BOGNA KICINSKA

Jaw-dropping vocal facility, thrilling approach to improvisation, one of

the finest scat singers I have heard in years – Rick Anderson, cdhotlist.com

Bogna Kicinska (…) is a real discovery, she is a vocalist with a wide range of voice, singing with great feeling and improvising using scat technique without any restraint” – Jazz Forum Magazine (Poland). Originally from Poland, Bogna Kicinska is a jazz vocalist, composer, educator and violinist living in New York City. Her debut album, “The Maze”, was released on October 15th 2014 by SurcaMusic in both the USA and Poland. Without question, the most singular and indelible feature of the album is Bogna’s voice itself. Save for five songs with the lyrics, (including a self penned original), the voice is treated as an instrument: melodies are sung in unison or counterpoint with violin and other instruments present. She further distinguishes herself as an instrumentalist through her use of scat technique to approach improvising. Of the nine songs on the album, five are Bogna’s originals, with the remainder being refreshing interpretations of jazz standards including “I Get A Kick Out Of You” and “Speak Low” by Cole Porter and Kurt Weill respectively. Bogna’s original music reflects the inspiration she’s received from engaging the world, musical and otherwise, around her. Besides its obvious jazz roots, Bogna’s writing seamlessly incorporates elements of folk music from Poland and Latin America, soul and Western classical music in an especially indelible way. Her organic embracement of such diverse musical styles has produced an album where every song or arrangement presentsa fresh array of harmonic and rhythmic elements. Bogna showed great leadership savvy by inviting several excellent musicians to collaborate with her on this album. The core group consists of Mateusz Smoczyński (violin), Kuba Cichocki (piano), Edward Perez (double bass) and Colin Stranahan (drums). On two songs, multipl Grammy Award winner John Benitez (appearing on Roy Hargrove’s album “Habana”) guests on electric bass. Two other songs feature a string quartet comprised of Mateusz Smoczyński (Violin I), Leonor Falcón (Violin II), Aleksandr Nazaryan (Viola) and Jan Roszkowski (Cello). The album was recorded in Park West Studios in New York and was mixed by Grammy Awards winner Dave Darlington (mixed Wayne Shorter’s “Alegria” album).
Bogna Kicińska – Bogna Kicinska – jazz vocalist, composer and educator, originally from Krasnystaw, Poland. Before coming to the US she was already recognized in Poland as one of the most prolific singers on the modern jazz scene. At that time she won many competitions: Old Jazz Meeting “Gold Washboard” in Ilawa, Poland, International Jazz Competition for Singing Musicians “Voicingers” in Zory, Poland, “Nadzieje Warszawy” in Warsaw. In 2010 she moved to New York to study jazz performance at the Aaron Copland School CUNY. Living in NYC Bogna stays very active on the music scene performing with a variety of bands and projects. In 2012 she started her own quintet which features some of the finest musicians on the New York jazz scene. In 2014 she released her first album “The Maze” which has been nominated for the FRYDERYK 2015 award, the Polish equivalent of a Grammy.
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