Michał Wróblewski Radiostatik – Lucid Dream-Live At Filharmonia Szczecin (2019)

Michał Wróblewski Radiostatik

Michał Wróblewski - keyboards
Andrzej Gondek - guitar
Michał Kapczuk - bass
Sebastian Kuchczyński - drums

Lucid Dream-Live At Filharmonia Szczecin

FILHARMONIA SZCZECIN 007


By Adam Baruch

This is the fourth album by Polish Jazz keyboardist/composer Michał Wróblewski recorded live with his ensemble called Radiostatik and the Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra. Radiostatik was originally formed in NY in 2015, when Wróblewski was invited by trumpeter Terrence Blanchard to record an album, which resulted in the studio version of "Lucid Dream", and which sadly remains so far unreleased. The American-Polish lineup of Radiostatik, which was created to perform the material live, includes two American vocalists: singer Andre Washington and rapper Raashan Ahmad, the leader on Fender Rhodes, guitarist Andrzej Gondek, bassist Michał Kapczuk and drummer Sebastian Kuchczyński. The album presents twelve original compositions, all by Wróblewski and arranged by him, with lyrics by him and Ahmad.

The music is a exactly what it promises to be, a Jazz-Pop Fusion with orchestral arrangements, based an excellent melodic themes, which sounds as American as American goes, the kind of stuff which usually gets nominated for Grammy over the pond. It is catchy, groovy, smooth and easy on the ear, but in this case it is also highly musical and truly excellently put together. If it proves anything, it is the fact that European composers and musicians can easily beat the Americans at their own game.

Except for a few instrumental soli, the music has very little to do with Jazz, which means that the Polish Jazz lost the talents of Wróblewski for a while, but personally I am quite convinced he will be back to his musical roots again. In the meantime he can pursue other goals and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this as long as the music is well done and does not deteriorate to the normal level of contemporary Pop, which is killing us mercilessly.

The orchestral parts are the real surprise of this album, ideally suited to the music and performed with great taste and skill. Such class of Pop instrumentation is almost completely absent from contemporary Pop music, probably because it is simply too expensive. But the album proves that a real orchestra can not be replaced by synthesizers. Overall this is a highly entertaining and classy Pop album with some Jazzy features and orchestral ornamentation, beautifully executed and accessible to a wide music loving audience, which should satisfy every true popular music connoisseur. Definitely worth investigating!

Olga Boczar – Tęskno Mi, Tęskno (2018)

Olga Boczar

Olga Boczar - vocals, flute
Jan Smoczyński - piano, accordion, electronics
Andrzej Gondek - guitar
Wojciech Pulcyn - bass
Paweł Dobrowolski - drums

Tęskno Mi, Tęskno



FOR TUNE 0137

By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by Polish vocalist/flautist/songwriter Olga Boczar, recorded with the same quartet of Polish Jazz musicians who accompanied her on her debut album: pianist Jan Smoczyński, guitarist Andrzej Gondek, bassist Wojciech Pulcyn and drummer Paweł Dobrowolski. The album presents eight songs, four of which are Polish Folk songs and the other four are original compositions by Boczar, three of which feature her lyrics (one of them in English) and one is based on a poem by Polish poet Bolesław Leśmian.

Both the Folk songs and the original compositions get a Jazzy arrangement (which remains uncredited), but are not really transformed into the Jazz idiom, remaining mostly somewhere between Pop and Folk music after all.

Boczar sings both lyrics and vocalese, holding her ground skillfully and even gracefully at times, but her vocal parts are somewhat low in the mix being often overshadowed by the instrumental accompaniment. Her flute parts are only marginally featured here. All four Jazz musicians that participate in the recording are of course highly professional, but the music leaves little ground for them to show their skills except for occasional solos.

Overall this is a pleasant album, easy on the ear and well put together, mostly for listeners who prefer to be entertained rather than challenged, but one that can be enjoyed by a wide spectrum of music lovers.

Anna Serafinska – Groove Machine (2013)

Anna Serafinska - vocals
Rafał Stępień - keyboards
Andrzej Gondek - guitar
Michal Baranski - bass
Cezary Konrad - drums

POLSKIE RADIO 1662




By Adam Baruch

This is a live radio recording by veteran Polish Jazz vocalist / songwriter / educator Anna Serafinska with her group called Groove Machine, which consists of mostly younger musicians: keyboardist Rafal Stepien, guitarist Andrzej Gondek, bassist Michal Baranski and drummer Cezary Konrad. The group also includes a couple of female backing vocalists. The album includes ten pieces, nine of which are originals on which Serafinska contributed the music or the lyrics or both and only one is a standard.

The group's name conveys exactly its musical direction, which is Funk, Soul-Jazz and Groove, without exception. Although marginally Jazzy, this music is quite excellent at what it stands for and does not fall behind similar efforts recorded anywhere else in the world, US included. The band plays with a superb feel and groove, as expected, driven by the excellent rhythm section of brilliant Baranski and veteran Konrad, who never fails regardless the musical environment. Keyboards and guitar, which provide the melodic content as well as atmospheric ornamentation, are also spotless and inspired. The tasty hints of ambient and electronic sounds by the keyboardists bring the overall sound up to date sounding completely contemporary.

Serafinska, who sings in Polish and English, does a good job, obviously technically proficient and with a lot of feeling and understanding for this kind of music. However, her voice lacks any distinctive elements and is simply unremarkable. But the lack of luster is definitely a minor drawback and overall she really does an excellent job here both as a performer and composer / lyricist.

This is what it is – good time music, which manages however to preserve musical quality, aesthetics and integrity. With excellent sound quality and truly entertaining contents this is definitely worth listening to, especially while driving a convertible on a sea-side road. Groovy indeed!

Adam Baldych / Damage Control - Magical Theatre (2011)

Adam Bałdych Damage Control

Adam Bałdych - violin

Josh Lawrence - trumpet

Paweł Tomaszewski - piano

Andrzej Gondek - guitar

Piotr Żaczek - bass

Jakub Cywiński - double bass

Michał Bryndal - drums

Adam Sak - guitar

In-depth review by Adam Baruch, a critic and owner of fine music boutique (https://www.jazzis.com/shop/): 

The violin holds a very special position in the history of modern Polish Jazz, and except for France, no other European country can pride itself in such splendid heritage as far as the use of violin in Jazz is concerned.

The first generation of modern Polish Jazz musicians includes three distinguished Jazz violinists: Michał Urbaniak (born 1943), Zbigniew Seifert (born 1946) and Krzesimir Dębski (born 1953). Each of these virtuosi and exceptional composers made his mark not only on Polish Jazz, but also on European Jazz and World Jazz scenes. Of course each of these three musicians offered a unique and very individual approach to violin, all being innovators and pioneers: Urbaniak contributed greatly to the development of Jazz-Fusion and Jazz-Funk, Seifert to modern and Free Jazz and Dębski to the amalgam of Jazz and contemporary Classical music.

Adam Bałdych (born 1986) is of course a member of a different generation; one might even say a child of a very different era. His predecessors lived and created under the Socialist regime, which of course was far from enabling the freedom of expression and the opportunities to study and develop musical talents, and their life was a story of constant struggle with reality. Bałdych grew up in a "new" Poland, liberated, democratic and full of opportunities. That does not mean, of curse, that his life and his path to success was an easy one.

Considered a child prodigy, Bałdych started his performing and then composing careers very early on, which explains his extremely impressive biography at the age of 25. The list of awards, notable performances, composing credits and recordings could easily satisfy a musician twice his age or more.

And yet Bałdych considers this album a pivotal point of his career and although not his recording debut, this is certainly a new begging, hopefully of an international career. Recorded with his band called Damage Control, "Magical Theatre" is certainly an album, which should expose him to the worldwide audiences.

Bałdych composed six of the eight compositions present here and co-composed one more, with the last being composed by the band's keyboardist. The band includes gifted young players, who provide him with excellent support and execute his complex compositions with grace and panache. Full of youthful spirit and energy, the album flows beautifully from one track to the next, changing moods and atmospheres, but always remaining fascinating. There are no dull moments here, no boring parts and no fillers – just one continuous flow of entrancing music, which keeps the listener captivated.

Of course regardless of how good the performers might be, the primary strength of this album lies in the music contained herein. Bałdych's compositions are simply spot on and his unique ability to amalgamate the Jazz tradition, the Polish romanticism and the contemporary sound techniques works perfectly. An experienced listener will be able to discover many delicate musical hints and references in this music, especially in Bałdych's solos, but surely anybody able of enjoying good music will find here starlight qualities. I'm sure that Michał, Zbigniew and Krzesimir would be proud of the continuator of their splendid heritage.

What remains is to hope that as many music connoisseurs as possible will eventually discover this gem and hold it dear to their hearts. I certainly hope it does happen, big time, as it is well deserved!

PS. Album is available for purchase here: CDBaby.

Music from this album - tune titled "Room Of Imagination":

Author of text: Adam Baruch (http://www.adambaruch.com/)