Krzysztof Scieranski – Night Lakes (2014) ***1/2

Krzysztof Scieranski - guitar & bass
Michal Lyczek - keyboards
Michal Kobojek - saxophone
Przemyslaw Kuczynski - drums

and others

POLSKIE RADIO 1713


By Adam Baruch

In the liner notes attached to this album Polish Jazz electric bass virtuoso Krzysztof Scieranski confesses that his initial dream was to become a guitarist and the fact that he became Poland's bass guitar legend is, as often happens in life, a matter of circumstances and of course the fact that his brother already played guitar. One way or another, the audiences had the pleasure of enjoying his superb performances for four decades now. This album is primarily a realization of a dream where Scieranski could play guitar in addition to his already legendary bass routine. He is accompanied on this album by a core trio: saxophonist Michal Kobojek, keyboardist Michal Lyczek, drummer Przemyslaw Kuczynski and a few other musicians. Two tracks (the opening and closing ones) also include vocals. The album presents twelve original compositions, all by Scieranski.

The music is a mixture of relatively uncomplicated Smooth Jazz tunes, ranging between Jazz-Rock Fusion and almost Popish signatures, all very melodic and well structured harmonically. The tunes are definitely much more solid than most in not all the material found on Smooth Jazz recordings. There is something for everybody here and all of it is slick and pleasurable, so I wouldn't be surprised if this album becomes very popular indeed among listeners of all ages and musical persuasions.

The performances are all excellent from start to finish. These are all highly skilled and professional musicians and one should expect nothing less than technical perfection. Absurdly, although Scieranski plays some great guitar licks, it is his bass playing that is the most impressive, especially when he uses the fretless bass. He actually plays guitar on only about half of the tracks.

To summarize this is an excellently executed Smooth Jazz album, which includes a collection of tunes that are much stronger that the usual stuff one finds on that type of releases. Scieranski is a virtuoso by any standard and this album is simply another proof of the fact that he is simply great in any environment. And yes, he can play the guitar as well, which nobody can deny!

Music for fast red cars, long haired blondes and sunny beaches… California here we come!

Various Artists – Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol.12 (2014) ***1/2

Jerzy Milian - vibraphone
Krzysztof Komeda - piano
Michal Urbaniak - saxophone
Tomasz Stanko - trumpet
Maciej Suzin - bass
Leszek Dudziak - drums
Czeslaw Bartkowski - drums

POLSKIE RADIO 1632



By Adam Baruch

This is the twelfth installment in the new series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland's most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well.

The material collected here presents recordings made in 1963 during the sixth Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw. The majority of the material, i.e. thirteen of the seventeen tracks, is performed by Dutch vocalist Rita Reys (who died a few months ago in July 2013) accompanied by a trio led by her husband pianist Pim Jacobs with guitarist Wim Overgaauw and Pim's brother bassist Ruud Jacobs. In addition one instrumental track by the trio is also included. The remaining three tracks are performed by the top Polish Jazz musicians at the time: two by vibraphonist / composer Jerzy Milian accompanied by the Krzysztof Komeda trio with bassist Maciej Suzin and drummer Leszek Dudziak; the last track is by the Komeda quintet, with saxophonist Michal Urbaniak, trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, bassist Maciej Suzin and drummer Czeslaw Bartkowski. All the tracks are Jazz standards except for the last one, which is a Komeda composition.

Reys performs a set of classic vocal material, comprising of popular songs known to all Jazz listeners. Her singing is beautifully expressive, but not virtuosic and copying mannerisms from American vocal Jazz stars. She also has a slight foreign accent, but definitely passable. The accompaniment is elegant and supportive, with Pim's piano playing being truly exceptional. The guitar plays sadly only a few solo spots, and when not soloing it is mostly hidden in the recording balance; as a result is seems Reys is accompanied mostly by a piano / bass duo only. Overall this is a fine presentation of mainstream Jazz vocals, nothing spectacular but a nice document of the moment in time.

The Milian tracks are also rather pale, well performed and all, but again nothing special. Komeda plays some great piano phrases, which are always delightful and the rhythm section is doing its job as expected. The Komeda quintet is obviously the most interesting track herein with a typical beautiful melody line only he could weave and the quintet playing along splendidly. One may wonder why these three tracks were selected as the "filler" for this album, as both ensembles (Milian's and Komeda's) played full sets, which would be very interesting in their entirety.

The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

The Cyclists – Etiudy Miejskie (2013) ***

Daniel Mackiewicz - keyboards
Wojciech Wozniak - bass
Jacek Buhl - drums
DJ G.R.Z.A.N.A. - sampler

PRIVATE EDITION






By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by Polish experimental quartet The Cyclists, formed by keyboardist Daniel Mackiewicz (Sing Sing Penelope) with other musicians from the Bydgoszcz scene: bassist Wojciech Wozniak, drummer Jacek Buhl (Glabulator) and DJ G.R.Z.A.N.A. Together they play thirteen relatively short pieces, eleven of which were composed / improvised by the entire quartet and two were composed by Krzysztof Gruse, also a well known Bydgoszcz household name.

The music is a mixture between Jazz-Rock Fusion ditties and the ambient ventures produced by the DJ, which together sounds like an updated version of early Soft Machine sans the vocals. The compositions, although pretty basic, are all nicely melodic and the Rhodes electric piano brings waves of nostalgia. There is essentially nothing very innovative here, or perhaps the entire proceedings are purposely retrograde; in any case this is a nice and very listenable piece of music, but overall quite déjà vu.

Of course these are very talented musicians and they produced some excellent music in the past, so one should accept this project as an attempt to relax and have fun, which is exactly what it is all about.

Splatter with Rafal Mazur – Cloudseed (2013) ****

Rafal Mazur - bass
with
Splatter

CITYSTREAM 00106







By Adam Baruch

This is an excellent album by British Improvising Music quartet Splatter, recorded in an expanded lineup which also includes the Polish bassist Rafal Mazur. Splatter consists of clarinetist Noel Taylor, saxophonist Anna Kaluza, guitarist Pedro Velasco and drummer Tom Greenhalgh. On the album they perform thirteen relatively short improvised pieces, and since no composing credits are given one can assume all the music was simply spontaneously created by all the musicians involved.

For a freely improvised music the content of this album is remarkably melodic and beautifully serene. Surely this music was at least rehearsed to some extent before the recording, as most of it has a clearly defined melodic sequence and harmonic structure. As such it is also easily accessible to a wide range of listeners, including those who normally wouldn't make the effort to listen to Improvised Music.

Quite honestly this is definitely one of the most beautiful Improvised Music efforts I have been exposed to in the last few years, especially due to its complete lack of aggressiveness and belligerence that often overwhelms similar efforts. In contrast this music projects a kind of calmness and piece of mind, which perhaps reflects to some extent the need of regeneration and relaxation through Art, which becomes more popular recently. But regardless of the inner motives behind the music, the overall result is simply soothing.

The individual performances are all excellent, as expected. Personally the clarinet, which is on the short list of my favorite instruments, is the most impressive here with a superb tone and melodic consistency. But again, all the other players contribute equally well. The addition of the bass solidifies the sound of the ensemble and its pulsations are another dimension which goes perfectly well with the rest. Of course the work of the ensemble as a coherent unit, and in this case almost telepathically coherent, is the most important factor contributing to their success to make brilliant music.

This is definitely an album every true ambitious music connoisseur should listen to; satisfaction guaranteed!

Marcin Wadolowski – Blue Night Session (2014) ***1/2

Marcin Wadolowski - guitar
Wojciech Staroniewicz - saxophone
Dominik Bukowski - vibraphone
Janusz Mackiewicz - bass
Adam Czerwinski - drums

ALLEGRO 028




By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by the Polish Jazz guitarist / composer Marcin Wadolowski, recorded in a quintet setting with saxophonist Wojciech Staroniewicz, vibraphonist Dominik Bukowski, bassist Janusz Mackiewicz and drummer Adam Czerwinski, all seasoned players from the Polish Tricity region. The album presents ten original compositions, all by Wadolowski. Wadolowski can be also heard as a member of Elec-Tri-City and Moongang.

The music is all very melodic and kept within the mainstream Jazz conventions. All the tracks are relatively short, creating a sort of "songs" album, although of course entirely instrumental, in contrast to a typical Jazz recording, which focuses on the improvisational skills. Wadolowski simply decides to concentrate on featuring his skills as a composer and presenting his music rather than his and his quintets performing talents. There is basically absolutely nothing wrong with such approach of course.

Nevertheless the album features very talented and skilled instrumentalists and although the framework and time limitations of this album allow rather modest contributions, those are all executed perfectly. Staroniewicz is a marvelous player and so is Bukowski, who uses recently more and more the xylosynth (a combination of xylophone and synthesizer, which sound really more like a keyboard and produces some very beautiful moments. The rhythm section is also perfect for the job, staying mostly in the background but providing a solid support for the soloist and doing it with grace and elegance. As to the leader, personally I prefer his work in a more electric / Fusion / Funky environment than playing gentle almost acoustic guitar, which limits his possibilities or perhaps exposes more his technical weaknesses, but overall his performance is also quite satisfactory.

All in all we have here a pleasant well played album, which should satisfy most Jazz connoisseurs, with a slight tendency towards melodic and less complex musical forms. This album is quite ideal for a lazy evening with a glass of a wonderful cognac or very old single malt on ice.

Wierba / Schmidt Quintet – Black Monolith (2011) ***1/2

Piotr Schmidt - trumpet
Marcin Kaletka - saxophone
Michal Wierba - piano
Michal Kapczuk - bass
Sebastian Kuchczynski - drums
with
Dante Luciani - trombone

SJ 001


By Adam Baruch

This is the third album by the Polish Jazz quintet, which was founded by two young players / composers: pianist Michal Wierba and trumpeter Piotr Schmidt. The quintet also includes saxophonist Marcin Kaletka, bassist Michal Kapczuk and drummer Sebastian Kuchczynski. On this album the quintet is expanded into a sextet with the addition of American trombonist Dante Luciani. The sextet performs six tunes, three of which are original compositions by Wierba, two are standards and the remaining one is a composition by Czech trumpeter / composer Stepanka Balcarova, who studied at the Katowice Music Academy as did all of the quintet members. The album was recorded at the fabulous Studio Tokarnia and was engineered by Jan Smoczynski, with excellent, as usual, sonic results.

Although the music is all within boundaries of typical Jazz mainstream, it is superbly arranged and executed. The original compositions are interesting and poise perfectly the melodic themes and the spirited attitude; the piece by Balcarova is the most impressive on the album. Overall this is a very pleasant well rounded Jazz album, which presents the sextet as a small Big Band, balancing between the brass and rhythm sections, features many excellent solo spots and shows that young Europeans can play mainstream as well as anybody else anywhere. The individual skills of the musicians involved are of course spotless.

This album is the first release on the SJ label, owned by Schmidt, which is one of the small independent Polish Jazz labels releasing music by young Polish Jazz musicians, a most welcome phenomenon of course, spreading the local Jazz gospel around the world.

Mazzoll / Janicki / Janicki – Minimalover (2012) ***

Jerrzy Mazzoll - clarinet
Slawek Janicki - bass
Qba Janicki - drums

PRIVATE EDITION






By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by the Polish Avant-garde trio, which consists of clarinetist Jerzy Mazzoll, bassist Slawek Janicki and drummer Qba Janicki. The album consists of a CD, which includes six improvised pieces recorded in a studio, based on Mazzoll's ideas, and a DVD which documents a live concert filmed immediately following the studio recording. The music and video was recorded at the legendary "Mozg" center in Bydgoszcz, which includes a recording studio and a club, one of Poland's most interesting musical epicenters.

Mazzoll, one of the pioneers of Polish contemporary Free Jazz / Improvised Music scene and one of the Godfathers of the Yass movement, remains to be a central figure of that scene and his prolific activity is well documented. Slawek Janicki was a member of Mazzoll's Arhythmic Perfection for many years and they are now joined by Slawek's son Qba. Mazzoll was also an early member of the legendary ensemble Milosc.

Although obviously highly spirited and full of great musicianship, the music presented on this album failed to engage me, which is a prerequisite to be able to truly enjoy it. To make sure this is not just a whim of the moment I listened to the music on different occasions and still was left cold. Even the additional visual layer present on the DVD failed to change the situation. Perhaps this music was an ideal vehicle as a means of communication between the players, but it failed to break the intimate inner circle. I admit a personal failure here, not blaming the musicians.

The album itself is a beautiful document of the Mozg center and the activities that are carried out there. Considering the fact that this kind of underground culture, which is supported by local Government and carries on a tradition for several decades, this is a wondrous and highly unusual phenomenon.

Kasper Tom 5 – Ost Bingo Skruer (2013) ****

Tomasz Dabrowski - trumpet, balkan horn
Rudi Mahall - bass clarinet
Petter Hangsel - trombone
Jens Mikkel Madsen - bass
Kasper Tom Christiansen - drums

BAREFOOT 031



By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by the European Jazz quintet Kasper Tom 5, led by Danish drummer / composer Kasper Tom Christiansen, with German clarinetist Rudi Mahall, Polish trumpeter Tomasz Dabrowski, Swedish trombonist Petter Hangsel and Danish bassist Jens Mikkel Madsen. Christiansen and Dabrowski are also members of the excellent Hunger Pangs trio. The album presents ten original compositions, six of which were composed by the leader and the remaining four are credited to the entire quintet.

The quintet is constantly walking on a tight rope between "usual" and "unusual", which is of course great fun. Seemingly a standard quintet and yet the brass section features a completely nonstandard bass clarinet / trumpet / trombone front line, which has a completely different sonority from a regular saxophone dominated ensemble. Seemingly playing melodies, yet there is actually more freedom and free improvisation than one might expect or even be able to hear upon the initial encounter. This stuff requires some serious listening in order to be properly digested, which is usually the case with unusual music.

With all the freedom and group improvisation involved, this music is surprisingly "easy" on the ear, mainly because it is completely non aggressive, even in the most passionate moments. The flow of the music is all natural, following a melodic theme or a harmonic sequence, often even introducing several complex intertwined leads, but always executed with grace and obvious mutual respect and understanding between the quintet members. The whole proceedings are a rare example of group members that actually complete each other rather than compete between each other. There is no obvious leader; nobody gets more solo space than anybody else, in short a wonderful unity is achieved herein.

Of course the album is also a superb display of individual skills and talents, but those can be truly appreciated only with repeated listening sessions, allowing the listener to concentrate on a specific instrumentalist rather than listen to the entire ensemble. One way or another, this album is full of wonderful moments, which are simply waiting there to be discovered.

With young European Jazz musicians like these one can look forward to the future with at least some optimism. The renaissance of ambitious music in Europe is truly heartwarming, against all odds and like an oasis in the desert of mediocrity that modern life pushes down our throats. Well done indeed!

Leszek Dranicki – Leszek Dranicki (Swinging Tricity Vol.5) (2013) ***

Leszek Dranicki - vocals, guitar
with
many others

PRIVATE EDITION







By Adam Baruch

This is the fifth installment in the excellent archival series documenting Polish Jazz created in the country's Tricity on the Baltic Sea, one of the important centers where Polish Jazz thrives and over the years produced numerous first-rate musicians and superb bands. The series presents material, which in most cases never previously appeared in any form and therefore is of immense historic importance.

This chapter presents the vocalist / guitarist Leszek Dranicki, who was a member of the Jazz-Rock Fusion ensemble Baszta, which is also documented in this series, and later played in several other groups (including the legendary Krzak) and recorded as a leader. This album is an expanded reissue of his debut solo album "With A Little Help…", originally released by Polskie Nagrania / Muza, with six bonus tracks recorded later at radio sessions.

The music consists all of Jazz, Blues and Pop standards, which Dranicki sings (in English) and plays guitar on. Although some of the arrangements are pretty nice, the overall effect is far from spectacular. As usual the attempt to sing in English simply falls apart and spoils the pleasure of the instrumental work, which is better by far. Dranicki is a good guitar player with a Bluesy feel and splendid technical efficiency. The two bonus tracks recorded with bassist Andrzej Cudzich and drummer Eryk Kulm are the most impressive and the last two solo tracks are the weakest.

The problem with this album is that is completely lacks any originality and shows how some of the musicians behind the Iron Curtain wanted to copy what was happening elsewhere, rather than create some new facets in their musical explorations. Of course this material is still worthy, especially as part of an archival series.

This is another great piece of Polish Jazz history, which should definitely be told and preserved as part of the country's Cultural Heritage. Kudos to Marcin Jacobson for creating this series and keeping it going!

Motion Trio – Polonium (2013) ****

Janusz Wojtarowicz - accordion
Pawel Baranek - accordion
Maric Galazyn - accordion
with
Leszek Mozdzer - piano

AKORDEONUS 09





By Adam Baruch

The Polish accordion trio, called Motion Trio, is one of the most intriguing musical ensembles active today, mostly acknowledged in the contemporary Classical sphere, but known also to cross over to other music areas, including Jazz. Founded in 1996 by Janusz Wojtarowicz, who is the trio's leader and primary composer of the original music they perform, the trio also includes Pawel Baranek and Marcin Galazyn. Over time the Motion Trio turned out to be a most prolific recording act and this is their eleventh album since 2002.

This album plays tribute to the four great Polish contemporary Classical composers, who achieved international fame and recognition, often more so abroad than at home: Witold Lutoslawski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Henryk Gorecki and Wojciech Kilar. In addition they also play one composition by Wojtarowicz co-composed with accordionist Jacek Holubowski, a member and primary composer of Acoustic Acrobats, another excellent Polish ensemble. Also included, as a special track, is a composition by Marta Plaszynska, a famous Polish composer living in the USA, dedicated to the trio. Polish Jazz pianist Leszek Mozdzer guests on the Gorecki piece.

The accordion is sadly a most mistreated and misunderstood instrument in contemporary music, usually associated with folklore, street music and other "low culture" phenomena by Classical music snobs. Very few music lovers understand the incredible wealth of the instrument, its limitless possibilities and the beauty of its profound sound. Therefore the fantastic exposure that the accordion is given by the Motion Trio is a most welcome occurrence of great musical importance. This, in addition to the sheer virtuosity and inventiveness of the trio members, is a guarantee of first-class musical experience, which this album offers.

Although the unusual instrumentation may seem a bit strange in relation to the four compositions by the four Master composers, open-minded listeners will be very quickly completely absorbed in the new sonorities and re-discover these pieces in a new light, with undeniable delight. Of course playing such ambitious music speaks highly of the trio's cerebral approach on one hand and emotional abilities on the other as far as keeping their minds open to a wide scope of music rather than thread on the easy path to success. During my recent meeting with Maestro Penderecki we discussed this album briefly and he wholeheartedly approved this specific interpretation of his composition, certifying his opinion in writing by autographing my copy of the album ;)

As long as works of Art like this album are being produced, our Culture is still alive and kicking, but for how long, unfortunately no one can predict.