OLIVIA FOSCHI

A WINDOW WITHIN

Independent Label

Olivia Foschi, vocals; Mauricio Zottarelli, drums/percussion; Matt King, piano/Fender Rhodes/Melodica; Vinicius Gomes, guitar; Marco Panascia, bass.

When I unwrap a CD product and push play, I’m always hoping to hear something unique, beautiful, captivating, and inspirational.  Olivia Foschi checks a few of those boxes.  Her opening tune, “Caught Me by Surprise,” starts with a chant-like introduction. When the lyrics spray across my listening space, they fall like hip-hop beats; rhythmic and punchy.  She tells a story with lyrics that fall like an unexpected summer rainstorm. She layers her voice with harmony, adding a lead voice that sings horn-like without words atop the harmonics.  Then comes the melody with lyrics. Vinicius Gomes adds an impressive guitar solo.  In the background, Olivia Foschi creates wordless harmonics, like two horns. Once Gomes steps out of the spotlight, Matt King gives his listening audience a stellar piano improvisation.  When Olivia re-enters vocally, she is doubling the Fender Rhodes one-finger melody, before returning to the chant that grabbed my attention at the beginning of this unique song. Foschi has written this unusual composition and I’m impressed. Six years ago, she released an album called “Fleeting Windows” that featured her composer talents. Before that release there was one called “Perennial Dreamer” in 2013.

The next tune is another original song she has composed called “Pieces of Central Park.”  Once again, the melody is unique, as are the lyrics.  Her pianist takes his solo and his talent is intriguing.  He has also collaborated with the arrangements on this tune.  She continues to sing in the background, as if she is alone and simply making background melodies to a track she’s listening to. Her humming is casual and perfect at the same time.  Here is an unapologetic jazz singer that brings her own personality to the stage.  Her voice is hypnotic, and light as a feather dancing in the wind.  On Track #3, “Live With It” she sings like a happy-go-lucky bird outside my window.  Just her voice, no words necessary.  She becomes the human instrument that she is and it’s refreshing.  This group has their own sound and personality, built around Olivia Foschi’s original music and unique vocals. Towards the end of the tune, the band lays out and lets Mauricio Zottarelli play his percussive drums beneath her voice.  It makes for a very interesting arrangement.

On a song titled “Cun la Prema Stela” she sings in Italian.  It’s the tale of young lovers reunited.  With this song, she is preserving a piece of her heritage and keeping a dying language alive, singing in the Italian dialect from post-war, rural Italy.  On her tune called “Nona” she celebrates her grandmother, Joan H. Martin, who transitioned during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. This song is dedicated to her beloved grandmother and all those mourning the loss of loved ones.

Here is a vocalist with a fresh approach to jazz, a new voice, with a tone and composing talent that is all her own.  She sings and performs like a horn.  I found her album refreshing and intriguing.  Her music is contemporary, with a taste of Brazilian flare, and melodies that are unexpected and free as a rogue wind.  As each new song whispers across my listening room, I lean into the speakers, eager to hear each note, dissect each lyric, and wallow in phrase after phrase of vocal hums, chants and scats. Her band is absolutely wonderful. They add richness and depth to each arrangement.

For those seeking an artist who is a reflection of the soul’s journey, who is unafraid to wear her feelings on her sleeve, I offer you Olivia Foschi.  She uses her voice to express what her heart feels. She invites the listener to enter her world.  You will feel her joy, her pain, her loss, her gain, but most of all, you will hear the honesty she shares as we walk along her inventive and expressive musical path.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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