Zawartko/Piasecki – Leć Głosie (2015)

Zawartko/Piasecki

Magdalena Zawartko - vocals
Grzegorz Piasecki - bass
Piotr Wojtasik - trumpet
Tomasz Wendt - saxophone
Artur Tuźnik - piano
Wojciech Buliński - drums
Marek Kądziela - guitar
Jose Torres - percussion



Leć Głosie

PRIVATE EDITION

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by Polish Jazz duo comprising of vocalist Magdalena Zawartko and bassist Grzegorz Piasecki, recorded with other top Polish Jazz musicians: trumpeter Piotr Wojtasik, saxophonist Tomasz Wendt, pianist Artur Tuźnik, guitarist Marek Kądziela, drummer Wojciech Buliński and percussionist Jose Torres. The album presents eight compositions (one repeated twice as intro and outro) which include Classical and Folklore pieces and two original compositions, one each by Zawartko and Piasecki, also inspired by external sources.

The concept behind the music is the amalgamation of Folklore and Classical Music with Jazz, which of course has been already attempted numerous times before, but in this case the selection of the music, the arrangements and the entire production of the project, which were entirely in the hands of the duo, as well as the superb execution of the music by the excellent team generate a wonderful and entirely successful outcome.

Zawartko sings occasional lyrics but mostly uses vocalese and her voice is by and large used as another instrument within the instrumental environment. Piasecki plays brilliant bass parts and naturally gets more exposure than bassists usually get in ensemble projects. The rest of the instrumentalists, mostly veterans of the scene, perform accordingly, without a hitch.

Overall this is an excellent piece of music from start to finish, intelligent, elegant and highly sensitive, tastefully conceived and brilliantly executed, in accordance to the usual high standards of the Polish Jazz scene. I have no idea why this album landed on my desk years after it was released, but better late than never. Highly recommended!

Freeway Quintet – This Is No Ordinary Jazz (2014)

Marcin Kuzdowicz - guitar
Piotr Szwec - saxophone
Krzysztof Kowalczyk - saxophone
Pawel Urowski - bass
Wojciech Bulinski - drums
with
Paulina Golebiowska - vocals
Konrad Roginsk - percussion

PRIVATE EDITION

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz ensemble Freeway Quintet, co-founded by saxophonist Piotr Szwec and guitarist Marcin Kuzdowicz. The lineup is completed by a second saxophonist Krzysztof Kowalczyk, bassist Pawel Urowski and drummer Wojciech Bulinski. Female vocalist Paulina Golebiowska and percussionist Konrad Roginski appear as guest musicians on several tracks. The album presents nine original compositions, seven of which were composed by Kuzdowicz and one each by Szwec and Urowski.

The music presented by the group has certainly some unusual elements, such as a double saxophone front line, rocky, often distorted guitar and melodic lines based on ethnic motifs, which altogether are closer to Jazz-Rock Fusion or Progressive Rock than to Jazz. Therefore the statement used as the album's title is correct to some degree; but let's not exaggerate, this music, although very nice and interesting, is definitely not revolutionary or radically different from music we all heard before.

But statements aside, this is quite an excellent album in every respect. The original music is the strongest artistic statement herein, with beautifully developed melodies and rich instrumental arrangements. There is a lot of the typical Polish melancholy, which is predominant even on the more up-tempo pieces. Overall the music is simply superb from start to finish. It is also very well performed by all the musicians involved, although personally I'd prefer to hear more improvisation and soloing. But the ensemble spirit, which is very strong on this album, is also gratifying.

It is certainly interesting to see where the group will take their "no ordinary Jazz" into the future. There is so much potential and possibilities here, that anything is possible. Polish Jazz / Fusion and even Prog connoisseurs should definitely keep an eye on these talented young musicians.

As far as debuts go, this is definitely one of the most impressive I've come across this year, perhaps because it is original enough to distinguish itself from many other debuts that mostly follow up well beaten tracks. Well done!

Slawek Dudar Quartet – Inside City (2014) ***1/2

Slawek Dudar - saxophone
Robert Jarmuzek - piano
Adam Kabacinski - bass
Wojciech Bulinski - drums
with
Artur Lesicki - guitar
Jacek Zamecki - vocals

LUNA 337



By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album as a leader by Polish Jazz saxophonist / composer Slawek Dudar, recorded by his quartet, which also includes pianist Robert Jarmuzek, bassist Adam Kabacinski and drummer Wojciech Bulinski. A couple of guest musicians: vocalist Jacek Zamiecki and guitarist Artur Lesicki participate on selected tracks. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Dudar.

Musically the album presents the lighter side of the Jazz spectrum, somewhere between mainstream, Jazz-Rock Fusion (when the guitar is present) and Smooth Jazz, but in contrast to most albums released with such characteristics it is a solid and valuable contribution, especially due to the excellent compositions, which are all surprisingly diverse, melodic and far from being trivial or banal. Actually some of these tunes are truly outstanding to be honest.

Dudar has a nice tone and plays with self-confidence and a lot of feeling. He manages to sty within the Jazz framework and not cross over to the Smooth Jazz vocabulary (or lack of it), which is often the case. Jarmuzek plays some splendid piano parts, very supportive and always displaying great taste. His contributions keep the album solidly on the Jazz ground. The rhythm section, especially the drums, although perfectly executed and technically fine, is a bit too Rocky for my taste, but that is a minor point.

The album has a very good sound quality, balance and ambience, which in addition to the fine music makes it a most pleasant listening voyage. For me this music is "sunny" and perfect for a ride on a shore in our kind of weather. Sometimes the morose Polish melancholy is simply too much, and this album manages to avoid it almost completely, except for the last tune, which is a beautiful ballad dedicated to the EST trio – not surprisingly. Very well done gentlemen!