Rafał Grząka/Atom String Quartet – Atom Accordion Quintet (2016)

Rafał Grząka/Atom String Quartet

Rafał Grząka - accordion
Dawid Lubowicz - violin
Mateusz Smoczyński - violin
Michał Zaborski - viola
Krzysztof Lenczowski - cello

Atom Accordion Quintet



REQUIEM 120

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by Polish ensemble Atom Accordion Quintet, which comprises of accordionist Rafał Grząka and the renowned string quartet called Atom String Quartet (violinists Dawid Lubowicz and Mateusz Smoczyński, violist Michał Zaborski and cellist Krzysztof Lenczowski). Together they perform four contemporary Classical compositions by young Polish composers: Mikołaj Majkusiak, Piotr Wróbel, Krzysztof Lenczowski and Nikola Kołodziejczyk. While the works by the Majkusiak and Wróbel are single-piece compositions, the work by Lenczowski is a four-part Quintet and the work by Kołodziejczyk is three-part suite. The album was released simultaneously on two Polish labels: Requiem Records and DUX Records

As much as I appreciate the need to expose young composers, which this album is all about, somehow I felt a bit disappointed when the music was over. Contemporary Classical music can be, and often is challenging and groundbreaking but this album has little of these qualities. The sound of accordion and a string quartet works together well but was already explored before, and although the musicians are top class, but the music itself just fails to make a strong impression. Even the music by Lenczowski, who writes wonderful music in the Jazz idiom, somehow does not present his usual excellence here, being simply too conventional, even if it is beautifully melodic and gracefully melancholic. An example of the lack of originality is the very last track on this album (by Kołodziejczyk), which sounds almost exactly like music by Astor Piazzolla with string quartet. Somehow the entire album invokes a kind of a déjà vu symptom.

The album is supposed to offer, according to the enclosed booklet, an amalgam of Classical Music, Folklore and Jazz. There is Classical music in abundance, there are some Folkloristic motifs, but there is certainly no Jazz at all, as there is obviously no improvisation involved since all the music is strictly written. This of course is not a problem by itself, but simply an unnecessary confusion.

Obviously the album has its positive sides as well: a profound European aesthetics, wonderful performances by all five musicians, who are obviously virtuosic players, an excellent recording and sound quality and elegant packaging that includes informative bilingual liner notes. Overall this is a well done and original presentation of contemporary Polish Classical Music, which can be enjoyed by many Classical Music connoisseurs anywhere in the world and serve as a wonderful calling card of Polish Culture.

Cup of Time - Plays Namysłowski (2014)

Cup of Time (band)

Ryszard Borowski - flute
Agnieszka Cypryk - violin
Rafał Grząka - accordion
Krzysztof Lenczowski - cello

Plays Namysłowski (Dux, 2014)


By Maciej Nowotny

If to any extent you are in Polish jazz you should already know the name of Zbigniew Namysłowski. He is one of those very few without whom this phenomenon is unimaginable along with Komeda, Stańko, Trzaskowski, Seifert, Kurylewicz and few others. Namysłowski's contribution was manifold and since it is just a short note let me focus on those aspects of his musical personality that are meaningful with respect to this specific project: Namysłowski as an instrumentalist and as a composer.

We shall start with a latter as whole idea of this album is built on idea to convey Namysłowski's compositions to public in classical music language. A flow of ideas from jazz to classical music is of course nothing new but actually classical musicians taking on jazz compositions is relatively rare or ... rather unsuccessful. Simply the idea of music making in jazz and in classical music is often opposite, difficult if not impossible to reconcile. Yet music of Namysłowski fortunately seems to be an exception to this rule. The reason is that unlike many jazz tunes his compositions can exist on its own without his performance and with no improvisations. Namysłowski's music turns out to be complex enough to be able to work well in classical musical as much as in jazz firstly due to his highly original melody making and secondly due to his tireless rhythmic inventions (many of them influenced by folk music).

As for the band it is consisting of musicians well versed in both classical and jazz music idioms: flutist Ryszard Borowski and cellist Krzysztof Lenczowski both are active and successful on our jazz scene, while accordionist Rafał Grząka studied with Andrzej Jagodziński and only Agnieszka Cypryk seem to me having no jazz connection whatsoever. However it doesn't really matter because what is important is that they are all first class musicians with necessary feel for jazz with its unpredictability and spontaneity. 

But this album comprises yet more surprises which make its rehearsal even more interesting. Apart from Namysłowski's compositions it contains two Silesian folk songs arranged by legendary Witold Lutosławski, compositions written by Borowski and Lenczowski (and very good ones!) plus a composition by another excellent Polish XXth century composer Grażyna Bacewicz. All they make up for a very diverse programme which can satisfy even the most demanding listeners.

But the most exciting is the participation of Namysłowski himself! And yet one more brilliant idea: he was invited to play solos but only in compositions other than his own. Very good move indeed as thanks to this we are not served with some well known performances but we have an opportunity to listen to him in completely new material. And what a pleasure it is! Namysłowski is one of very few Polish jazz musicians who have his own sound so from first note we recognize this tone. These performances definitely are what makes this album so very special!