Krzysztof Komeda - piano
Michal Urbaniak - saxophone
Tomasz Stanko - trumpet
Maciej Suzin - bass
Leszek Dudziak - drums
Czeslaw Bartkowski - drums
POLSKIE RADIO 1632
By Adam Baruch
This is the twelfth installment in the new series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland's most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well.
The material collected here presents
recordings made in 1963 during the sixth Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw. The majority of
the material, i.e. thirteen of the seventeen tracks, is performed by Dutch vocalist
Rita Reys (who died a few months ago in July 2013) accompanied by a trio led by
her husband pianist Pim Jacobs with guitarist Wim Overgaauw and Pim's brother bassist
Ruud Jacobs. In addition one instrumental track by the trio is also included. The
remaining three tracks are performed by the top Polish Jazz musicians at the
time: two by vibraphonist / composer Jerzy Milian accompanied by the Krzysztof
Komeda trio with bassist Maciej Suzin and drummer Leszek Dudziak; the last track
is by the Komeda quintet, with saxophonist Michal Urbaniak, trumpeter Tomasz Stanko,
bassist Maciej Suzin and drummer Czeslaw Bartkowski. All the tracks are Jazz
standards except for the last one, which is a Komeda composition.
Reys performs a set of classic
vocal material, comprising of popular songs known to all Jazz listeners. Her
singing is beautifully expressive, but not virtuosic and copying mannerisms from
American vocal Jazz stars. She also has a slight foreign accent, but definitely
passable. The accompaniment is elegant and supportive, with Pim's piano playing
being truly exceptional. The guitar plays sadly only a few solo spots, and when
not soloing it is mostly hidden in the recording balance; as a result is seems
Reys is accompanied mostly by a piano / bass duo only. Overall this is a fine
presentation of mainstream Jazz vocals, nothing spectacular but a nice document
of the moment in time.
The Milian tracks are also
rather pale, well performed and all, but again nothing special. Komeda plays
some great piano phrases, which are always delightful and the rhythm section is
doing its job as expected. The Komeda quintet is obviously the most interesting
track herein with a typical beautiful melody line only he could weave and the
quintet playing along splendidly. One may wonder why these three tracks were
selected as the "filler" for this album, as both ensembles (Milian's
and Komeda's) played full sets, which would be very interesting in their entirety.
The beautifully restored sound
quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true
joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the
presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the
circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the
development of Jazz in Poland.
Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every
Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.
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