Stepping forward from their all instrumental debut Maximalist, Burlington, Vermont’s Vorcza are back with a vocal infused update to their sound on their second album Corner Of the Morning. Consisting of Ray Paczkowski on Hammond, Rhodes, Clavinet and vocals, Gabe Jarrett on drums and Rob Morse on acoustic and electric basses, the trio are seasoned veterans who have played with such luminaries as Lester Bowie, Trey Anastasio, Jessica Lurie and Will Bernard.
Corner of the Morning goes through many different moods. At times it is mellow and upbeat and in other instances, as in "F/T" with guest Trey Anastasio, Vorcza comes off over the top powerful. In contrast to “F/T,” Anastasio also lends his trademark leads on Sun Ra's "A Call For All Demons," which features some amazing interplay between Paczkowski and his now heroic part-time bandmate. The newest addition to the Vorcza sound are Paczkowski’s vocals, as he's clearly in the process of finding his own sound. At times, as in "Shine," he almost sounds like a fragile Jerry Garcia, while on "Faith," he has a distinctive soulful Bruce Hornsby flavor.
The best parts of Corner Of The Morning are the instrumentals that serve as a mature build from the Maximalist compositions. "The Shuffle" and "Standard Stick" have a completely distinctive personality, which is the punch that lacks on some of the vocal infused tunes. When you compare the straight ahead jazz flavors of "Hell And Creation" against the vocal rich and almost pop jazz of "Crazy," you see that Vorcza may be stretching it a bit by adding vocals at this point. Why should they? Well, they probably want to refine their improvisational approach into a more concise songwriting formula. Either way, Corner of The Morning proves that Vorcza are one of the more daring trios going today, with or without vocals.
Contributing writer Joe Adler is a musician based out of Burlington, Vermont. He performs regularly with his band The Joe Adler Acoustic Project.[/
