Jaromír Honzák Quartet - A Question To All Your Answers (2007)

Jaromír Honzák Quartet

Michał Tokaj - piano
David Dorůžka - guitar
Jaromír Honzák - double bass
Łukasz Żyta - drums

A Question To All Your Answers

ANIMAL MUSIC 005



By Adam Baruch

This is the third album as a leader by Czech Jazz bassist / composer Jaromír Honzák and his first release on the excellent Czech label Animal Music. The album was recorded by a Czech/Polish quartet which also included Czech guitarist David Dorůžka and Polish pianist Michał Tokaj and drummer Łukasz Żyta, both of which played with him on this album's predecessor "Present Past". Clarinetist Tomáš Čistecký, flautist Lucie Čistecká and pianist Vojtěch Procházka appear as guests. The album presents eight original compositions, all by Honzák. Seven on the tracks were recorded at the excellent Studio Tokarnia and engineered by Jan Smoczyński, with the usual superb sound quality. The last track was recorded at the Czech Radio and features the a.m. guests.

Honzák, whom I have been watching closely since many years, proudly continues the Czech Jazz Bass tradition, established by internationally known bassists like George Mraz (really Jiri Mraz) and Miroslav Vitous, but also less known outside of their homeland like Luděk Hulan, František Uhlíř, Karel Vejvoda, Petr Korinek and others. His beautifully round notes and chronometric pulsations are always a guarantee of a perfect rhythm section anchor in the numerous recording he took part in.

But on this album Honzák great forte are his wonderful compositions, which are beautifully woven, versatile and most importantly open enough to be stretched and explored by the quartet members, often towards unexpected directions. As a result this album is a superb ride into the unforeseen, with each track taking the listener on a new adventure. Not losing the sense of melody and coherence, the music has so much freedom and breathing space that the flexibility is endless.

Of course the leader gets fantastic support from the quartet members; Dorůžka, here fourteen years younger than today, is already a bright star on the European scale, while Tokaj and Żyta, despite their relatively young age at the time were already seasoned veterans, capable of playing virtually anything. Together the quartet sounds like an organic unit and in retrospect I'd love to hear this experience repeated again. Overall this is a brilliant album from start to finish, a perfect reflection of 21^st Century European Jazz at its best. Fourteen years later it still sounds perfectly fresh and sparkling with ingenuity, like a gem it is. Absolutely not to be missed!