Emil Miszk And The Sonic Syndicate - Don't Hesitate! (2018)

Emil Miszk And The Sonic Syndicate

Emil Miszk - trumpet
Piotr Chęcki - tenor saxophone
Kuba Więcek - alto saxophone
Paweł Niewiadomski - trombone
Szymon Burnos - piano
Michał Zienkowski - guitar
Konrad Żołnierek - bass
Sławomir Koryzno - drums


Don't Hesitate!

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album as a leader by young and upcoming Polish Jazz trumpeter/composer Emil Miszk, who has made a significant mark on the local scene lately. On this album he leads an impressive octet, called Sonic Syndicate, which also includes saxophonists Piotr Chęcki and Kuba Więcek, trombonist Paweł Niewiadomski, guitarist Michał Zienkowski, pianist Szymon Burnos, bassist Konrad Żołnierek and drummer Sławomir Koryzno. The album presents seven original compositions, all by the leader.

The stunning music consists of some of the most original Jazz compositions I have heard in many years. Miszk uses brilliantly the power of the octet, which has almost the strength and possibilities of a Big Band/Orchestral scale, to express his complex, suite like compositions, which are all multilayered, with twisted melody lines and constant tempi changes, but which in spite of their devilishly clever intricacy sound completely coherent and complete. The music moves between melodic statements of the composed themes and almost Free Form mini-improvised passages, presenting a fresh and invigorating approach to Jazz composition, which is simply phenomenal. At times the music ventures into the Brass Rock approach, fondly remembered from the work of ensembles like Chicago and Chase (and many more), but of course is completely brought up to date and modernized.

All the members of the octet are of course radiant instrumentalists, who are able to execute the convoluted and challenging twists and turns of the music spotlessly. The music calls mostly for an ensemble/orchestral sound and presentation, which means that individual soloing, is not the focus of this music, but rather creating sound vistas that require discipline and collaboration by all the participants; which of course does not exclude some blood-curdling solo work by the leader and others and surprising Rocky guitar statements by Zienkowski.

This music is also the epitome of European Jazz, being completely open to all musical styles and influences, managing to amalgamate them in a perfect way. There is a lot of tradition here, some conscious and some subconscious, but absolutely no stagnation or repetition. This is exactly what European Jazz aesthetics is all about – experiment and elegance, good taste and talent. This kind of music can probably only be made in Poland.

Any attempt to describe this beautiful piece of music is of course completely futile and does not replace the experience of listening to it, which of course I absolutely recommend. It is very rare that a debut album of this magnitude appears and usually it happens only once or twice in a given year, and for 2018 this is definitely it. Absolutely not to be missed!