Dominik Kisiel Exploration Quartet – Exploration (2018)

Dominik Kisiel Exploration Quartet

Dominik Kisiel - piano
Michał Jan Ciesielski - tenor & soprano saxophones
Piotr Szajrych - double bass
Antoni Wojnar - drums

Exploration



ALPAKA 003

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by the young Polish Jazz pianist/composer Dominik Kisiel and his quartet called Exploration Quartet, which also includes saxophonist Michał Jan Ciesielski, bassist Piotr Szajrych and drummer Antoni Wojnar. The album presents eight original compositions, all by Kisiel.

The music is a melody based modern Jazz, with typical Polish lyrical inclinations, and melancholic tendencies, which the young Polish Jazz generation seems to have adopted as their favorite modus operandi. The beautiful themes are all wonderfully crafted and serve as ideal vehicles for the musicians to express their improvisational abilities. Some more energetic and more open compositions are also included, to balance the low-key material, and those are equally impressive.

Both Kisiel and Ciesielski are able to articulate the melodic motifs and the improvised parts formidably, amicably supported by the rhythm section every step of the way. Together the quartet is able to create a coherent and well balanced ensemble sound, which does not reflect any lack of experience in spite of the of the musicians' young age.

Overall this is a very impressive debut, which emphasizes both Kisiel's compositional skills and his work as an instrumentalist, superbly supported by his quartet members. Since the album's release was postponed for technical reasons (it was recorded in 2016) and Kisiel and the quartet also released this year (2018) a live album, with different but no less excellent material, this year is certainly a remarkable jumpstart of his future career, which is definitely worth following. Well done indeed!