For many years, English has been the primary and dominant language of
jazz singing, but that doesn't mean that
vocal jazz necessarily has to be performed in English. In fact, meaningful
vocal jazz has been performed in languages ranging from Portuguese (
Flora Purim) to Swedish (
Jeanette Lindstroem) to Polish (
Grazyna Auguscik). If
rock en espanol can be a huge phenomenon in the
rock world and
hip-hoppers in Paris can earn a living rapping in French, is there any reason why
vocal jazz shouldn't be multilingual? There isn't, and on
Bemun, the language that singer
Cymin Samawatie (who calls her group
Cyminology) uses to perform
vocal jazz is Persian/Iranian -- not exactly a language that an abundance of
jazz singers have used to express themselves, but a language that works well for
Samawatie on appealing
post-bop items such as
"Meloton," "Gosara," and
"Bi Deldari" (all of which she either wrote or co-wrote). Some English-speaking
jazz enthusiasts will no doubt pass on this 2006 recording because they don't understand Persian/Iranian, which is regrettable because
Samawatie is undeniably expressive regardless of whether or not one understands the words she is singing (although
Double Moon Records does provide English translations of the lyrics for those who want to read them). While some will describe this 58-minute CD as
post-bop, others will call it
world jazz because of the Persian/Iranian influence that
Samawatie brings to the table -- and truth be told, both terms are applicable. This fine album is happily recommended to anyone who is seeking something fresh and intriguing from
vocal jazz. ~ Alex Henderson
![Space Is the Place [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] [Deluxe Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0090771826725_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Space Is the Place [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] [Deluxe Edition]")
