Can this lady be an equal rival to such masters like Norah Jones or Amanda Palmer? She can, maybe. This Austrian-native singer presents her new album Unison with modern jazz and pop melancholy-like tones, which exceed limits of present jazz in its vivid individuality.

Maria Neckam: Unison
Formate: Audio CD
Released: 2012
Label: Sunnyside Communicat

Maria Neckam can do more than you might say. There are lots of atonal harmonic tumbles, avant-garde rhetoric and sound exhibitions hiding under this fragile soprano shell. Strong songs are supported by thrilling vocal performance followed flexibly by piano improvisations, sensitive rhythm or free-jazz guitar.  Maria plays with grace and sensitivity.

She changes rhythms from fast tracks to really dead-slow ones, which suddenly change into sunshine. Declamatory singing and an epic width of classic music may remind you of a spoken word style. At the same time, it is very urgent and supported by a piano or cello leading to an inaccessible modulations bordering with almost a nightmarish atmosphere.

Maria Neckam sticks together with her accompanying band – nobody competes with anybody. Samir Zarif and Lars Dietrich, the saxophone players, know exactly when to start their funeral blues with  jazz rudeness sound, violoncello player plays as sadly as possible his song in duet Where Do You Think You Will Be , Glenn Zaleski, the piano player, feels free to show his outstanding art of piano playing as much as the song allows.

The Unison album is like a colourful goblin where you can feel wooden baroque influence, simple mystic and heavy melancholy at the same time. However, it still keeps quite a big amount of pop emotions. It is clear that this album will be loved by jazz purists as well as random listeners.