Yeshe - Yeshe Live Piastowska 1 (2012) ***

Yeshe (band)

Antoni Gralak - trąbka
Piotr Pawlak - gitara
Darek Makaruk - sampling
Paweł Osicki - perkusja

Yeshe Live Piastowska 1 (2012)

By Maciej Nowotny

The moving force behind this project is trumpeter Antoni Gralak. He is well known for his openness to different musical genres which manifested itself in being involved in yass (Free Cooperation), mainstream jazz (Young Power) or even rock projects (Tie Break). Eventually he matured enough to start his own enterprises of which GRAAL and YESHE seem most significant. In YESHE he is supported by his long time companion veteran guitarist Piotr Pawlak but also by Darek Makaruk responsible for samples and by young drummer Paweł Osicki.

Musically speaking the music on this CD may be described best as kind of new jazz with strong ethnic and improvisational elements. This ethnic component is not related to Polish folk but to Middle East. In concept it is of course nothing new and if someone already knows such recordings like for example Nils Petter Molvaer "Khmer" or "Hamada" and, going even further back, some discs by late Miles Davis, he will find in YESHE exactly the same language even to the point of imitation.

Lack of originality is definitely the weakest side of this album but it is at least to certain degree redeemed by enthusiasm and energy as conveyed by this LIVE recordings. Gralak and his partners definitely feel very comfortable when playing in front of the audience and this feeling transfers itself to listener while rehearsing the music. I must confess that because of that I really enjoyed listening to this CD even if from time to time some malignant voice in my ear repeated that it all already was played by others many times before...

Tracklist:
Już tu nie wrócę 05:21
Kandro Taniec 04:47
Asioka 08:00
Beyond Time 11:38
Swayambhu 06:56
Czarny Płaszcz 04:20
Wake Up India 07:29