Rafaël Dato - So, What's Next?
“When I compose, my goal is to reach beauty, to take people out of themselves, to bring about something different than rationality. Love, friendship, spirituality, nature and beauty ingeneral, those are themes that inspire me'“ Rafaël Dato.
The moment when you dance through your apartment with sweatpants and a wine glass and try to imitate Swan Lake. The moment of truth has struck, when the bones then crack louder than the music... Watched too many dance videos again. But what should I do? (ti na kano? as the Greeks would say, pulling up their shoulder). And all because my penchant for dance video to classical and jazzy music has grown exponentially. Those who have been reading my posts for a bit longer know about these ravings. All the more I was happy to finally add another dance video to my collection.
The official music video for the single So, What's Next? inspires to go from walking to dancing and to cover the way to work with jumps and pirouettes. Swinging and dynamic, we fall into a rhythm and surrender to the story of the piano. Because that is the protagonist of this work of art.
Rafaël Dato is a composer and pianist. His musical roots are in the classical and neoclassical traditions. He is inspired by the harmonies of Bach, Mozart, Fauré and John Williams. He is already working on his second trio album, as well as a quartet album (with electric guitar) and compositions for solo piano and string instruments. Someone is literally bubbling over with creativity.
Rafaël Dato is always in search of beauty in all its facets. He has found this in his current work 'So, What's Next' (November 21 released) in poppy musical jazz garb, which reinvents itself. This joyful mixing technique has made it an album for everyone. A steady pop and rock groove permeates the jazz and makes it acceptable to non-jazz listeners. For the old jazz hands, it offers to break up the traditions and invite other genres. He wrote the album during the past Lockdown period. He enlisted support from Antoine Leiser (bass) and Timothy Garson (percussion). A clear sound runs through all the songs. Always narrated by Dato's melodic piano. Rarely do the other instruments get their solo time. There is a star here and it has black and white keys. We follow the lyrical narrative on When you Touch The Sky, which climbs up the familiar jazz harmonies. We know the verse bridge chorus structure from common pop songs. Speaking of pop songs. The tracks How Deep Is The Ocean and Pop Song bring up the comparison to musicals. I see the protagonists confessing their heartbreak, the modern dance classes stretching their legs. The album's climactic finale is All the Things You Are. Here everything is given once again. In general, there is a drive and positive tone in all nine gems that I find very infectious. My legs, too, by the way.
But what is the strength of this EP is also the weakness. I'm looking for a single that sounds a little different, that breaks the general tone. I miss the change in sound, in the dominance of the instruments, in the rhythm and in the harmonies. Maybe the difference is too subtle for my ears, maybe it's just intentional. But everything sounds too much like this one story. Like a term paper, the one big topic with its chapters. Which I think is a shame, because the potential for more is there. And yet I can't escape this magic.
So, What's Next? can be very tempting for people who are looking for just such positive and dynamic sounds and want to be absorbed in this fullness. For piano lovers looking for inspiration and instrumentalists looking for ways to play more than one genre. Of course, it is also suitable for (private) Swan Lake moments...
Listen and Dance
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
