A.MA Records' exploration of the Serbian Wave of contemporary jazz continues with The Soulful Heritage; the debut album for the label from pianist and composer Irina Pavlovic.
Calling on a stellar line-up of musicians, including A.MA label mate Ivan Radivojevic and US vocalist Dean Bowman, Irina has created an album which pays homage to the soul jazz sound of the 1960's allied with a cinema soundtrack feel that is redolent of the jazz that augmented the films of the French New Wave.
Irina Pavlovic is a pianist and flautist who has developed a distinct style influenced and inspired by Swing, Be-Bop, Hard Bop which she blends with her love of the Blues, Gospel and Afro-Cuban rhythms. A regular performer at Jazz festivals across Central Europe and the Balkans, Irina is an arranger who brings all her musicianship, performance experiences and influences together across the ten tracks of The Soulful Heritage, not least in the lead track Arriba, Arriba, a six minute slab of percussive Be-Bop, and the title track, a beautifully soul fuelled composition featuring the vocals of Dean Bowman.
Available now as a CD and digital download from Bandcamp Irina Pavlovic's debut The Soulful Heritage is a fine addition to the canon of The Serbian Wave.