Mack Goldsbury / Polish Connection – Salt Miners Blues (2010) ***

Mack Goldsbury - saxophone

Maciej Fortuna - trumpet

Reggie Moore - piano

Krzysztof Ciesielski - bass

Roman Slefarski - drums

FM 004

By Adam Baruch

This is a live recording by an American / Polish quintet featuring two veteran US Jazz musicians (both resident in Germany): saxophonist / composer Mack Goldsbury and pianist Reggie Moore with three young Polish Jazz players: trumpeter / composer Maciej Fortuna, bassist Krzysztof Ciesielski and drummer Roman Slefarski. They perform eight original compositions; four by Goldsbury, three by Moore and one by Fortuna.

The music, although original, is pretty standard mainstream Jazz, undistinguishable from myriad of other similar tunes, with the exception of the sole composition by Fortuna, which is more ambitious and stands out as the only piece which is less constrained stylistically and even has a glimpse of freely improvised moments.

After listening to the album for a while it becomes quite apparent that Fortuna is by far the best player in the quintet, with the two Americans simply being mundane and overall unimpressive. It is possible that the informal atmosphere of the recording and the proximity to New Year's festivities made everybody less careful and attentive, as the entire set sounds a bit disorganized. The recording quality is also pretty lax, which does not improve the overall result.

Obviously a learning experience for the young Fortuna, who in the meantime proved himself to be one of the most impressive young lions of Polish Jazz, this is definitely not one his finest moments.