Wojtek Fedkowicz Noise Trio - Distant Heroes (2020)

Wojtek Fedkowicz Noise Trio

Dominik Wania - piano, electronics
Jacek Fedkowicz - bass guitar, electronics
Wojtek Fedkowicz - drums, electronics

Distant Heroes

OKO-ART 2020

By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by Polish Jazz drummer/composer Wojciech Fedkowicz and his Noise Trio, which includes pianist Dominik Wania and bassist Jacek Fedkowicz. All three players use electronic effects on their respective instruments. The album presents ten original compositions, all by Wojciech Fedkowicz with three being co-credited to Jacek Fedkowicz and one to Wania.

The music is mostly within the mainstream Jazz idiom, with highly melodic themes, mostly very low key and overtly melancholic, with a few more open excursions, which are definitely the most exciting moments on the album. Although the album might at first appear as a regular Jazz piano trio release, it has a very specific sound and harmonic approach, mostly due to the application of the electronic sound effects, which distort the natural sound of the bass and the drums up to a point where the listener needs to readjust his “hearing concept” to be able to listen to this music. These effects are less dominant as far as the piano is concerned, which results in an almost "normal" piano sound. This unique overall approach is definitely controversial, and might scare some of the listeners away from the music, at least at first hearing.

It seems that Wania’s genius is able to conquer any obstacle and his playing on this album is as impressive as on any of his other recordings, which of course is always a cause of musical joy. His improvisations are full of brilliant colors and his musical flow is an artistic dream come true. He is, naturally of course, at the very epicenter of the music here, and the fascinating structures of his soli are alone a good enough reason to listen to this music carefully.

I personally find the playing around with the sounds more disturbing than productive, but that is of course a question of taste. Wania plays magnificently enough to make me want to listen to this music, and the rest is up to the individual listener. I can be hardly considered as a conservative music connoisseur, but not all types of experimentation or attempts to innovate are automatically acceptable to me, although I do appreciate the audacity to be different. It would be a great fun to hear this album without any electronic effects, just for the sake of comparison. Overall this is a very interesting musical twist and an exercise in "hearing", with an added value of some superb piano playing by the top Polish Jazz pianist of the day. Highly recommended for the brave hearted.