An On Bast / Maciej Fortuna - 1 (2012) by Adam Baruch

An On Bast / Maciej Fortuna

Maciej Fortuna – trumpet, flugelhorn, effects, synth
Anna Suda (An On Bast) – laptop, synth, sampler, effects

1 (2012)

This is the debut album by the duo of live-electronics performer An On Bast (a.k.a. Anna Suda) and the young Polish Jazz trumpeter / composer Maciej Fortuna. The nine tracks, which this album comprises of, are all co-credited to both artists. The music is created by amalgamating acoustic trumpet sounds with electronic effects, resulting in a new musical form and structure. This kind of cooperation between Jazz tradition and contemporary sound possibilities are quite popular among the young generation of Polish Jazz players and several recordings, conceptually similar to this one, have been made in the last few years in Poland. Even Pink Freud, Poland's most popular Jazz outfit, uses the same trumpet / electronics formula since many years.

Therefore this album loses some of the "surprise effect" one might expect from such an unusual setting. Nevertheless the resulting music is still very interesting and proves that Jazz should be open to new ideas at all times and that its heritage and concepts should not be sanctified just for the sake of conservatism. This album might perhaps be more appealing to the younger generation of Jazz connoisseurs, which grew up with electronic sound effects as an organic part of their musical milieu. Fortuna should definitely be congratulated for daring and keeping his mind open.

Fortuna wrote some fabulous melodies, which are clearly distinguishable even after being electronically treated and transformed. His superb trumpet playing, which is well documented on his "straight-forward" Jazz recordings, is the key element of the successful overall effect this album transmits. Innovative, challenging, often subtle and intriguing, this music takes some time to digest and get used to, but good music often does.

This album is recommended to the adventurous listeners, who keep looking for challenging music, although any open-minded music lover should find this fascinating and eventually rewarding.

By Adam Baruch

http://www.adambaruch.com/

Tracklisting: 1. Wings [6:02] 2. Pyramid Song [8:03] 3. Pathfinding [7:41] 4. Diving Dog Dance [5:59] 5. Gardens of The Vistula [5:20] 6. For Aunt Marry [8:18] 7. Mikado [5:51] 8. Mr.Ape [5:46] 9. Chinese Love Song [6:39]