, 7); Claudia Campagnol: backing vocals (2).

Album information

Title: Curiosity | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Volenza

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