Łukasz Borowicki Trio – People, Cats & Obstacles (2014)

Łukasz Borowicki Trio

Łukasz Borowicki - guitar
Mariusz Praśniewski - double bass
Kasper Tom Christiansen - drums

People, Cats & Obstacles

FOR TUNE 0037



By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz guitarist/composer Łukasz Borowicki, recorded in a trio format with Polish bassist Mariusz Praśniewski and Danish drummer and frequent collaborator with Polish musicians Kasper Tom Christiansen. Both Borowicki and Prasniewski studied at the Academy of Music in Odense (Denmark), as did many of Poland's young Jazz musicians in recent years. The album presents nine original compositions recorded by the trio and a bonus track which is a solo guitar piece, all composed by Borowicki.

The music is a surprising amalgam of many different elements, which create a unique musical perception, fascinating and absorbing right from the onset. Borowicki has a distinctive guitar sound, which is raw and distorted, somewhat similar to early John McLaughlin's efforts. The melodies, or rather melodic fragments, are quirky and unstable, changing rapidly and continuously, and yet producing an overall coherent compositional whole. The same applies to the frequent tempo changes and improvisational approaches, which move within one piece between tightly knit interplay and completely free form, spacey improvisation. The overall effect of this unusual music is definitely fascinating and completely fresh. Considering the fact that guitar is the most popular instrument on this planet, it takes a truly ingenious musician to create something new with it, such as Borowicki manages to do in this case.

The leader gets a most sympathetic support from his cohorts; Praśniewski is a wonderfully melodic player, who against all odds manages to keep the surreal paste of change this music demands, supporting the guitar every inch of the way. Christiansen, who is already a well seasoned musician and a superb composer on his own, is an ideal partner completing the trio. He plays sparingly and unobtrusively, but is right where he is needed at all times.

In conclusion, this is a first class debut effort, which shows an enormous potential and talent that Borowicki represents which hopefully will mature and develop further in time. As a result of this album, he immediately becomes a worthy candidate to become one of the top Jazz guitar players in his country, a position which at the moment is rather sparingly populated.