Der Bund
Switzerland
Vanga's latest review from across the ocean:
"Enter Polish-born Grzegorz Karnas, one of the most exciting jazz vocalists boldly fronting a band today.
In the liner notes on his new album Vanga (Budapest Music Center Records), he refers to his trio of ten years as his "marital bed". Karnas sings and speaks in an array of languages, which merge his
mother tongue and English into a deconstructed jazz scat-collage Matisse would love. His extraordinary range dips into sensually warm chest tones and pure falsetto heights. Meld the rawness and emotional abandon of indie rocker Dave Matthews with the clean-lined, tradition-rooted swing of Kurt Elling and you might imagine his sound,
but Karnas is actually like no other vocalist - a true original - as he rolls freely in the folds of his trio's musical bedsheets."
The New York City Jazz Record,
USA
Vanga-Review, Germany
Reveiw from New York Jazz Record, USA
Jazz Press, Poland
Review from Jazzman, France
"Sunny and full of shimmering energy!"
Fürther Nachrichten
Germany
a french jazz magazine JAZZMAN published a list of the vocalists essential for the history of jazz beginning with Louis Armstrong. Karnas is there under "voices without limits"...
Jazz Forum, Poland
Jazz Magazine/Jazzman, France
"Karnas marries a rock-pop timbre with a jazzer's musicality.
A terrific band led by singer!"
The Guardian, UK
"Polish quintet surprises at London Jazz Festival's Saturday Showcase. Karnas group is pushing the eclectic extremes. A case of art imitating life."
viewlondon.co.uk
"Grzegorz Karnas: energy, sense of humor, sensitivity, audacity; polish singer Grzegorz Karnas has it all !
(...) A singer and group who will likely make promoters take notice."
culturejazz.net
France
"A great Polish jazz singer!
An enfant terrible of contemporary jazz vocal scene..."
Nový Populár
Slovakia
Jazzman/Jazz Magazine, France
"Karnas interprets standards with incredible inventiveness. He gleans each note from a melody, to subsequently bend and transform it, imbuing it with substance. It's been quite some time since such imagination has been seen in the jazz vocals genre."
Le Soir
Belgium
"Swinging, daring, tempting with the mixture of authority and freedom
characteristic for the greatest!"
Jazzman
France
Novy Popular, Slovakia
"Natural talent who is not affraid of
experimenting in music."
Český rozhlas
Czech Republic
"At ease and laid back interpreting, amazingly, most of his compositions in polish: a rare treat, appreciated by a delighted audience."
jazz-letter.com
France
"There is no mannerism to Karnas's singing. One could even say that his poetic texts create an additional level on which a listener receives him, something rarely encountered in this type of music."
Jazz Festival, Ústí nad Labem
Czech Republic
"A dazzling polish singer"
www.jazzman.fr/blog
France
Karnas scats with verve, has an excellent feel for phrasing, and raps intelligently, employing irony with sophistication. Besides that he has a characteristic, slightly
raspy-sounding voice that intrigues the ear and focuses the attention of the listener.
In addition to all that, there is a consistent repertoire and an excellent backing group. There's no doubt that Grzegorz Karnas can already be considered a member of Polish jazz's upper echelons.
Rzeczpospolita
Poland
"A complete discovery, polish Grzegorz Karnas is a vocal highwire act"
Sud-Ouest
France
"Karnas' singing - regardless of whether it's lyrics, syllabics or scat - is never for show; it's always music. Vocalists are probably a bit more susceptible to the lure of "shining" at all costs than are other instrumentalists. Karnas doesn't care about shining. He wants to make music. "
Jazz Forum
Poland