JazzBlaster – Night Out (2019)

JazzBlaster

Tadeusz Kulas - trumpet, flugelhorn, electronics, vocals
Piotr Rachoń - piano, hammond organ, synth
Dominik Bieńczycki - violin, electronics
Roland Grzegorz Abreu Krzysztofiak - double bass
Marcin Rak - drums


Night Out

V RECORDS 017

By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by Polish ensemble JazzBlaster, which comprises of trumpeter/vocalist Tadeusz Kulas, keyboardist Piotr Rachoń, violinist Dominik Bieńczycki, bassist Roland Grzegorz Abreu Krzysztofiak and drummer Marcin Rak. Bassist Wojciech Bergander plays on one track and additional synthesizers are played by Paweł Konikiewicz, who was also involved in the recording process. The album presents eight original tracks all composed by Rachoń (except one co-composed with Kulas) and all texts (in English) are by Kulas.

The music moves away from Jazz even more significantly than on the debut album and the overall sound and musical direction of the ensemble are entirely Pop/Rock oriented with the Jazz accents present only within the instrumental passages, which are sadly less prominent on this album. Kulas almost completely resigned from his role as a trumpeter and is manly featured as vocalist. As it usually happens with Polish vocalists singing in English, his accent and pronunciation are really unacceptable, but perhaps on the local Polish scene this is less noticeable. I wander if JazzBlaster and EABS are about to create the Wrocław sound, as there are strong similarities between these two young bands' sound?

Having said all that, the album does have its moments and the overall Punkish attitude probably does it for the younger generation of the Polish listeners. The heavy bass sound and presence of the bass up front in the mix creates a trance like somewhat Funky mood, which is quite effective. The piano parts are all very well played and the addition of the violin also enriches the sonic ambience. The trumpet, when finally played, is also pretty helpful.

To sum it up, take away the vocals (or perhaps make them wordless vocalese) and what is left becomes quite a tasty piece of youthful Funky/Punk Jazz, which is danceable and overall quite entertaining. Sorry guys that I can't be more enthusiastic, but as usual to each his own. The music shows tons of potential for sure, and just a little push in the right direction and everything will click!