Robert Majewski – Tribute To Henryk Majewski (2016)

Robert Majewski

Robert Majewski - trumpet, flugelhorn
Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski - tenor saxophone
Henryk Miśkiewicz - alto saxophone
Andrzej Jagodziński - piano, yamaha piano
Wojciech Majewski - yamaha piano

Adam Cegielski - double bass
Czesław Bartkowski - drums

Tribute To Henryk Majewski

SRMT 2016

By Adam Baruch

This album is exactly what it is supposed to be: a loving tribute to one of the Godfathers of Polish Jazz, trumpeter/composer Henryk Majewski, recorded by his colleagues and sons to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his death.

All seven musicians participating in this recording are top Polish Jazz musicians and the ensemble could have been easily called Polish Jazz All Stars. They are: trumpeter Robert Majewski (Henryk's son), saxophonists Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski and Henryk Miśkiewicz, pianists Andrzej Jagodziński and Wojciech Majewski (Henryk's son), bassist Adam Cegielski and drummer Czesław Bartkowski. The album was recorded partly live in a club and partly at the legendary Tokarnia Studio, with a stunning sound quality. The ensemble performs ten tunes, six of which are original compositions (four by Henryk Majewski and two by Robert Majewski) and the remaining four are standards.

The music is, as expected, well within the Jazz mainstream, mostly Bebop oriented, with no surprises but excellently performed from start to finish. Many fabulous solos, most of which feature Robert Majewski, ornament the album and the overall atmosphere of great time was had by all seems to be the essence. For listeners unaware of Polish Jazz history this album symbolizes the process of growing up by the Polish Jazz scene, proving that European Jazz musicians can play (and swing!) as well as their counterparts across the pond, and the inferiority complex of past generations is completely baseless today.

So both as a great mainstream Jazz album and a document of Polish Jazz history, this beautifully packaged and lovingly executed package is absolutely worth having! As someone who knew Henryk Majewski I can only salute with a tear in the corner of my eye, in memoriam!