P.G.R. - „Polish Psalter vol.2 for soprano & jazz ensemble” (2023)

P.G.R.

Barbara Rogala – sopran/soprano
Szymon Bońkowski – saksofon altowy/alto saxophone
Grzegorz Rogala – puzon tenorowy, aranżacja /tenor trombone, arrangement
Witold Janiak – fortepian/piano
Michał Rutkowski – kontrabas/double bass
Kamil Miszewski – perkusja/drums

„Polish Psalter vol.2 for soprano & jazz ensemble” (2023)

Wydawnictwo: Ars Sonora

Tekst: Renata Rybak

Nazwa formacji, P.G.R., oznacza Projekt Grzegorza Rogali, puzonisty, aranżera i kompozytora. Rogala po wydanej w 2020 roku pierwszej części „Polish Psalter”, dobrze ocenionej zwłaszcza przez środowisko muzyki klasycznej, podejmuje próbę kontynuowania tego konceptu. Jego ideą jest łączenie kultur i gatunków muzycznych oraz swoista podróż w czasie, a realizowane jest ono poprzez zaprezentowanie utworów renesansowego kompozytora Mikołaja Gomółki do słów Jana Kochanowskiego w zupełnie nowej odsłonie.

Oto pieśni Gomółki, tradycyjnie zaplanowane na cztery głosy, stanowiące dla siebie kontrapunkt, zostają zaaranżowane przy wykorzystaniu konceptu synkretyzmu estetyk muzycznych. Wierny oryginałowi pozostaje jedynie sopran, który jednak także wykonuje fragmenty oparte na wokalizie. Pozostałe głosy z oryginalnych kompozycji Gomółki realizowane są przez sekcję dętą i fortepian, wspierane przez sekcję rytmiczną.

Konstrukcja psalmów zaaranżowanych przez Rogalę to prezentacja głównej linii melodycznej przez sopran, który odtwarza oryginalny tekst i melodię w estetyce klasycznej muzyki renesansowej, to znaczy bez ozdobników i wibrata. Pozostałe głosy zastąpione są przez zespół jazzowy, pełniący początkowo rolę dopełniającą harmonicznie sopran, rolę towarzyszącą. Czasem fragment oryginalny, prezentowany przez sopran, poprzedzony jest intro w wykonaniu zespołu jazzowego, jednak zwykle pierwotna linia melodyczna pojawia się od razu na wstępie.

Temat przejmowany jest następnie przez fortepian lub któryś z instumentów dętych, prezentujacy nieco przetworzoną główną linię melodyczną. Główny temat podlega też improwizacji, początkowo bliskiej oryginalnej linii melodycznej, następnie dość swobodnie odbiegającej melodycznie, rytmicznie i w aspekcie estetyki, od oryginału. Takie zabiegi stosowane są zwłaszcza przez fortepian z towarzyszeniem kontrabasu i perkusji. Są one ciekawą przeciwwagą do renesansowej estetyki oryginału i wnoszą ciekawy jazzowy pierwiastek do oryginalnych utworów. Świetne zgranie fortepianu z instrumentami sekcji nie jest zaskoczeniem, ponieważ Michał Rutkowski na kontrabasie i Kamil Miszewski na perkusji wielokrotnie towarzyszyli pianiście Witoldowi Janiakowi w jego poprzednich projektach, podczas których Janiak brał na warsztat utwory co prawda nie klasyczne, ale ludowe. One także były aranżowane w estetyce jazzowej. Stąd proces taki jest Janiakowi dobrze znany, a jego pomysły interpretacyjne doceniane.

Na płycie słyszymy też saksofon, na którym gra Szymon Bońkowski. Saksofon czasem przejmuje linię melodyczną od głosu żeńskiego i jest jego naturalnym przedłużeniem, a czasem dość zgrabnie improwizuje.

Ciekawym elementem tej płyty są fragmenty wokaliz sopranistki Barbary Rogali, w estetyce bardziej muzyki klasycznej, z towarzyszeniem jedynie kontrabasu. Te właśnie aranżacje Grzegorza Rogali moim zdaniem faktycznie łączą światy muzyki klasycznej i jazzu, a sam koncept jest nowatorski.

Kolejnym ‘smaczkiem’ jest fortepian grający w estetyce klawesynu, który to instrument byłby pewnie bardziej zbliżony do czasów, kiedy te pieśni powstawały. Janiak bawi się tu estetykami i płynnie przechodzi między jedną a drugą.

Reasumując, album przedstawia ciekawy koncept zaprezentowania muzyki klasycznej z towarzyszeniem jazzu i możliwości zainspirowania się renesansową estetyką. Płyta wpisuje się tym samym w dość popularny ostatnio w muzyce jazzowej nurt synkretyzmu tradycji muzycznych z różnych epok. Jest to zdecydowanie kolejny krok ułatwiający przybliżenie tego typu muzyki szerszej publiczności.

Michał Kobojek – The Outside (2016)

Michał Kobojek

Michał Kobojek - saxophones
Witold Janiak - piano
Marek Kądziela - guitar
Wojciech Pulcyn - bass
Przemysław Kuczyński - drums

The Outside




MANXIMUM 5908254159596

By Adam Baruch

This is the second album as a leader by Polish saxophonist/composer Michał Kobojek, recorded in a quartet setting with pianist Witold Janiak, bassist Wojciech Pulcyn and drummer Przemysław Kuczyński. Guitarist Marek Kądziela appears as a guest artist. The album presents eight original compositions, all by Kobojek. Kobojek's career is mostly associated with the Polish Pop/Rock scene due to his cooperation with many top Polish artists/groups in that area. But obviously the Jazz streak has always been there as part of his musical personality.

The music is, as expected, definitely on the lighter side of the Jazz idiom, somewhere near the Smooth Jazz concept, which, as I have stated many times, does not mean that the music is necessary inferior in any way to other Jazz styles, as this album overwhelmingly proves. The album is full of absolutely beautiful melodies, all of which manage to avoid the schmaltzy stigma of the bad side of Smooth Jazz. The music is romantic and beautifully lyrical and presents Kobojek as a gifted composer, who mixes feeling with professionalism.

The performances are all highly professional, but relatively constrained without presenting any virtuosic solos or complex improvisations, which of course goes hand in hand with the album's intended character. Kobojek plays with a sweet timbre and stays close to the melody lines, but his skills are obvious as is his feel for the music. Janiak plays excellent accompanying chord structures, exactly what is required in this case, inserting several nicely structured solos. The rhythm section is doing a superb job in the background, with Pulcyn, as always, being the Master of bass accompaniment.

Overall this is a very good straightforward Smooth Jazz album, full of great melodic music, which does not make any compromises as far as the quality is concerned. Listeners, who are Romantics at heart, regardless of their age, should find this album exactly what they need to make their day (or night).

Witold Janiak Trio – Zagrajcie Swoją Muzykę (2015)

Witold Janiak Trio

Witold Janiak - piano
Rafał Różalski - double bass
Kamil Miszewski - drums

Zagrajcie Swoją Muzykę

PRIVATE EDITION




By Adam Baruch

This is the fourth album by Polish Jazz pianist/composer Witold Janiak, recorded in a classic piano trio setting with bassist Rafał Różalski and drummer Kamil Miszewski. It presents nine traditional Polish folkloristic tunes rearranged into the Jazz idiom by Janiak. The album was recorded at the excellent Studio Tokarnia and engineered by Jan Smoczyński, with the usual superb sound result.

Judging by the number of albums related to Polish Folklore it seems that the Polish Jazz scene rediscovered its roots in 2015, in a way repeating a trend that was quite popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Some of those recent albums are truly revealing and present superb aesthetic achievements, while others sadly are much less original and seem to just blindly follow a fad.

Janiak and his trio are very proficient musicians and their playing is without reproach all the way through, but the resulting music simply does not rise above the level of being "nice". There is no fire or emotional stir that makes a Jazz album rise above the average. The folkloristic influence is very marginal and does not come forward enough, beyond stating the basic melody line, failing to achieve the amalgamation of the two genres.

To be fair this is still a very decent piano trio album, which many Jazz fans can enjoy; it simply does not compare to other exceptional Jazz albums released in Poland, which are way more artistic, engaging and fulfilling.

PGR & Zilberman - Poezjazz (2014)

PGR & Zilberman

Grzegorz Rogala - trombone
Sagit Zilberman - alto saxophone
Witold Janiak - piano
Wojciech Pulcyn - double bass
Krzysztof Szmańda - drums
Barbara Rogala - vocal
Małgorzata Hutek - vocal

Poezjazz


SOLITON 382

By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by the Polish/Israeli ensemble, co-led by Polish trombonist Grzegorz Rogala and Israeli saxophonist Sagit Zilberman. The ensemble includes also pianist Witold Janiak, bassist Wojciech Pulcyn and drummer Krzysztof Szmańda. Two vocalists also take part in this recording: Barbara Rogala, who sings (in Hebrew) on one track and Małgorzata Hutek, who sings (in Polish) on two other tracks. The album presents seven original compositions, five of which were composed by Rogala, two were composed by Zilberman and the remaining track is a traditional melody arranged by Rogala. The lyrics of two of the vocal tracks are by the Polish/Jewish writer Bruno Schultz, murdered during the Holocaust, and the third vocal track uses the Biblical text taken from the "Song of Songs". The album was recorded at the excellent Studio Tokarnia, with Jan Smoczynski presiding, which of course is a trademark of excellent sound quality.

The album's title is misleading, as it implies that the entire album belongs to the Jazz & Poetry sub-genre, which of course is more popular in Polish Jazz than anywhere else on this planet. However since only the three vocal tracks fall within the idiom's boundaries, this extrapolation is unjustified and confusing.

The album presents a series of fine mainstream compositions, mostly well built and quite interesting, all very well executed by the musicians, who are all professional and talented. Rogala is the main soloist and his trombone parts are always a pleasure to listen to, displaying sparks of virtuosity and highly personal stylistic approach. The rest of the instrumental parts are, as already stated, well done, but somewhat lack a flicker of inspiration or luster, which would make this music truly exciting. The vocal parts don't work very well, as the singers struggle with the text trying to fit it within the complex melodic and harmonic structure of the songs or with a language (Hebrew) they are not familiar with, but of course are by and large acceptable.

In short this is a nice album, which many listeners will find satisfactory, but considering the incredible high level of albums released in Poland these days, it certainly does not reach the level of excellence one would hope for.

 

Witold Janiak Trio – Cinema Meets Jazz (2013) ***1/2

Witold Janiak - piano
Wojciech Pulcyn - bass
Cezary Konrad - drums
Andrzej Zielak - bass
Kamil Miszewski - drums

PRIVATE EDITION






By Adam Baruch

This is the third album by Polish Jazz pianist / composer Witold Janiak, and his debut recording in the piano trio format. There are actually two different trios present on this album, one with bassist Wojciech Pulcyn and drummer Cezary Konrad and the other with bassist Andrzej Zielak and drummer Kamil Miszewski. All the tracks were recorded at the excellent Studio Tokarnia and engineered by Jan Smoczynski, which guaranties the highest sound quality. The album includes nine tracks, all of which are, as the title suggests, famous movie themes arranged by Janiak for the piano trio.

Playing cinematic music in a Jazzy manner is of course a treacherous ground, since such projects have been attempted numerous times in the past, and by the absolute top Jazz players all over the world. Therefore the idea is hardly innovative or original and anybody attempting such a project has to be prepared to offer some bonus values, like extraordinary virtuosic performance or highly inventive arrangements. Sadly this album offers none of the above.

Of course Janiak and his rhythm sections are skilled players with years of experience behind them, which results in excellent performances, but the music lacks sparkle and inspiration. This is painfully evident on the trio's interpretation of Krzysztof Komeda's theme from Rosemary's Baby, which has been performed incessantly by other Polish Jazz musicians. Overall the album presents some pleasant and well played piano trio Jazz, but fails to cross over into prominence.

Witold Janiak - Mainstreet Quartet (2010)

The cover of this CD very well reflects the mood of the music inside: sunny, relaxing evening, drinks, smiling girls as brown as a berry. And from speakers music as mellow and elegant as Martini is sipping. However if someone decided to listen to it more carefully he would discover how masterfully it is accomplished, that it is by no means prosy but has links to such great formations of the past as fusion jazz Chick Corea's Return To Forever, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters or smooth jazz giants David Sandborn (clearly inspiration for saxophonist Michał Kobojek) or Bob James (the same for piano player Witold Janiak). Other musicians in this quartet are bassist Marcin Błasiak and drummer Emil Waluchowski who give a very solid support in rhythm section.

This recording prove that many prizes that befell on this group, among them Grand Prix of Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa, the festival organized under auspices of Tomasz Stańko himself, were by no means accidental. By this album they show that there is still something worthful to say on smooth side of jazz and that jazz is so interesting because it has so many faces, not only free or avant garde, but also easy-to-listen and melodic, sometimes traditional and dance-like.

Please, listen to one song from this album Thursday Evening. More music is available on following web page where you can also find in my opinion the best track on this album, the interpretation of Herbie Hancock's Chameleon (http://www.myspace.com/mainstreetquartet), a truly wonderful tune! I am waiting impatiently for their next recording where I hope they will go deeper in this direction, rehearsing hidden gems jazz of undervalued jazz of fusion era...

Author of text: Maciej Nowotny (http://kochamjazz.blox.pl/html)