Miłość - Asthmatic (1995)

 

In one of my previous posts I wrote about a band called Sing Sing Penelope which creates one of the finest new polish avant garde jazz music. In that post I mentioned another band called Miłość (Love) which many years ago, in mid 90ties, was responsible for creating yass movement in Poland, new torrent in polish jazz, rejunavating, vigorous, free. Since then I felt like it would be appriopriate to recall one of their albums and I chose one titled Asthmatic from many others, equally interesting recordings of this group.

I let myself in writing about this record to free associate because music on this album is so off-beat as to call for such an unorthodox style. Let us then first note the cover of this cd and its title. A picture on the cover is very similar to one on famous King Crimson album In the Court of The King Crimson, legendary rock band, while its title recalls no less famous record of icon of polish jazz Krzysztof Komeda titled Astigmatic. All this is by no means accidental. As one of the founder of the group, Tymon Tymański said:

"Where Komeda in his oversensitivness has seen or not seen something, we cough, grunt, belch but in our own way. It's kinda our own, funny style, we love Komeda as in highest degree polish, original and self-assured artist but if we want to blow this chicken shack away we have to aim at the biggest cock. The whole music was improvised in recording studio. We just started on some keyword spoken like we play song a la Lutosławski (famous polish classical music composer) or a la dancing music or a la blues in F or whatever. The only limitation was that we played in quintet and that we wanted to stick to jazz. But all those who knew jazz will immadietly realize that our music is like reciting the poem of Majakowski, when unprepared."

So historically this album is important because it highlited new young generation of jazzmen coming to the market. But musically what is its style? Free jazz obviously which took its inspiration from Ornette Coleman, Archi Shepp or Albert Ayler. It opened ears of polish audiance to this new kind of jazz that was treating jazz not as purpose or goal but only as point of departure. Because of them polish jazz scene is now so much open to experiment, improvisation and creativity. Please listen to one jewel from this masterpiece: