Is anyone out there familiar with Basia Trzetrzelewska (I suppose she's best known in the UK as former singer with Matt Bianco). Most of her stuff is incredible - wonderful songs in a sort of modern bossa-nova style, incredible harmonies (all her own), brilliant production (though 'Time And Tide' album sounds a bit '80s). There is a 'best of' ('Clear Horizon') available in the US but all of her albums are highly recommended. Anyone know where she's been for the past few years?
Well, the last word we have is that she is splitting time between Poland and London, and that she and Danny White have at least one album in the can that they're shopping around, but at the moment she has no label contract... she and Epic/Portrait parted ways a couple of years ago. (Probably over the somewhat glacial pace at which she records... love her as we do, you don't want to hold your breath waiting for her to finish a record...) The last two recorded performances we have are of "guest spots" with Spyro Gyra ("Springtime Laughter"), and Japanese jazz violinist Taro Hakase ("Summer Samba"), both from about 1999. Strangely enough, we just ran across a pic of of Our Favorite Polish Diva and her honey-bunny, Kevin Robinson, opening a Polish hair styling institute... hopefully this was a personal favor, and not her management's idea of publicity. And finally, if you're bored, there's a little web site that I created with web-designer Bev Martin that has a small amount of info about Ms. T's extant recordings... it's located at: http://members.tripod.com/~Basiafan/ (It desperately needs some updating, but it's still there!!) Hope this helps!! -Kevin
I saved a great performace of "My Cruel Ways" that Basia performed on the Late Show With David Letterman circa 1994-95, on video. David Sanborn was with the CBS Orchestra that night and provided a very nice sax solo on the song. I like the arrangement and performance of this song better than the studio version on The Sweetest Illusion. Basis sang the song in a hgher key. I think it works better. BTW, how do you properly pronounce her last name?
I've seen it alternately as "shet-she-lev-ska" or "che-che-lev-ska", but I suppose that while neither may be totally accurate, at least they're in the ballpark. -Kevin (and to think that people have troubles with **my** last name: "Segura")
Thanks for the info Kevin! Mike, according to the sleeve notes to 'Time and Tide', it is pronounced "Basha Tshetshelevska" which is still not much help!
I love Basia's first two albums. Anyone in the U.S. who really likes her second cd ("london warsaw new york") should seek out a copy made in Europe. Unless Sony in the U.S. fixed this with a "secret remaster" at some point, the U.S. cd is terrible in comparison with what was released in Europe: noisy digital faders that ring and an overall unpleasant harshness most evident on Basia's vocals.
Basia fans should be on the lookout for a promo-only CD, titled simply Basia, released by Epic in 1988. It features live versions of 5 songs from Time and Tide, plus 4 bonus extended remixes of tracks from that album. The live recordings (from a show in Chicago) sound fantastic, super recording. I don't know if this CD is particularly rare, but it's worth seeking out, in used CD stores and/or on eBay.
Oh THAT explains it. Loved both of those first two albums (surprised I didn't burn a hole in them with the laser! ), but I actually found both of them harsh to listen to, not just London Warsaw New York. If the imports are ANY better, I'd consider hunting them down. I managed to find the Matt Bianco CD Whose Side Are You On? on eBay for a steal last year. It sounds a little easier on the ears. If my grandmother were still around, she'd have no problem giving the proper pronunciation. A lot of the Polish consonants are spoken differently than how we "Americanize" them.
The Europe-issued cd of "Time and Tide" is better than both the original US aluminum cd and the gold disc remaster, but the vocals are still rather bright sounding. "London Warsaw New York" presents a much greater difference. There are a few other cd's by UK acts issued around this time that were totally ruined by the mastering "choices" in the US. For example if you are an Everything But the Girl Fan, you definitely should pick up the UK cd of their "Worldwide" album; the US version is so strident it's unlistenable.
Thanks for the info, Kevin and Chris. That pronounciation guide isn't much help. Tshe ? No less than 3 different covers to Time And Tide as well. I'd go for the black and white one if I could find it. It's supposedly the rare Dutch CBS release.
I saw her concert here in Honolulu on the London Warsaw New York tour. She was fantastic and had a real rapport with the audience. She would actually answer questions from the front row between songs! She even made wry commentary about the "sweet-smelling smoke" that filled the air at one point.
Polish Actually, "Trz" like in Trzetrzelewska is pronounced "Trj". Try to say "Traj" without the a. Arne
