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SKETY

Fascinating Futuristic Rhythm (2024)

5.0

June 27, 2025

Tuning / Blend 5.0
Energy / Intensity 5.0
Innovation / Creativity 5.0
Soloists 5.0
Sound / Production 5.0
Repeat Listenability 5.0
Tracks
1 I Hear Music 4.7
2 Children's Song no. 6 5.0
3 Klobouk ve křoví 5.0
4 Centerpiece 5.0
5 Fascinating Futuristic Rhythm 4.7
6 Teče voda teče 5.0
7 Ptal se včera pána pán 5.0

Recorded 2022 – 2024
Total time: 34:00, 7 songs


Tuning / Blend 5
Energy / Intensity 5
Innovation / Creativity 5
Soloists 5
Sound / Production 5
Repeat Listenability 5
Tracks
1 I Hear Music 4
2 Children's Song no. 6 5
3 Klobouk ve křoví 5
4 Centerpiece 5
5 Fascinating Futuristic Rhythm 4
6 Teče voda teče 5
7 Ptal se včera pána pán 5

Music seems to be part of the water in the Czech Republic. Award-winning jazz sextet SKETY brings the heat to its new record Fascinating Futuristic Rhythm, a mix of jazzy showboating and Czech obscurities. I like the jazz fine; I like the Czech music better. Lead arranger Petr Wajsar did a true and faithful job with tracks like the opening chestnut I Hear Music, but his original composition Ptal se včera pána pán is the album's real star, along with the poignant Teče voda teče. These last two songs feel almost like a whole different album; their musical twists and turns grabbed my attention every time, no matter what else was going on around me.

SKETY has certainly done its homework. The singers channel Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross so well it's hard to hear a difference between Centerpiece, the official LHR cover, and Fascinating Futuristic Rhythm, the Gershwin tune that follows. It's not just the swing and the harmonic suspensions, it's the dialect. No other group rhymes "around ya" and "without ya" quite the same way. To copy it so aptly shows a lot of attention to detail, not just the contours. Non-native accents creep in on other tracks, but these two feel uncannily spot on, a Hollywood reenactment as much as cover versions.

Vocally, the singers here have great technique. Even more than the official leads, I appreciate the little flourishes that individual singers sprinkle throughout the ensemble. The bass singer's lovely flourishes please me every time they poke out. Other high points include the stratospheric soprano accents on the title track, pun accepted, as well as the clear distinctions between the whole group's "doo doo" and "ba ba" — it looks silly typed out but it shines out when the album plays.

As a whole, this is a good recording. As part of a music collection, it offers a number of truly sparkling highlights. I hope to hear more original music from SKETY going forward, and I look forward to reports of the group's continued international success.


Tuning / Blend 5
Energy / Intensity 5
Innovation / Creativity 5
Soloists 5
Sound / Production 5
Repeat Listenability 5
Tracks
1 I Hear Music 5
2 Children's Song no. 6 5
3 Klobouk ve křoví 5
4 Centerpiece 5
5 Fascinating Futuristic Rhythm 5
6 Teče voda teče 5
7 Ptal se včera pána pán 5

The six vocal wonders that comprise the Czech mixed ensemble SKETY are an homage to the jazz vocals of the mid 20th. They offer an unending supply of suspended chords, off beat rhythms, scat solos and swinging beats -enough to fill the no-longer-smoky jazz club of your choice. Of course, the realistic vocal percussion is a lovely late 20th century addition, as is the powerful close mic bass. It's all to great effect: modern perfume on a love letter to a bygone era.

While the opening track adds a city soundscape and we do hear a beyond-vocal chime at some point, Fascinating Futuristic Rhythm is as "naked" an album as RARB listeners are likely to hear this year. A touch of extra reverb here or there to set a mood and the driving rhythm section aside, this recording feels like the singers are simply there, right next to you. It's crystal clear and perfectly present, with an effortless near-natural quality. If the album's beautiful pitch accuracy was assisted by studio magic, I dare listeners to uncover even a single moment of unnatural pitch-correction artifact. The autotune effect and its unnatural resonance is simply nowhere to be found in SKETY's world. Every effort was made to present the voice at its genuine best, not the DAW that helped get it there.

That sonic simplicity stands in perfect juxtaposition to the mind-blowing complexity of the arrangements. Hats off to the inspired and presumably sleepless Petr Wajsar for arranging every single track! Given the million or so unexpectedly satisfying notes that task demanded, it's hard to imagine poor Petr doing anything else!

And for those who crave an even deeper emotional connection where heart stands above head, there is the folk song, Teče voda teče ("Water Flows And Flows"). The performance offers something fragile, even as it crests to an impressive and powerful intensity. Also emotionally alluring are the mystical, clock-like vocals in Ptal se včera pána pán, the sojourn to Sleep City. Don't get me wrong, I definitely feel connected to the world-class scat solos by each and every member of SKETY on the Lambert Hendricks & Ross classic, and on Centerpiece too, but it's these more folk-inspired tracks that ground the jazz influences in the service of story.

The challenges of the music, harmonically, rhythmically, and soloistically, are so impressive that listeners may at times be hard-pressed to appreciate the emotional artistry independently of the musical challenge. Like a love story about flaming chainsaw jugglers, it's awfully hard for the "will they, won't they" question to not be about hand amputation. From the pop-rock vantage point, jazz as an artform can allow complexity worship to dominate the quest for authentic connection.

SKETY does so much so very right, but on this reviewer's wish list is just a bit more attention to density, phrasing, and tone color. When SKETY places these on equal footing with harmony and rhythm they will truly be an unstoppable force in a cappella.

If pop's predictability is getting you down, give these vocal jazz delights a taste. SKETY is a rich, rewarding listen!


Tuning / Blend 5
Energy / Intensity 5
Innovation / Creativity 5
Soloists 5
Sound / Production 5
Repeat Listenability 5
Tracks
1 I Hear Music 5
2 Children's Song no. 6 5
3 Klobouk ve křoví 5
4 Centerpiece 5
5 Fascinating Futuristic Rhythm 5
6 Teče voda teče 5
7 Ptal se včera pána pán 5

I have been anxiously awaiting this album since the last time I reviewed SKETY back in 2016, and it was worth the wait. This Czech group gives the full array of vocal jazz, from early 20th-century stylings reminiscent of George Gershwin and Duke Ellington, all the way to modern sound paintings. If you love jazz like I do, you are going to love Fascinating Futuristic Rhythm. Even if you don't, there's still plenty to love and phenomenal musicianship to marvel at.

I Hear Music starts the album with some very interesting contemporary jazz. I remember having a director once that was very interested in sound painting. This was music that I can best describe as collective improvisation by the entire group simultaneously. It often just felt cacophonous and chaotic. However, this track gives me a newfound understanding for what that director was trying to do. The structured chaos of sound painting mirrors the music created all around, whether by cars in traffic or birds singing. There are elements of sound painting scattered across crisp accents and perfectly tuned jazz chords. This piece is a little of everything thrown into one neatly wrapped package.

I am absolutely blown away by Children's Song no. 6. It's not often you encounter a song that is written in 6/4 time. However, this song grooves in ways that many commonly metered songs have failed. The bassline is just so much fun and gives a strong foundation. The upper voices are flying through some very challenging vocal runs with perfectly crisp scat singing. I can make out every syllable, regardless if the line is sung by one voice or harmonized by many. The level of vocal mastery of each group member to make this happen is staggering. This piece is artisanship at every level, and I am loving every second of it.

Fascinating Futuristic Rhythm feels like a history lesson in real time. I can very easily see this track played on a vinyl record in a happy 1930s household. It just feels so timeless despite being a modern arrangement. There are moments that even appear to play into the classic tinny sound of old vinyl that add another dimension to the sound. They intersperse perfectly with SKETY's sound to create a product only this group can produce. Petr Wajsar arranged the entire album, but every single track has qualities that unify the album while remaining unique enough to let each track stand alone.

This album just scratches an itch in the back of my brain that I didn't know I had. It takes me back to my days in high school jazz bands. It's perfectly nostalgic while bringing new and unfamiliar sounds. There are well-executed musical flourishes thrown among perfectly structured jazz chords. I can hear and feel the colors in every chord while just letting the music wash over me. It's an album to study or simply enjoy. Take a listen, and then listen again, because you'll probably find something new to be impressed by.

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