Andrzej Przybielski / Custom Trio – Andrzej Przybielski & Custom Trio (2001) ****1/2

Andrzej Przybielski - trumpet
Janusz Smyk - saxophone
Marin Oles - bass
Bartlomiej Brat Oles - drums

POLONIA 273







By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by legendary Polish Jazz trumpeter Andrzej Przybielski with the Custom Trio, which consists of saxophonist Janusz Smyk, bassist Marcin Oles and drummer Bartlomiej Brat Oles (collectively known as Oles Brothers – Poland's most respected Free Jazz rhythm section). The music was recorded live at a coffee house in Bydgoszcz, a town where Przybielski lived and which is an important center of Polish Free Jazz / Improvised Music activity. They perform seven original compositions, all composed by Przybielski except one co-composed with Tymon Tymanski, another legendary Polish Jazz figure and the pioneer of Yass. Sadly the sound quality is truly sub-standard, almost certainly captured on a portable cassette recorder, which hampers the otherwise sublime musical experience.

The music is of course simply magnificent, presenting the essence of Free Jazz at its absolute apex, performed with flair and complete dedication. Przybielski is at top form and his solos soar straight to heaven. The young and relatively little known Smyk also plays like there is no tomorrow, standing firmly shoulder to shoulder with the Maestro. The fabulous rhythm section drives the entire vehicle forward ceaselessly with outstanding energy and drive. In retrospect there are very few other Polish Jazz recordings of this kind, which can be considered similar in quality and importance.

Just a decade after this recording was made Przybielski died, neglected, lonely and forsaken. His talent was never recognized and appreciated during his lifetime, his complex personality and behavioral abnormalities estranged him from society and of course the establishment. Like so many great Artists the recognition, albeit marginal, was absolutely too little, too late. Therefore this album is another important piece of the limited legacy Przybielski left us to remember him by and of course an essential piece of Polish Jazz history.