Jazzpospolita – Przypływ (2020)

Jazzpospolita

Łukasz Borowicki - guitar, prophet
Michał Załęski - piano, fender rhodes, prophet
Stefan Nowakowski - bass
Karol Domański - drums

Przypływ

AUDIO CAVE 2020/001


By Adam Baruch

This is the seventh album by Polish ensemble Jazzpospolita, led by bassist Stefan Nowakowski, which also includes keyboardist Michał Załęski, guitarist Łukasz Borowicki and drummer Karol Domański. The album, recorded following a period of hiatus, personnel changes and inactivity, seems to find the ensemble back in full form. It presents eight original compositions, four composed by Nowakowski, three by Borowicki and one by Załęski, which is a change as on the earlier albums the music was always co-credited to the entire lineup.

The album is dominated by the beautiful sound of Borowicki's guitar, who recorded four splendid albums as a leader before joining Jazzpospolita. Stylistically the music is somewhat more Jazz oriented than the earlier albums by the ensemble, but preserves both the Rock and Ambient subtext, which dominated the early releases and which brought them the popularity they enjoyed for an entire decade. Załęski provides a rich harmonic background for the guitar front lines and the rhythm section keeps the music flowing steadily.

The music is difficult to classify, as it easily belongs to a wide range of sub-styles of Fusion and even Progressive Rock on one hand and at the same time is pretty unique. Beautiful melodic riffs repeated over energetic rhythmic patterns are hypnotic enough to engulf the listener and keep him enchanted as long as the music is playing and leaves him wishing for more.

It is great to see Jazzpospolita back on the scene and I hope to catch them live again soon, as their live shows are always a remarkable experience. For their many fans this album is a solid continuation of their earlier efforts, but it is also a great opportunity for new listeners to get exposed to their music, which never fails to satisfy.