Krzysztof Głuch – Rhodes Piano, Wurlitzer Piano, Nord Stage 3
Agnieszka Łapka – vocals, lyrics
Krzysztof Głuch Jr. – guitars
Maciej Kitajewski – bass, double bass
Przemysław Borowiecki – drums, perccusion
& guests:
Józef Skrzek – synth Moog (1)
Antoni Gralak – trumpet (1, 3, 6-8)
Aleksander Korecki – saxophones (3, 6-8), flute (2, 3, 8)
Bronisław Duży – trombone (3, 6-8), synth pad (3), wind section arr.
Henryk Gembalski – violin (3, 4, 7, 8)
Michał Kielak – harmonica (2)
Album's title: Pass The Passion
Label: For Tune (2025)
Review author: Viačeslavas Gliožeris
Polish Jazz Editor's Choice
Over a decade ago, a young, stylish, and ambitious Polish label, For Tune, started offering to the world a series of excellent creative jazz albums, containing the original recordings of domestic and international artists, including Anthony Braxton, William Parker, Mary Halvorson, Oles Brothers, Wojtek Mazolewski, and Waclaw Zimpel, among many others. The first few years of the label were prolific, and it was a time when we jazz listeners were waiting for every new release, expecting a smaller or bigger surprise. Then, For Tune (possibly under the pressure of ever-changing market tastes) switched towards a wider umbrella of genres, including world music, rock, classical, etc. Jazz lost exclusivity as a label's program; still, “Seria Magentowa” offers something for genre fans regularly.
One of the freshest For Tune offers, the Silesian band “Oscillate” release “Pass The Passion”, came unexpectedly. Not really a jazz album, it's placed under the “Seria Magenta” tag. It refreshed in my memory times when I waited for each new For Tune jazz album...
The band's name is new to me, even if the collective itself has existed for more than a decade. Nothing strange – they are based in Silesia, a region in Poland I don't visit too often, and “Pass The Passion” is only their third album.
The first name on the album's cover, which I noticed, was legendary musician Józef Skrzek, vocalist and keyboardist of SBB, the prog-rock band that fans in Europe (and partially in the US) know and love till now. Here, on a new album, Józef Skrzek plays the Moog on one song; his participation is more symbolic, though.
The key figure of the new album is Agnieszka Łapka, the singer. Her low, bluesy voice of specific timbre is always at the front, with the band offering very competent and tasteful support. Stylistically, the album's music could be tagged as “blues-rock”, but it would be a simplification of sorts. “Jazzy rhythm-and-blues” sounds more correct for my taste. Similarly sounding Peter Green's (first Fleetwood Mac guitarist) excellent early solo albums come to mind. Just Green's music is all based on his guitar work, Oscillate's leader Krzysztof Głuch is a keyboardist, so the band's music is naturally more keys-dominated. Still, the guitar sound is presented all the time, Krzysztof Głuch Jr (the leader's son) is responsible for many tasteful solos (“Dance of Liberation“ or “Just Like You” are good examples).
The band's line-up, led by veteran keyboardist Krzysztof Głuch, is improved with guests, who add a lot of accents to separate songs. Besides the Józef Skrzek, already mentioned above, there is a three-piece brass section (Antoni Gralak on trumpet, Aleksander Korecki on saxophones, and Bronisław Duży on trombone - all Polish scene veterans), making the sound “bigger” on some songs. The closer (and album's longest song, lasting more than ten minutes), “Summer Without Butterflies“, is a culmination of brass arrangements, recalling classic brass-rock band “Chicago's” orchestrated blues-rock songs, combining them with spacey synth soundscapes.
Violinist Henryk Gembalski adds a lot of emotional colors to three songs (partially on excellent ”The Line“). Michał Kielak plays harmonica on the bluesy ballad “Cheater”.
I can easily understand why Oscillate's new album is placed by For Tune under the “jazz” category. The collective plays much more complex and nuanced music than an ordinary blues-rock band. More importantly, there are a lot of improvisations, and all musicians are top-class, so “the power quintet with brass section and guests” is a more precise classification, I believe.
In all cases, “Pass The Passion” is a beautiful piece of music. Something old, and something new; something comes from my young years, and it's contemporary music at the same time too. Not nostalgia but the source of emotional pleasure. Thank band, for that!
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