Zbigniew Namysłowski - saxophone Adam Wendt - saxophone Brandon Furman - guitar Andrzej Jagodziński - accordion Krzysztof Herdzin - piano Mariusz Bogdanowicz - bass Piotr Biskupski - drums
O jakości muzyki można wiele powiedzieć, podobnie jak o człowieku, obserwując, jak się starzeje. Ta muzyka została nagrana w 2001 roku, ale zestarzała się wspaniale i brzmi, jakby powstała wczoraj. Tak jak w przypadku ludzi, starzejemy się wolniej i zdrowiej, gdy otaczają nas osoby, które nas cenią i kochają. Gdy w rodzinie, w kontaktach z przyjaciółmi i w pracy mamy poczucie harmonii, czas jakby zwalniał, a jego upływ mniej nam szkodził. Ta międzyludzka harmonia często przekłada się na artystyczną, i tak jest w przypadku tej muzyki. Rzut oka na skład wystarcza, by stwierdzić, że do jej nagrania zebrało się wyśmienite towarzystwo, które, jak śmiem przypuszczać, darzy się wzajemnym szacunkiem, a nawet przyjaźnią. I to wszystko w tej muzyce słychać.
Tak się złożyło, że miałem okazję to sprawdzić także osobiście, gdy gościem moim i mojego kolegi Pawła Ziemby w audycji "Muzyka, która leczy" w RadioJAZZ.FM był Mateusz Bogdanowicz. Muzyk ten, od lat związany z trio Włodzimierza Nahornego, ma tę wspaniałą cechę, którą posiadł również Tomasz Stańko, a przede wszystkim Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski: traktowali jazz nie tylko jako muzykę, ale szerzej, jako sztukę życia. Stąd rozmowa z nim jest fascynującym doświadczeniem, nie tylko w kategoriach ściśle muzycznych, ale także obyczajowych, przypominając, że rozkwit jazzu w Polsce to również fenomen socjologiczny, towarzyski, a nawet polityczny. Stąd naturalne chyba było, że Bogdanowicz przez wiele lat udzielał się jako nauczyciel akademicki, przekazując młodym pokoleniom część swojej wiedzy i pasji, a także szerszemu gronu słuchaczy przez wiele lat jako autor audycji "Jazz Travels" w Jazz Radio oraz publicysta w Jazz Forum. Życzyłbym sobie, aby kontynuował tę działalność lub do niej wrócił, bo niewielu muzyków potrafi czarować jak on zarówno dźwiękami, jak i słowem, zwłaszcza żywym.
Ale wróćmy do samej muzyki, która przede wszystkim brzmi świetnie, ponieważ została bardzo dobrze zrealizowana. Dla koneserów wielką przyjemnością będzie śledzenie przez cały album linii basu. Rzadko zdarza się, aby każda nuta zagrana na tym instrumencie była doskonale słyszana przez całe nagranie, a jednocześnie kontrabas nie był "podbity" i pozostawał idealnie wkomponowany w groove całego zespołu. Pisać o tym nagraniu można by bardzo długo, ale ja zwrócę uwagę – na zaostrzenie apetytu – szczególnie na obecność Zbigniewa Namysłowskiego, który potraktował to nagranie bardzo poważnie i brzmi na nim jak za najlepszych lat. Kolejny smaczek to Andrzej Jagodziński grający na... akordeonie. Zarówno miłośnicy tego instrumentu, jak i jego przeciwnicy w jazzie, znajdą tutaj prawdziwy rarytas. Ale tak naprawdę wyróżniają się na tym nagraniu... wszyscy muzycy! Czy to grający na fortepianie młody Krzysztof Herdzin, na saksofonie tenorowym Adam Wendt, na perkusji Piotr Biskupski czy na gitarze skądinąd nieznany Brandon Furman. Wszyscy świetnie wpasowali się w koncepcję muzyki zaproponowaną przez Bogdanowicza, a ich udział zapada w pamięć. A skoro mowa o koncepcji tej muzyki to jest to jazz tzw. głównego nurt, w którym element melodyczny i gra zespołowa pozostają w harmonii, sprawiając, że muzyki można słuchać wielokrotnie i ciągle odkrywać coś nowego. Tylko tyle i - jak widać z perspektywy lat - aż tyle.
Co dziwne, CD jest ciągle dostępne do kupienia na stronie SJ Records. Ale wypadałoby prosić Mariusza Bogdanowicza, aby udostępnił tę muzykę również słuchaczom młodego pokolenia na najpopularniejszych serwisach streamingowych. Warto!
Włodzimierz Nahorny – fortepian Mariusz Bogdanowicz – kontrabas Piotr Biskupski – perkusja Piotr Schmidt – trąbka
„Freedom Book/Echoes of Heyday (Plaża Rozstań)” (2022)
Wydawca: SJRecords
Tekst: Paweł Ziemba
Włodzimierz Nahorny to muzyk pamietający czasy sekstetu Trzaskowskiego. Doskonale porusza się w obszarach muzyki freejazzowej, melodyjnych piosenek jak i nostalgicznych radiowych przebojów („Jej Portret „). Charyzmatyczny, pełen wigoru artysta, zaskakuje nas po raz kolejny płytą, która w mojej ocenie, jest pewnym przełomem w jego dotychczasowej twórczości.
Po serii koncertów z 2021 roku (zagranych wspólnie z: Schmidt, Nahorny, Bogdanowicz i Biskupski) Nahorny decyduje się na zaproszenie Schmidta do studia i zarejestrowanie w składzie poszerzonym do kwartetu sesji, której efektem jest płyta „Freedom Book/Echoes of Heyday”.
Album został wydany na kompakcie oraz w wersji winylowej - uboższej o trzy kompozycje i zmienionej kolejności utworów. Oba wydawnictwa zostały opublikowane przez SJ Records. Tym samym działające ponad 30 lat trio Nahornego z kontrabasistą Mariuszem Bogdanowiczem i perkusistą Piotrem Biskupskim urosło do formatu kwartetu. Mam nadzieję, że nie będzie to jedyna płyta nagrana w tym składzie.
Nie jest to takie oczywiste, aby starzy MISTRZOWIE nadal pozostawali aktywnymi muzykami, komponowali, jeździli w trasy koncertowe, zapraszali do współpracy muzyków o kilka dekad młodszych od siebie. Co prawda Włodzimierz Nahorny nie jest jedynym MISTRZEM, wyłamującym się wielu regułom. Mamy szczęście nadal móc słuchać i oglądać występy kwartetu Jana Ptaszyna Wróblewskiego, który w ubiegłym roku ukończył 87 lat.
Nie jest moja intencją porównywanie obu Panów ani pisania laurki dla Pana Włodzimierza. Natomiast myślę, że fakt posiadania tak ogromnego bagażu doświadczeń życiowych i artystycznych oraz wiek artysty uprawniają mnie do spojrzenia na tę płytę z innej perspektywy.
Kwartet Nahornego stworzył jedną z najbardziej melodyjnych płyt jakie ukazały się na naszym rynku. To przykład nagrań, które należy cenić za melodyjne szczegóły i strukturę; Za śmiałe otwarcie na nowe brzmienia i interpretacje; Połączenie młodości, żywiołowości i wyobraźni muzycznej Schmidta z lirycznym, refleksyjnym, grającym gdzieś nadal głęboko w duszy freejazzowym feelingiem Nahornego - muzyka pełnego energii i nowatorskich koncepcji.
„Freedom Book /Echoes of Heyday” to podróż przez świat melodii, struktur, fraz do której zaprasza nas Nahorny wraz z kolegami z zespołu. Jak w słowach znanego standardu jazzowego Stardust: „Miłość jest teraz gwiezdnym pyłem, muzyką lat, które minęły…” Nahorny rozsypuje na słuchaczy swój „pył” emocji, umiejscowionych na obu końcach, gdzieś między radością a smutkiem, które nigdy nie puszczają, nawet w ciszy.
To co czyni tę płytę inną od poprzednich nagrań tria to gra Piotra Schmidta, który (może z racji różnicy pokoleniowej, doświadczeń, potrzeby ducha) wyraźnie odmiennie interpretuje kompozycje Nahornego. Fakt ten tworzy interesujący kontrast między muzykami, a chropowate, czasami ostre brzmienie trąbki, ku mojemu zadowoleniu, dodaje albumowi drapieżności i pikanterii.
„Freedom Book / Echoes of Heyday” jest stylistycznie spójna. Muzyka zawarta na krążku oferuje dużo powietrza i pomimo czasem ostrej gry Schmidta na trąbce, jest kojąco spokojna, pełna refleksji i nostalgii. Nahorny nie rozczarowuje ani na moment. Jego kompozycje to istna poezja i słowiański romantyzm, pełne spontanicznych, zaskakujących zwrotu akcji.
Muzyka urzeka nastrojem, melodyjnymi, leniwie przeplatającymi się improwizacjami trąbki i fortepianu. Nahorny to pianista o niespotykanej wrażliwości. Przemawia do nas osobistym, sobie tylko właściwym głosem. Ciekawe frazowania, rozbudowane harmonie nie pozbawione jednak melodyjności robią wrażenie i utrzymują słuchacza w ogromnej bliskości muzycznego przekazu. Muzyka jest komunikatywna, co nie znaczy łatwa. Natomiast sposób w jaki jest nam słuchaczom podana sprawia, że trudno się od niej oderwać.
Album otwiera „Childhood Memories”. Kompozycje tę znamy z poprzedniej płyty Nahornego „Ballad Book”. Piękna kompozycja zagrana bardzo spokojnie. Przebija z niej nostalgia i pewien żal za minionymi czasami. Delikatnie grane dźwięki fortepianu uzupełnione kontemplacyjną grą trąbki Schmidta wprowadzają nas w klimat całego albumu.
Bardzo ciekawą kompozycją jest „No Bossa”, która ma w sobie coś magicznego. Utwór utrzymany w latynoamerykańskim klimacie, mnie osobiście kojarzy się z melancholijną muzyką Hawany. Myślę, że każdy z Państwa w tych brzmieniach odnajdzie swoje obrazy pasujące do nastroju i klimatu tego nagrania.
Zwracam uwagę na sposób frazowania Nahornego - piękny, spokojny, liryczny.
„Riders of Destiny” – to energiczna kompozycja, a to za sprawą samego Nahornego, który gra rytmicznie, tworząc przestrzeń do pełnego wybrzmienia trąbki Schmidta.
Można oczywiście zarzucić Nahornemu, że tym albumem nie wnosi zbyt wiele jako kompozytor, bo przecież osiem z jedenastu utworów to kompozycje znane niejednokrotnie z wcześniejszych jego nagrań. Jednak dodanie trąbki Piotra Schmidta wniosło wiele nowego do brzmienia i interpretacji tych utworów.
Dodatkowo, na krążku pojawiają się trzy kompozycje o otwartej formule grania i tym samym tytule „No Dance Game” (numery od 1 do 3). Są one dowodem nadal żywej, niczym nie ograniczonej freejazzowej natury Nahornego. Utwory przypominają ecm-owski styl lat 70-tych i demonstrują umiejętności i otwartość wszystkich członków kwartetu na prowadzenie zbiorowej improwizacji.
Pozycją całkowicie premierową na płycie jest kompozycja „Prime Time”, w której Piotr Schmidt w swojej nastrojowej grze na trąbce prowadzi dialog z fortepianem Nahornego. Znakomita gra sekcji rytmicznej spina całość, tworząc tło dla poszczególnych solistów. W utworze tym możemy posłuchać pięknego sola w wykonaniu Mariusza Bogdanowicza na kontrabasie.
Wielkość tej płyty to wielkość Nahornego – kompozytora, pianisty, saksofonisty, muzyka kompletnego; Dojrzałego i świadomego swoich możliwości; Przez wielu krytyków nazywanego Chopinem jazzu. „Freedom Book/Echoes of Heyday” pomimo faktu, że zawiera wcześniej znane kompozycje, jest albumem ciekawym, śmiałym, pełnym ciekawych, zadziornych momentów a jednocześnie charakterystycznej dla pianisty delikatności. To również doskonały przykład projektu łączącego muzyczne pokolenia. Piotr Schmidt z wyczuciem i szacunkiem podszedł do kompozycji Nahornego, wnosząc świeżość, kreatywność oraz nieoczywistość muzyki. Brakuje na naszym rynku takich projektów, a efekty mogą być znakomite. Wielkie brawa i gratulacje dla muzyków!
This is a wonderful piano trio
album by veteran Polish Jazz pianist/composer Włodzimierz Nahorny with
bassist Mariusz Bogdanowicz and drummer Piotr Biskupski. The album presents
eleven original compositions, all by Nahorny.
Nahorny is one of the original
great Masters of Polish Jazz and one of the last few Mohicans, who are still
fully active and continue to perform and compose new music. He is not only a
great Artist, but also a wonderful human being, warm and friendly, as I have
had the pleasure to experience personally since many years. Nahorny and his two
companions have been playing uninterruptedly together for almost three decades
and are probably one of the oldest Polish Jazz ensembles which exist without any
personal changes since its inception. As a result the trio functions as a
three-headed body in perfect unity, harmony and coordination, rarely achieved
elsewhere.
The music composed by Nahorny
is in many respects the epitome of Polish Jazz, as it embodies the typical
Polish lyricism and melancholy, which characterizes the distinctive sound and
feel of the Slavic elements of Polish Jazz. He has been called the Frederic
Chopin of Polish Jazz, which is perhaps a bit inappropriate in the strict
musical terms, but conveys the spirit of things. The music on this album was
influenced by a somewhat nostalgic trip to his hometown of Kwidzyn and
reminiscences of his childhood memories, which are both inspiring and
emotional. The music is certainly very personal and introvert, but Nahorny's
exquisite melodies and superb touch of the keyboards turns everything into
immediate feeling of warmth and kindness.
Overall this is a beautiful
piece of Artistry in every respect, wonderfully, composed, perfectly executed,
excellently recorded and elegantly packaged in a digibook format with many
photographs and a very personal short essay by Nahorny. This is obviously an
absolute must have for the many Nahorny's fans and admirers, but all Polish
Jazz connoisseurs the world over should definitely grab a copy ASAP, as Jazz
rarely come in better doses than this. Thank you my Friend and may God bless us
all with many more years of your health and creativity.
Zbigniew Namysłowski - saxophone
Adam Wendt - saxophone
Brandon Furman - guitar
Andrzej Jagodziński - accordion
Krzysztof Herdzin - piano
Mariusz Bogdanowicz - bass
Piotr Biskupski - drums
This is the debut album as a leader on his own record label by Polish bassist/composer Mariusz Bogdanowicz, recorded with a formidable team of Polish Jazz musicians, which includes saxophonists Zbigniew Namysłowski and Adam Wendt, US born guitarist Brandon Furman, accordionist Andrzej Jagodziński, pianist Krzysztof Herdzin and drummer Piotr Biskupski. The album presents eight original compositions by Bogdanowicz and one arrangement of a folk tune.
Considering the level of the
musicians involved there are no surprises here; the performances by all the
participants are spotless, professional and truly excellent. The young Herdzin,
who was a member of the ensemble led by Namysłowski at the time, plays some
great piano lines. It is very interesting to hear Namysłowski play music he did
not compose; his performances here are truly inspired. Furman plays beautiful
guitar lines, full of lyricism and technically brilliant guitar tricks.
Jagodziński, who normally plays piano of course, adds some nice accordion
touches. Wendt adds also some fiery saxophone solos and finally Biskupski on
drums plays solidly and respectfully alongside Bogdanowicz, who plays several
beautiful bass solos, creating together a perfect mainstream Jazz rhythm
section.
But the focus of this album is
of course on the superb tunes composed by the leader. Melodic and gorgeously
lyrical, these compositions are all sensual and intelligent, serving as perfect
vehicles for the musicians to spread their wings. These tunes are all as good
as any Jazz standard and deserve to be listened to repeatedly.
Overall this is a perfect
mainstream Jazz album, which combines great music with perfect and inspired
execution, a model for all excellent Jazz album ever created, becoming an
instant classic Polish Jazz album in all respects.
This is a wonderful album by veteran Polish Jazz pianist/saxophonist/composer Włodzimierz Nahorny, recorded in a classic piano trio format with bassist Mariusz Bogdanowicz and drummer Piotr Biskupski. The album features twelve relatively short pieces, ten of which are original Nahorny's compositions, one is a folk song and the last is an arrangement of works by Polish Classical composers Frederic Chopin and Karol Kurpinski.
In addition to his Jazz
activities Nahorny is also acknowledged for writing many popular songs, which
became in time Polish evergreens. This album presents many of these songs in an
instrumental version with Jazzy arrangements, performed affectionately and
passionately by the composer and his cohorts. Nahorny's music is always full
of typical Polish lyricism and melancholy, which come to light even in the
seemingly happier, up tempo numbers. He loves the waltz and Polish folkloristic
dances, all of those elements which are the cornerstones of what is considered
Polish music, and he openly and lovingly embraces them in his compositions.
The way Nahorny plays the piano
is completely unique; a mixture or Classical, Jazz and Blues strokes combined
into one stylistic approach, which is specifically his and his only. Although
distinctly melodic and seemingly simple, his piano often wanders away from the
main melodic line into less charted territory, which more experienced listener
will find fascinating and those less experienced won't mind or even notice.
The rhythm section sounds like
an extension of the leader, following his every move elegantly and attentively.
A few modest but excellent bass and drums solos are part of the proceedings,
but the main role of the rhythm section remains, as appropriate, to accompany
the leader, which it does with flair and zest.
This is timeless music, which
remains classic regardless of what the contemporary trends may bring. Superb
sonic quality ensures a complete listening pleasure and what remains is to
relax and enjoy every moment of this delightful delivery.
This is the third album by Polish Jazz pianist / composer Krzysztof Herdzin, this time co-leading a piano trio with bassist Mariusz Bogdanowicz and drummer Piotr Biskupski, accompanied by a string sextet. It presents the musical themes of eight Polish TV serials arranged by Herdzin and composed by various Polish composers, among then two with very strong Jazz ties: Andrzej Kurylewicz and Jerzy Matuszkiewicz, who contribute two compositions each.
The music is all very solid and is also a wonderful example of the fact that music for TV productions can be intelligent and wonderfully crafted, as this album demonstrates and emphasizes. The overall atmosphere of the piano trio accompanied by strings obviously tends to sound somewhat corny and commercial, but careful listening reveals that the level of performances is highly professional and the result is anything but trivial.
Herdzin, who was a member of the ensemble led by Zbigniew Namyslowski at the time of the recording of this album, was already recognized as one of the brightest upcoming Polish Jazz musicians and his talent and ability are obvious. The string arrangements reveal Herdzin´s respect and love of Classical music, which will, in later stages of his career, come to the forefront of his activities. The rhythm section, which already at that time had a long tradition of playing together, is a perfectly oiled and masterfully synchronized team, which in the years to come will prove to be one of the best of its kind on the Polish Jazz scene.
Although very accessible, this is still a great mainstream piano trio album, which sounds as good today as it did at the time of its recording and can be enjoyed both by Jazz enthusiast and listeners who do not listen to Jazz on a regular basis. Definitely worth looking for and being discovered now, almost twenty years later.
Polish Jazz vocalist Lora Szafran is active on the local scene since the mid 1980s, when she graduated from the Katowice Music Academy. She sings Jazz but is also active on the mainstream Polish popular music market. This is her sixth album as a leader and it is dedicated to songs composed by the legendary Polish Jazz pianist/saxophonist/composer Włodzimierz Nahorny, who is also known as the author of popular evergreens. The album includes twelve songs composed by Nahorny, with lyrics (in Polish) by some of top Polish lyricists. Szafran is accompanied by a trio which includes Nahorny on piano with bassist Mariusz Bogdanowicz and drummer Piotr Biskupski and a string sextet, with string arrangements by Andrzej Jagodziński and Krzysztof Herdzin.
The album is kept in the
classic mainstream Jazz tradition, performed spotlessly and with flair by all
participants. Nahorny's music is timeless and remains fresh and beautiful in
complete disregard of passing fads and fashions. His compositions are as good
as any American standards. The intelligent lyrics are a painful remainder that
song's lyrics are supposed to tell a story in an intelligent way, as they do
here in complete contrast to today's monstrosities called songs.
Szafran sings perfectly and
superbly, with her charming mannerisms and vocal tricks, which she manages to
use as effectively as always. She is able to pronounce every word clearly and
accurately, with feeling and obvious sentiment to the context, an art that
seems to be lost completely these days. Her warm and round voice and
professional finesse are irresistible. The interplay between her and the trio
is always impeccable, which turns the entire recording into a musical love
affair. Nahorny and the rhythm section are of course a living example of
knights in shining armor.
This is an "old
fashioned" album, but in spite of that often misused classification it
sounds fresh and alive in spite of its delicacy, fragility and sophistication.
I must be old fashioned myself, as this stuff simply melts my heart.
The veteran Polish Jazz pianist/saxophonist/composer Włodzimierz Nahorny, one of the Godfathers of the post-WWII Polish Jazz scene, manages continuously to display a phenomenal vitality and unprecedented imagination, often much superior to those of his colleagues, often decades younger than himself. This album is a wonderful proof of exactly these qualities. Recorded in a sextet setting, with vocalist/violinist Dorota Miśkiewicz, violinist Henryk Gembalski, saxophonist Wojciech Staroniewicz, bassist Mariusz Bogdanowicz and drummer Piotr Biskupski, Nahorny presents a set of Jazz transcriptions of eight pieces by the Polish composer Frederic Chopin, three pieces by a lesser known 20th Century Polish composer Roman Maciejewski and one piece by Karol Szymanowski. In addition one original composition by Nahorny is also included.
Polish Jazz suffers terribly
from overexploitation of Chopin's music, which varies in quality from brilliant
(rarely) to completely banal (most of the time). Therefore another attempt to
interpret Chopin in the Jazz context is always a perilous undertaking.
Nahorny's bold and far fetching approach results in transcriptions, which
although quote the original music, move very far away from the source during
their execution, being in fact completely new and whole pieces of music, which
Nahorny even names anew, giving the source as a reference only. Although such
liberties might appear sometimes as to audacious, in Nahorny's case they are fully
justified and simply brilliant.
The eleven transcriptions,
spread over two CDs, are all fascinating musically and serve as wonderful
vehicles for the musicians to display their respective talents. Miśkiewicz
sings some great vocalese, at times even almost free form, using lyrics on just
one piece. Gembalski plays some scorching violin passages and Staroniewicz, as
always, charms with his beautiful saxophone tone. The rhythm section keeps the
music together with flair and elegance, pushing it ahead with just the right
amount of energy. And last but not least Nahorny's piano serves as glue between
the Classical and the Swinging elements, bridging and bonding everything
together.
Although seemingly positioned
well within the mainstream Jazz boundaries (except for the Classical references
of course), this music displays quite a lot of freedom and unexpected ventures
into less programmatic areas, sometimes almost touching upon Free/Avant Garde
idioms, which of course is nothing new as far as Nahorny's music is concerned. This album is a living proof
that the Jazz-Classical Fusion can avoid pastiche, cliché and kitsch, and
simply bite!
This is a wonderful piano trio album by one of the Godfathers of Polish Jazz, pianist/composer Wlodzimierz Nahorny, and his partners: bassist Mariusz Bogdanowicz and drummer Piotr Biskupski. The album presents six original compositions by Nahorny and one mini-suite, which comprises of three folklore motifs arranged by him. In the accompanying booklet Nahorny tells the listener about the circumstances that brought each of these seven pieces of music to be created, as well as his deeply personal and moving memories of the panoramic view of the Holy City of Jerusalem, which always leaves a lasting impression on those who visit it. How blessed are we, who live nearby and are able to enjoy this breathtaking view more often than others.
It is
truly invigorating to see (and hear) a musician, who seems to be completely
unaffected by the tides of time and keeps bursting with ingenuity and talent
despite his age. This album proves beyond any doubt that Nahorny is still a
musician who is able to innovate and surprise even the strictest connoisseurs.
His music is as beautiful as always with melodies full of romanticism and
typical Polish melancholy, which he masterly and continuously molds into new
musical jewels. His piano playing is nothing short of sensational with an
astonishing level of space and freedom, which often bring fond memories of the
early days of his career when he flirted with free form.
All the
compositions on this album are quite remarkable. Although they are stylistically
diverse and encompass many different Jazz sub-genres, they are all marked by
Nahorny's personal touch, which has been his trademark since many years. The
music is fresh and stimulating, fitting perfectly in the contemporary Polish
Jazz scene, bursting with excitement and creativity.
The
faithful rhythm section stands besides the Master at all times, providing the
guidelines for his extended improvisations and ornamenting his performances
with occasional short solos. Bogdanowicz and Biskupski are both veterans of the
trade and they know exactly what is required of them under these circumstances:
supporting the leader and not being obtrusive in any way. The many years that
these musicians play together turns them into a well oiled unit, which is able
to travel anywhere without a hitch.
Nahorny
is a perfect representative of the Polish "old class" in the best
positive meaning of that idiom. A Gentleman, an Artist and an Intellectual
incorporated into one wonderful, warm person. Such class is very rare these
days and therefore a figure like Nahorny is important as an example to be
followed by the young generation, which definitely has the talent but sadly
almost never such class. Thank you Maestro!
Włodzimierz Nahorny (born 1941) is one of those key figures without which such a phenomenon as Polish jazz would be simply unimaginable. Not only he cooperated with nearly all significant musicians on our scene with his collaboration with Andrzej Trzaskowski, Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski and Andrzej Kurylewicz being especially memorable. But as evidenced by his long and successful career his music embodies all constitutive qualities of Polish jazz as a unique combination of jazz, pop and folk music build upon strong base of classical music harmony. The outcome of such a melange, at least as delivered by Nahorny, is breathtaking: light, inspiring, joyous and dance-like. It resonates with the energy of debutante while offering the riches of the fully matured artist whose technical proficiency is awesome and whose musical language is entirely his own.
On this record as on other his projects in last decade we find along him a double bassist Mariusz Bogdanowicz who recently is quite active (check for example his last year "Syntonia") and drummer Piotr Biskupski. These two middle-aged guys are respected musicians on our scene but - as I have had an opportunity to see during concert premiere - they treat this project in a very special way and are well aware what a privilege it is to be able to play together with the musician of Nahorny caliber. On the other hand they fully reciprocate his trust rising on this album to the very heights of their abilities!
As for the program of music on this disc one can seldom find a better one and it shall not be surprising since it is the fruit of many years of work. We will find here a title track "Hope" which clearly is inspired by great patriotic music by Chopin such as "Polonaise Brillante" and other pieces. But apart from that there is on this disc for example lovely medley of three folk songs from Kurpie region rewritten in jazz harmonies. Or "Jews" where trio pays hommage to musical tradition of Polish Jews. But I like the most the music composed for theater "I love O'Keefe" and "Czyścica": nor folk, nor classical, nor jazz, nor pop or anything else though containing all these traditions. It is simply the music of Nahorny and his trio, the one like no other in Poland, or elsewhere...
This is the debut album by Polish Jazz quartet called We4, which consists of harmonica player Wojciech Milewski, vibraphonist Karol Szymanowski, bassist Grzegorz Nadolny and drummer Piotr Biskupski. They perform nine tunes, all standards.
The music is on the extreme
easy side of the Jazz spectrum, with familiar themes played pleasantly by
harmonica, which dominates the proceedings, mellow vibraphone playing mostly in
the background, accompanied by a swinging rhythm section. Except for the
unusual match between the harmonica and vibraphone the entire proceeding
presents no intellectual challenge whatsoever and can be easily played as
background music in a hotel lobby or restaurant. The recording quality of this
album is very good, in complete contrast to its contents, so HiFi stores
selling high range equipment to half-deaf nouveau riche is another place for
this album to be used.
Why on earth would someone go
through the effort to produce an album like this beats me, but what do I know?
Mariusz Bogdanowicz - double bass
Piotr Biskupski - drums
Krzysztof Bzówka - violin
Józef Kolinek - violin
Andrzej Staniewicz - violin
Robert Dąbrowski - violin
Piotr Reichert - viola
Jan Kuta - cello
Seriale, seriale (1998)
Polish TV series often contains awesome music. It is therefore brilliant idea to use them as springboard for improvisations. As did Miles and other giants of jazz with American pop tunes like 'Someday My Prince Will Came" originally coming from Disney cartoon movie or countless others both from Broadway or film industry. Music is spoken in standard jazz trio language with strings, yet another good idea adding this 'soundtrack-ish lushness to the sound on the album. The overall effect is satisfactory even though most tunes are treated too straightforwardly to really make them sound entirely fresh and new.
Track listing: 1. Wojna Domowa; 2. Polskie Drogi; 3. Uciekaj Moje Serce; 4. Czterdzieści lat Minęło; 4. Czterej Pancerni; 5. 07 Zgłoś Się; 6. Lalka; 7. Chłopi
This record whose title may be translated as "Nahorny Songbook" contains compositions of pianist Włodzimierz Nahorny. Born in 1941 Nahorny's career is noteworthy for his numerous and successful collaborations with jazz vocalists. The albums he recorded with Breakout, Marjanna Wróblewska and Novi Singers are one of the most interesting in history of Polish vocal jazz.
This album however is only kind of sentimental journey through moods and sounds that were popular in 70ties of 80ties in Polish pop embellished by nice jazz singing by Lora Szafran. Nothing new and exciting is going on here unfortunately...
Check this sweet song by immortal Jeremi Przybora as sung by Lora Szafran:
