Mateusz Pliniewicz Quartet – Warsztat Dźwięku (2016)

Mateusz Pliniewicz Quartet

Mateusz Pliniewicz - violin, electronics
Nikola Kołodziejczyk - piano, electronics
Marcin Jadach - bass
Szymon Madej - drums

Warsztat Dźwięku



POLSKIE RADIO 2055

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz violinist Mateusz Pliniewicz, recorded in a quartet setting with keyboardist Nikola Kolodziejczyk, bassist Marcin Jadach and drummer Szymon Madej. The album was recorded live in the Polish Radio Lutosławski Studio (in Warsaw) and presents eleven original compositions, seven of which were composed by Pliniewicz, two were co-composed by all four quartet members, and one each was composed by Jadach and Kołodziejczyk.

The music is not focused stylistically and moves between melodic mainstream pieces and more adventurous/atmospheric vistas, but is overall quite original and interesting. The strongest compositions are soaked in the typical Polish melancholy, which is a trademark of Polish Jazz since many years. The music develops very slowly and sometimes sounds a bit hesitant, but eventually the beauty of the melodies wins the listener over, even if he has to wait for it for a long while.

Pliniewicz plays beautifully and movingly, somewhat "old fashioned" like early Jean-Luc Ponty, but with great charm and feeling. Kołodziejczyk supports the violin amicably and plays several well built solos. His acoustic piano playing is perfectly compatible with the overall atmosphere of the music, but his synthesizer parts sound somewhat out of place. The rhythm section does a good job pushing the music forward and setting the rhythmic layer behind the acoustic sound of the violin and piano, without dominating it. Jadach plays several interesting bass parts and is certainly worth following. Madej, who plays the drums also for another great young Polish Jazz violinist Bartosz Dworak, is perfectly at home in this setting.

Overall this is a very impressive debut, which brings to light another hero of the Polish Jazz violin, which in turn seems to enjoy a great renaissance lately. I am looking forward to the first "proper" studio album, which hopefully will fulfill all the hopes this album manages to raise. Well done!

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