Michalska & Jarzmik Quintet – Moniuszko: Pragnienia i Rozterki (2019)

Michalska & Jarzmik Quintet

Patrycja Michalska - vocals
Adam Jarzmik - piano
Jakub Łępa - saxophone
Mateusz Szewczyk - bass
Stefan Raczkowski - drums

Moniuszko: Pragnienia i Rozterki



MAF 5907745979309

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz quintet co-led by vocalist Patrycja Michalska and pianist Adam Jarzmik, which also includes saxophonist Jakub Łępa, bassist Mateusz Szewczyk and drummer Stefan Raczkowski. The album presents seven Jazz arrangements by Jarzmik of songs from the "Home Songs" collections composed by Polish Classical composer Stanisław Moniuszko, with texts by different Polish poets.

Moniuszko published twelve volumes of "Home Songs", which contained altogether 268 songs, meant to be sung by people at home, rather that be used for performances in concert halls. They include some of Moniuszko's most beautiful melodies and are full of the typical Polish melancholy and lyricism. The album was recorded at the excellent Monochrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy Gruszecki with the usual excellent sound quality.

2019 is Moniuszko's birth bicentenary, which resulted in quite a few new recordings of his music, but this album is certainly one of the most successful modern interpretations of his music, full of respect and deep understanding of his credo, especially the lyrical streak, which was superbly captured by Jarzmik's arrangements and the delicacy of Michalska's vocal delivery.

The music is splendidly executed, as expected. Jarzmik is an excellent pianist, with an established reputation and his playing is always a source of great pleasure. Lepa, who played with Jarzmik on all of his albums so far, is perfect for the job, adding ably to the ensemble sound. The rhythm section, although very young, does exactly what is expected, with precision and taste. Michalska delivers the lyrics with sensitivity and respect, avoiding unnecessary theatrics, which could have spoiled the desired result.

Overall this is an intelligent, very well played piece of music, which treats the legacy of Moniuszko's music with respect and love, adding a contemporary point of view, which might be instrumental in bringing this music to younger generations of listeners. A splendid debut effort by all means – well done!