Krzysia Górniak - Memories (2020)

Krzysia Górniak

Krzysia Górniak - guitars
Michał Wróblewski - piano, synth
Piotr  Wrombel - piano, synth
Michał Jaros - double bass
Marcin Jahr - drums

Memories

PRIVATE EDITION 2020


By Adam Baruch

This is the eighth (sixth as a leader) album by Polish Jazz guitarist/composer Krzysia Górniak, recorded in a classic quartet setting with keyboardists Michał Wróblewski or Piotr Wrombel, bassist Michał Jaros and drummer Marcin Jahr. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Gorniak.

The music is all based on wonderfully melodic themes and kept elegantly within the mainstream Jazz idiom, but the use of synthesizers and contemporary arrangements effectively eschew unnecessary nostalgic tendencies, presenting an up to date sound and ambiance, which are delightfully embracing. Although obviously on the lighter side of the Jazz spectrum, this music is splendidly put together and aesthetically solid.

Górniak manages to keep her guitar playing strictly within the Jazz boundaries, successfully avoiding slipping towards Fusion, which would have ruined the effort. She skillfully combines playing notes and chords with the right balance between them, always with restrain and stylish distance, which results in a highly effective overall outcome. The beautiful guitar sound she manages to achieve also contributes to the result.

The participating musicians are all skillful and highly professional musicians, which of course is immediately apparent. They support her amicably and add splendid solo parts of their own on the way. Considering the delicate and often quite intimate nature of this music, the mutual respect and interplay between the quartet members is a crucial element contributing to the successful result. Both keyboardist offer acoustic piano and synthesizer parts perfectly suited to the melodic continuity, Jaros glues everything together with his virtuosic bass parts and Jahr supplies elegant but firm rhythmic backbone.

Overall this is a highly pleasurable, beautifully melodic, serene and relaxed guitar album, which can be enjoyed by a wide range of listeners, not only strict Jazz enthusiasts but also connoisseurs of guitar from other genres. This is a wonderful example of less is more, where the Artist uses only what is absolutely necessary to achieve the optimal result and eschews superfluous gimmickry. A wonderful album from start to finish, Milady!

Gniewomir Tomczyk – Event Horizon (2017)

Gniewomir Tomczyk

Andrzej Mikulski - keyboards, bass
Gniewomir Tomczyk - drums, samples
Piotr Schmidt - trumpet
Kuba Więcek - alto saxophone
Maciej Kociński - soprano saxophone
Marek Kądziela - guitar
Krzysia Górniak - guitar
Aga Derlak - flute
Zdzisław Kalinowski - keyboards
Mateusz Smoczyński - strings
and others

Event Horizon

SJ 017

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by Polish duo Event Horizon, which comprises of drummer Gniewomir Tomczyk and keyboardist/bassist Andrzej Mikulski. A plethora of guest musicians, some form the echelons of the young Polish Jazz circles and others from different areas, add their contributions, including Piotr Schmidt, Aga Derlak, Krzysia Górniak, Mateusz Smoczyński, Kuba Więcek, Marek Kądziela and many others. The album presents ten original compositions (one repeated twice), recorded over a period of several years, five of which were co-composed and arranged by Tomczyk and Mikulski, others composed either individually by one of the duo members or co-composed with others, improvised or being arrangements of Classical themes, in short a very diverse collection of ideas. Three of the pieces feature texts/lyrics in English.

The music is strongly melody based and rooted in Jazz, but emphasizes production and sound at least as much as improvisation, creating wonderful contemporary vistas, which feel completely cross-genre and can be liked by a very wide spectrum of listeners, predominantly belonging to the younger generation. The music is intelligent and wonderfully coherent, offering a superb selection of melodies and harmonies, which often are absent in the so called "serious Jazz" recordings. Although this music can be categorized as Smooth Jazz for lack of a better definition, based on the "cool" and seemingly "smooth" approach, it is full of excellent musicianship and masterly music production.

Overall this is a classic example of "don't judge a book by its cover" (here both metaphorically and directly, as the album's cover art is rather bleak, completely uncharacteristic of its contents). What might be considered as a youthful experiment turns out to be a solid piece of excellent music, which stands its own ground, regardless what the Jazz purists might say. In many respects this album represents what the new generation of Jazz players feels about Jazz, respecting the tradition but reaching out to electronics, new sounds and original approach, which attempts to discover new ground, which after all is the most important aspect of music making. This is definitely one of the most interesting releases so far in 2017, as far as I am concerned. Well done Wonder Kids!

Maciej Miecznikowski & Krzysia Górniak – Tribute To Nat King Cole (2015)

Maciej Miecznikowski & Krzysia Górniak

Maciej Miecznikowski - vocals, guitar
Krzysia Górniak - guitar
Paweł Pańta - bass
Adam Lewandowski - drums
Atom String Quartet

Tribute To Nat King Cole


DUX 1237

By Adam Baruch

This is an album by Polish vocalist/guitarist Maciej Miecznikowski and female guitarist Krzysia Górniak, who present their interpretations of eleven songs associated with the legacy of American singer/pianist Nat King Cole. The pair is accompanied by veteran Polish Jazz rhythm section: bassist Paweł Pańta and drummer Adam Lewandowski and the excellent Polish Atom String Quartet (violinists Dawid Lubowicz and Mateusz Smoczyński, violist Michał Zaborski and cellist Krzysztof Lenczowski).

Miecznikowski sings the songs in a very straightforward manner, very closely to the original performances. His English pronunciation and accent are bearable, but not ideal of course, part of the usual insurmountable problems that Polish vocalists face while singing English lyrics. He uses his smooth baritone voice with skill and intelligence and all in all his vocal performances are fine, but not exceptional and surely not extraordinary.

The string arrangements are also pretty mundane, kept well in the background and adding very little to the overall effect. Of course Atom String Quartet is a superb ensemble, but here their role is severely limited, not to say a stronger word. The rhythm section does its job amicably, but again there us very little it can actually contribute within this concept.

The only ray of sunshine on this album is the incredible guitar work by Górniak, who really shines from start to finish. She plays a real Jazz guitar, something almost completely absent on today's scene with all the guitarists playing Fusion or God only knows what, but surely not Jazz guitar. In short there is almost no reason to listen to this album other than to listen to some great guitar parts, since what is the sense in listening to pale versions of songs when one can hear the originals? A decent album, that's what it is.

Krzysia Górniak – Moments (2016)

Krzysia Górniak

Krzysia Górniak - guitar
Zdzisław Kalinowski - keyboards
Łukasz Makowski - bass
Grzegorz Grzyb - drums
Gniewomir Tomczyk - drums

Moments




POLSKIE RADIO 1851

By Adam Baruch

This is the seventh album by Polish Jazz guitarist/composer Krzysia Górniak, recorded in a quartet format with keyboardist Zdzisław Kalinowski, bassist Łukasz Makowski and drummers Grzegorz Grzyb or Gniewomir Tomczyk. The album presents nine compositions, five of which are originals by Gorniak, one is co-composed by her, two are by the Greek bassist/composer Evangelos Tzimkas, who played on Górniak's debut album, and the final one is by Makowski.

The music is all melodic mainstream Jazz, on the easy side of the spectrum, with excellent compositions which present a wide spectrum of emotions and moods. The sound of the guitar dominates the proceedings, playing clear single notes and harmonic chord structures, which basically need only limited support from the rhythm section and the keyboards. Górniak clearly developed a mature sound and style over the years and this album is coherent and professional to the max. Some nice World Music influences are also incorporated into the music on some of the tunes.

All the musicians involved play excellently from start to finish and are given an opportunity to show their chops in solo parts, but Górniak is obviously the leader in charge and dictates the terms. Her guitar sound is sleek and demonstrates her absolute charge of the instrument. She is definitely different from all other guitar players on the Polish scene, and her unique approach to the instrument puts her in a class of her own.

It seems that this album is somewhat more Fusion oriented than I expected, which is not that much evident in the guitar playing but more so in the parts played by the band behind. Luckily there is still enough of the Jazz feel on this album, to make it work within the Jazz framework. Górniak's solos are kept carefully in check and don't enter the typical race with the notes, which makes many Fusion albums hard to bear.

Overall this is a wonderful guitar album, which should make guitar lovers wet their lips with delight, and which is also very accessible to a wide range of listeners, without making any compromises as far as the quality of compositions and performances are concerned. Combined with the superb sound quality the album offers, this is an album music lovers should not miss!