Milobedzka/Zimpel – Tyle Tego Ty (2012)

Krystyna Milobedzka - reciting
Waclaw Zimpel - clarinets & flutes
Christian Ramond - bass
Klaus Kugel - percussion

MALTAFUNDACJA 9788393420230







By Adam Baruch

This album is a wonderful example of the Polish Jazz tradition of combining music and words in what is usually known as the Jazz & Poetry movement. That tradition continues almost uninterruptedly since the early days of the modern Polish Jazz history and reflects the intellectual approach, which sees music, poetry and other Art Forms as different facets of the phenomenon we call Culture. Over the years Polish Jazz produced many remarkable recordings of quite different manifestations of the Jazz & Poetry sub-genre and this beautiful album is an example of how it can be taken into new areas and cover new ground, keeping it alive and relevant. The album is packed in an elegant box, which also includes a book with all the lyrics.

Polish poetess Krystyna Milobedzka recites twenty one of her extraordinary poems and is accompanied by music composed by Polish Jazz clarinetist/composer Waclaw Zimpel. The music is performed by a trio comprising of Zimpel, who plays clarinets, flutes and harmonium and German musicians: bassist Christian Ramond and drummer Klaus Kugel. Together they manage to create a beautiful lyrical atmosphere, balancing between the somewhat hesitant, obviously weakened by her age, delicate voice of the author and the music, which is partly based on the Japanese gagaku tradition and partly reflects contemporary Improvised Music.

Jazz & Poetry projects are often considered problematic due to the obvious language barriers, in this case between those listeners who understand the Polish language and those who don't. But as in some extraordinary cases, this album transcends those barriers with ease and every sensible, Cultural human being is still able to experience an aesthetic epiphany when listening to it, regardless if he understands the words or not.

The trio manages to create an entire universe of music, which surrounds the lyrics, engulfing them and symbiotically joins them, creating a new entity. Zimpel is in charge of the melodies delicately presented in slow motion. Ramond is the pulse of this virtual world, which gives it its fourth dimension. Kugel ornaments the reality with a myriad of percussive details, which in a way conduct a dialogue with the recited words.

Obviously this is not something which a casual listener can comprehend or appreciate. But for those who can, this is simply a masterpiece. It is comforting to witness such extraordinary projects being realized in the stone cold reality that surrounds us. Brilliant stuff!