(Vocal Jazz) [CD] Mina Agossi - E-Z Pass to Brooklyn - 2001, FLAC (tracks), lossless

*** MediaInfo Mac // Plain text file report
2012-09-26 17:29:57 +0200
--> Mina Agossi - E-Z Pass to Brooklyn - 2001 [boccherini]
Information for Files:
1 Caravan.flac
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2 Mabo.flac
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3 Explore.flac
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4 Cyber Reality.flac
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5 2000 Bells.flac
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 Total File Size -> 20.7 MiB
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 Title (Tag) -> 2000 Bells
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6 Ain't Misbehavin'.flac
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 Play Time -> 3mn 2s
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 Title (Tag) -> Ain't Misbehavin'
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 Number of Audio Channels -> 2
 Sampling Rate -> 44.1 KHz
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7 Zaboum.flac
 Audio Codecs Used -> FLAC
 File Format -> FLAC
 Play Time -> 4mn 18s
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8 Euphoria.flac
 Audio Codecs Used -> FLAC
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 Title (Tag) -> Euphoria
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 Number of Audio Channels -> 2
 Sampling Rate -> 44.1 KHz
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9 Butterflies.flac
 Audio Codecs Used -> FLAC
 File Format -> FLAC
 Play Time -> 2mn 53s
 Total File Size -> 15.0 MiB
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 Title (Tag) -> Butterflies
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10 Uruk.flac
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11 Eat it.flac
 Audio Codecs Used -> FLAC
 File Format -> FLAC
 Play Time -> 3mn 23s
 Total File Size -> 21.2 MiB
 Total Stream BitRate -> 877 Kbps
 Title (Tag) -> Eat it
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 Number of Audio Channels -> 2
 Sampling Rate -> 44.1 KHz
 Bit Depth -> 16 bits
12 Machine Gun.flac
 Audio Codecs Used -> FLAC
 File Format -> FLAC
 Play Time -> 5mn 29s
 Total File Size -> 35.8 MiB
 Total Stream BitRate -> 911 Kbps
 Title (Tag) -> Machine Gun
 Encoded with -> Max 0.9.1
 Number of Audio Channels -> 2
 Sampling Rate -> 44.1 KHz
 Bit Depth -> 16 bits

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FILE: 06 - Ain't Misbehavin'.flac
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FILE: 05 - 2000 Bells.flac
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FILE: 01 - Caravan.flac
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Born in 1972, the half-French, half-Beninese Mina Agossi spent much of her youth studying in and traveling to places like Niger, Morocco, and Ivory Coast. While in school for theater in France, a local saxophonist gave her 500 francs to sing on-stage with him, and although Agossi had had no formal experience in music, she immediately fell in love with performing and decided to pursue singing as a career. In 1993 she joined her first group, a swing and New Orleans jazz band that played gigs in France and Ireland. As she became more interested in modern jazz, the young singer decided to start recording under her own name, releasing a few bare-boned jazz albums in Europe. Bringing her own interpretation to jazz brought Agossi her fair share of critics and fans alike, and she began receiving offers to sing with artists like Archie Shepp, Mukta, and Adam Pieronscyk. In 2001, soon after September 11, Agossi recorded her live album EZ Pass to Brooklyn with Alexander Hiele on bass and Bertrand Perrin on drums, the same group that accompanied her on her next record, Carrousel. In 2004 the British label Candid signed Agossi, releasing Zaboum!! in Europe the following year and Well You Needn't in 2006.

Recorded in October 2001, Mina Agossi’s E-Z Pass to Brooklyn has already been making the rounds in the Francophone world for some time, where at least one reviewer has lauded the effort as “incroyable” and even goes on to say, “Chaque morceau est une surprise.” Another reviewer favourably chimes in, “jamais vous n’avez entendu quelque chose comme E-Z Pass to Brooklyn.”
“Incredible.” “Each song is a surprise.” “You’ve never heard anything like E-Z Pass to Brooklyn.” Bold statements, all of these. But Agossi herself is bold, feisty. Along with bassist Alexandre Hièle and drummer Bertrand Perrin, she subjects Ellington’s “Caravan” to an abrasive, exotic, Moroccan treatment; twists Fats Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’” into a hushed, spoken, hip-hop number; and even takes on Jimi Hendrix’s “Machine Gun” amid versions of her own compositions, such as “Cyber Reality” and “Eat It” (not a Weird Al Yankovic cover, tempting as that might be to imagine). I suppose, however, that these small selections of critical commentary could be read with a literal mind, presenting us with a much more equivocal meaning, one that might come closer to a proper appraisal of Agossi’s first credited solo album (her fourth overall).
A truism: boldness does not good art make; nor is it synonymous with beauty. Chris Ofili’s portrait of the Madonna in elephant dung may radically recast subject matter more closely associated with Giotto, but that doesn’t mean I would prefer to hang Ofili’s work on my wall at home. In a musical parallel, we have Agossi’s assemblage of styles, none of which—or the many, many combinations thereof—ever rises above the boisterous and confrontational, or aspires to the various manifestations of beauty found in Ella, Lady Day, Dianne Reeves, or Dianna Krall. As if anticipating that "female jazz vocal" might be too confining a category for Agossi, one German website suggested comparisons with Björk. While this does work in spots, it still isn’t quite accurate. Agossi lacks the Icelandic diva’s vocal dynamics and artistic flair; and, furthermore, for all her love of fusion and experimentation, Björk never eschews the indie pop appeal that first brought her notoriety. Little of that same kind of appeal is to be found here.
None of this is intended to argue that Agossi should be written off. Far from it. It’s possible that her next outing will see her better suited to the material, both original and appropriated, and vice versa. In this way the boldness might become less of a gimmick and more of a real, thoughtful accent to the music. For all its artistic bravado, E-Z Pass to Brooklyn is so passionate as to be melodramatic, so enthusiastic as to be wearisome, so ambitious as to be amateurish.

Mina Agossi - vocals
Alex Hiele - bass
Bertrand Perrin - drums