Michał Ciesielski – fortepian Piotr Gierszewski – gitara basowa Adam Golicki – perkusja
Tytuł płyty: "Identity"
Wydawca: Dot Time Records (2026)
Autor tekstu: Mateusz Chorążewicz
Różnej maści projekty około-jazzowe czerpiące
z polskiego folkloru mają się całkiem dobrze. Po „Masovian Mantra" Michała
Barańskiego czy Into the Roots Piotra Damasiewicza na tapetę trafia teraz
Confusion Project z albumem „Identity". Nie ukrywam, że do kolejnych
wcieleń tego nurtu podchodzę już z pewną rezerwą - część z nich zrobiła się
dość wtórna, jakby powstawała głównie dlatego, że akurat taka panuje moda (od
razu zaznaczam: nie mam tu na myśli wymienionych wyżej płyt, bo te akurat
bronią się bez trudu). Tym razem jednak byłem jakoś dziwnie spokojny. Znam
dotychczasowe dokonania Confusion Project i sznyt kompozytorski Michała
Ciesielskiego, który podpisał wszystkie utwory na krążku, więc o efekt końcowy
specjalnie się nie obawiałem.
Simona De Rosa - wokal Michał Ciesielski – fortepian Piotr Gierszewski – bas Adam Golicki – perkusja
Dodatkowo, w niektórych utworach pojawili się gościnni muzycy:
Valentina Bellanova – flet (utwór 1) Aleksandra Denga – skrzypce (utwór 1) Bulgarian Voices Berlin – chór (utwór 3) Ziad Trabelsi – wokal (utwór 4) Nasiafromasia – wokal (utwór 8)
Tytuł płyty: "Feathers"(2025)
Tekst: Maciej Nowotny
Od ponad dekady obserwuję – słuchając kolejne wydawane przez niego płyty – rozwój kariery pianisty Michała Ciesielskiego. Trzeba przyznać, że idzie on swoją własną drogą, której ważnym elementem jest odważne wyjście na szeroki świat, o czym świadczy fakt, że kilka ostatnich lat spędził w Chinach, nawiązując tam zresztą wiele cennych muzycznych znajomości. Więcej pisałem o tym, recenzując jego ostatni solowy krążek Racing Thoughts (2023).
This is an album by Polish Jazz
drummer/composer Adam Golicki, which compliments (as the title suggests) his
debut album entitled "Ad Shave", released this time under the Ad
Shave moniker rather than under his own name. It was recorded with an excellent
team of Polish Jazz musicians which include saxophonist Maciej Sikała,
trumpeter Marcin Gawdzis, pianist/accordionist Cezary Paciorek, bassist Piotr
Lemańczyk and several other musicians appearing on selected tracks. The album
presents ten tracks, seven of which are composed or co-composed by Golicki, one
each is composed by Paciorek and Lemańczyk and one is a Classical piece.
The music is a wonderful
collection of beautiful melodies, arranged mostly in a smooth Jazz-Rock Fusion
mode and superbly performed by all the musicians involved. Although not
innovative as such, the music is simply perfect in what it stands for and a
schoolbook example of contemporary Fusion, which concentrates on excellent
compositions and skillful arrangements rather than exploring endless
instrumental doodling.
The album is a most enjoyable
ride, full of excellently weaved melodies, exciting soloing and a coherent
"good time" approach, which is a breath of fresh air as far as most
contemporary Fusion is concerned. Personally I had a great time listening to
this music, which although seemingly pretty straightforward, does not make any
compromises as far as aesthetic values are concerned and is an example of good
taste and first class craftsmanship both on the compositional and performing
platforms. Warmly recommended to Jazz-Rock
Fusion fans, which prefer depth to flashy showmanship!
This is the third album by Polish Jazz trio called Confusion Project, led by pianist/composer Michał Ciesielski, with electric bassist Piotr Gierszewski and drummer Adam Golicki. The album presents an eleven part suite, which is based on a concept story of Naturalist motif, composed and arranged by the leader. The album, which was recorded at the Monochrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy Gruszecki, offers a superb sound quality, which should delight the Hi-Fi enthusiasts.
The music is deeply melodic and
only marginally belongs to the mainstream of the Jazz idiom, although it does
include a substantial element of improvisation. It could be also considered as
Progressive Rock, Fusion or contemporary Classical Music and better yet an
amalgam of all these genres. Since the music is performed by a piano trio the
obvious focus is on the leader, who dictates the dynamics and the flow of the
suite and is also the principal improviser.
The rhythm section stands
shoulder to shoulder with the leader, providing the harmonic and chronometric basis
of the music, but also soloing quite effectively, although sparingly. The
smooth electric bass lines are ideally suited to the music, at times providing
a very effective Groovy, almost Funky feel. The trio is perfectly matched up
and synchronized up to the tiniest detail and sounds like one perfect musical
unit.
Overall this is a most
enjoyable piece of music, which can be appreciated by a wide range of
listeners. It is full of wonderful melodic themes and offers a coherent
development of the themes, which constitute the entire suite. Although on the
lighter side of the music spectrum, it is honest and elegant and above all
highly professional and definitely inspired.
It seems that Confusion Project
found a niche they wish to operate within, which offers beautifully crafted and
highly melodic music, which offers to please rather than challenge the
listener, without compromising an iota of their musical integrity. This is
definitely a legitimate and highly rewarding modus operandi. Enjoy!
Michał Ciesielski - piano
Piotr Gierszewski - bass
Adam Golicki - drums
Primal
SOLITON 2018
By Jędrzej Janicki
Płyty koncepcyjne dla muzyki jazzowej nie odegrały aż tak znaczącej roli jak chociażby dla rocka progresywnego. Nieliczne próby tego typu są traktowane raczej jako ciekawostki, niż wyznaczniki nowego trendu. Tym większe słowo uznania należą się trio Confusion Project. Ich nowy album to dzieło, w którym warstwa narracyjna odgrywa co najmniej tak samo ważną rolę, jak muzyka.
"Primal", bo o tak zatytułowanej płycie mowa, to trzeci krążek w dyskografii Confusion Project. Ich muzyka od zawsze nosiła w sobie ilustracyjny rys, który tutaj gra zdecydowanie pierwsze skrzypce. Choć bez użycia słów, panom udaje się opowiedzieć piękną historię o zagubionym człowieku, który poprzez kontemplację natury i pogrążenie w refleksji, odnajduje własne miejsce na ziemi. Owo poszukiwanie siebie jest przerywane wewnętrznymi monologami głównego bohatera. Symbolizują je trzy miniaturki zatytułowane "Monologue", będące w głównej mierze solowymi partiami poszczególnych instrumentalistów (w kolejności - pianisty Michała Ciesielskiego, perkusisty Adama Golickiego i basisty Piotra Gierszewskiego).
Oprócz niespotykanej struktury i sposobu narracji, "Primal" wypada również znakomicie pod względem muzycznym. Otwierające płytę "The Old Oak" zaskakuje swoją stonowaną atmosferą i nienachalną śpiewnością. W utworze "Into The Forest" zagrywki Ciesielskiego przypominają trochę te tworzone przez Dave’a Brubecka. Najciekawszą i zarazem najbardziej nieoczywistą kompozycją na całej płycie jest jednak utwór "Lost". Cały zespół bardzo sprawnie balansuje między delikatnymi a agresywniejszymi fragmentami. Na szczególną uwagę zasługuje rewelacyjna praca sekcji rytmicznej. Brzmienie gitary basowej nadaje całemu utworowi trochę szorstkości i brudu, a gęsta perkusja tworzy świetne tło dla fortepianowych dźwięków.
"Primal" to znakomita, głęboko przemyślana płyta. Confusion Project udało się uniknąć częstej pułapki, w którą wpadają albumy koncepcyjne. Muzyka podporządkowana prowadzonej fabule bardzo często wiele traci, staje się schematyczna. Na "Primal" udało się jednak zachować równowagę między konceptem a warstwą muzyczną. To album nie tylko skłaniający do refleksji nad ścieżkami ludzkiego życia, lecz również kawał świetnego jazzu z przemyślanymi kompozycjami wykonanymi przez naprawdę bardzo dobrych instrumentalistów.
This is the second album by young Polish trio called Confusion Project, which comprises of pianist/composer Michał Ciesielski, bassist Piotr Gierszewski and drummer Adam Golicki. The album presents seven tracks, six of which are original compositions by Ciesielski and one is the trio's interpretation of a John Coltrane tune.
This
album continues the modus operandi presented on the trio's debut from a couple
of years earlier; piano trio with electric bass, playing mostly original music in
a Fusion oriented manner with strong Classical music influences recognized in
the pianist's approach to the instrument. There is no real progress from the
debut and it sounds mostly as "more of the same".
The
performances by all the trio members are accomplished and technically excellent
in every respect: Ciesielski is a very skillful player and writes nice tunes,
Gierszewski plays a great Funky bass guitar barrage and Golicki keeps the time
like a chronometer. The only problem is that this music is not really going
anywhere… Once it is over, at least in my case, it is easily forgotten.
I'm
sure that these talented young musicians have a lot of potential and it is only
a matter of finding the right formula which will take their music to the next
level. It has not happened on this album, but it surely will happen one day.
Overall
this is a nice Fusion album with a lot of interesting solos, especially by the
bass player and some inspired moments, which should keep the average Fusion
listener happy. Mind you this album is way better that most other contemporary
Fusion albums, which have no musical contents whatsoever except for excessive
and repetitious doodling, so here we are: quality is relative.
This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz drummer/composer Adam Golicki, recorded with a core trio, which also includes keyboardist Michał Ciesielski and bassist Piotr Gierszewski. This same trio released an album under the Confusion Project moniker a year ago. Eight guest musicians appear on selected tracks, among them saxophonist Maciej Sikala. The album presents six original compositions, all composed by Golicki (although the album's packaging includes also a conflicting line claiming the compositions were co-composed by Golicki and Ciesielski).
The music is a nice collection
of melodic tunes performed excellently by all the musicians involved in a Funky/Fusion mainstream style. This music swings and the musicians are all
professionals, so nothing negative can be said about this album, except for the
fact that it is derivative and introduces absolutely no innovation as far as
music is concerned. On the other hand not every album innovates (in fact only
very few do) so this album is at least as good as most other albums released in
the same musical milieu and parts of it are even brilliant.
I had an entertaining time listening
to this music, not trying to analyze it any more than need be and having a good
time in the process. Perhaps not music for brainiacs, but this is a solid piece
of music in every respect and very many people who like the lighter side of
Jazz should have a great time listening to it. Hopefully Golicki will continue
his musical path further and will grace us with more ambitious projects in the
future. His potential as a composer certainly ignites high hopes.
This is the debut album by Polish Jazz trio called Confusion Project, led by pianist / composer Michal Ciesielski with bassist Piotr Gierszewski and drummer Adam Golicki. The album comprises of nine compositions, eight of which are original compositions by Ciesielski and the last one (a bonus track) is a standard.
Gierszewski plays electric
bass, so the overall sound of the classic piano trio is somewhat updated here
to sound quite Fusion-like at times. The music is a mixture of up tempo numbers
and ballads with clear melodic themes stated usually at the onset of each
piece, followed by solos, all quite ordinary except for the rhythm section
playing much more aggressively and stridently than in a typical Jazz setting.
The compositions are all nice, well developed and rounded, creating a pleasant
atmosphere easily accessible for mainstream Jazz listeners. The whole thing is
perhaps to pretty altogether, lacking an edge that would turn it from pleasant
into fascinating, but considering the fact that it is a debut album, these
young musicians have done a splendid job herein.
Ciesielski shows off his
technique and knowledge of many different stylistic mannerisms, but most of it
is derivative and we'll have to wait for his original statement to arrive
sometime in the future. The rhythm section is a bit too busy at times, but all
in all it does the job of accompanying the piano shoulder to shoulder
vigorously. The sound quality of the album is quite excellent, which Hi-Fi
enthusiasts will appreciate enormously.
In short this is a nice debut,
which is pleasant to listen to and sounds good, a set of qualities that satisfy
most contemporary listeners. Hopefully next time these young musicians with try
to produce a more profound statement. In the meantime bon chance mes amis!
