Andrzej Olejniczak - Live at Altxerri (2004)

Andrzej Olejniczak Quaret

Andrzej Olejniczak - soprano & tenor saxophones

Ivan "Melon" Gonzalez Lewis - piano

Jules Bikoko - bass
Julian Vaughn - drums

Live at Altxerii (2004)

Once hero of Polish jazz, saxophonist Andrzej Olejniczak, vanished from my radar long ago after he had emmigrated to Spain. We remember him from playing in best Polish bands of era of fusion jazz namely Extra Ball and Sun Ship which he created with such strong musicians as pianist Władysław Sendecki, bassist Witold  Szczurek and drummer Marek Stach. Only recently I found him on come back release by String Connection ("2012") but I was not much impressed as this project turned out to be nothing more than sentimental journey to the past glory of this legendary band of 80ties. I wondered what is he doing now? I couldn't believe that musician of such a class abondon music at all. Fortunately few weeks ago I found in my local CD shops this release. By far no novelty but relatively fresh it attestes that Olejniczak did not lose anything at all from his exceptional versatility on saxophone. With utmost ease he cuts through some original and standard tunes inducing in listener whole range of emotions from sadness to enthusiasm and beyond. The explosive nature of this recording is secured by first class partners which surround him, all musicians completely uknwkn to me:  Ivan "Melon" Gonzalez Lewis on piano, Jules Bikoko on bass and Julian Vaughn on drums. It is however clear almost from very first notes that they are top class players and have this "black" spontaineity which makes music bouncing and dancing. Excellent stuff!

Track listing : 1. UMMG; 2. Cryin' Blues; 3. Call It A Dream; 4. Viuda Negra; 5. Zamora; 6. Night And Day

By Maciej Nowotny
http://kochamjazz.blox.pl/html