Search - Saskia Laroo :: Jazz Dance

A foot-tapping meshing of classical jazz with modern hip-hop

07/27/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard of this album through the British music press. The Europeans seemed to have been the first to come up with this new child in the evolution of jazz.This is a wonderful melding of the old and the new: of the discipline of classical jazz and the exuberance of hip-hop. "JazzDance" is a sparkling debut album by Laroo; unfortunately, it seems to be the only one she has made to date. It was released outside of North America in 1994 by PolyGram; then released here in 1996. Lack of airplay and good marketing along with an audience unfamiliar with this young, white female hip-hop artiste seems to have contributed to its lack-lustre performance on this side of the Atlantic. More's the pity for this is the perfect companion for a summer's evening party: a headnodding beat with refreshing melodic overnotes from an old jazz record somewhere in the recesses of your memory. You give up trying to figure out exactly from where you last heard that unbelievably catchy riff and just surrender to the charm of this album. Laroo is not only obviously a very capable musician and composer: it is the sheer infectiousness of the jam that she and her band get into that is so irresistable. It's obvious that they are having a riot and it's catching!The only reason I give this album four stars instead of 5 is that the producers could have done a better job of filling in the B side (on the LP) than they have. However, the A side is simply brilliant and alone worth buying the album for."

A Teriffic Life Sound!

Doral Park Avenue Hotel | New York, NY United States | 10/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this lady back in 1996 in Bulgaria in one of her early performances in Eastern Europe in Sofia' Funkie's Pub (now non existant). Man, the public almost gutted down the place! The music was so teriffic and she plays the tromphet like there is no tomorrow! This is an urban experiment in funk jazz that has no equivalent so far! Check out her other album Body Music! It's even better!"