Maciek Mazurek - My Home (2023)

Maciek Mazurek

Maciek Mazurek - gitary
Piotr Mazurek - gitara basowa
Michał Maliński - perkusja

gościnnie:
Artur Lesicki - gitara akustyczna
Tomasz Wendt - saksofon tenorowy
Robert Jarmużek - klawisze
Natalia Lubrano - wokal
Bartek Pająk - perskusjonalia (2,3,6,7)

My Home (2023)

Wydawca: V Records

Autor tekst: Maciej Nowotny

Zachęcony znakomitym albumem "Daily Things" (2023) młodego saksofonisty Tomasz Wendta sięgnąłem po ten krążek zatytułowany skromnie "My Home". I nie zawiodłem się, bo młody Wendt zagrał brawurowo w utworze zatytułowanym "Minor Ground", ale przy tym okazało się, że cała płyta ma o wiele więcej do zaoferowania niż tylko jego obecność. Przede wszystkim jest to debiut gitarzysty Maćka Mazurka i jego trio, w skład którego wchodzą ponadto basista Piotr Mazurek i perkusista Michał Maliński. Od razu "rzuca się w uszy", że to świetni rzemieślnicy. Wszystko jest zagrane na naprawdę bardzo wysokim poziomie. I chociaż to formalnie debiut Maćka to mimo młodego wieku jest on doświadczonym muzykiem, znanym tak w środowisku jazzowym jak i muzyki popularnej, gdzie współpracował m.in. z Edytą Bartosiewicz, Justyną Steczkowską czy Edytą Górniak. Ten flirt z muzyką popularną być może sprawił, że napisana na album muzyka jest przystępna, melodyjna, łatwa wpadająca w ucho. Idealna do porannej kawy, jazdy samochodem na wakacje, kolacji z przyjaciółmi. Ociera się niekiedy o smooth jazz, ale nie przekracza granicy dobrego smaku. Przy powtarzających się odsłuchach może nieco tracić ze względu na zamknięty charakter utworów, ale nie każdy potrzebuje czuć się współautorem odsłuchiwanej muzyki. Do atutów muzyki należą też zaproszeni goście, oprócz Wendta, np. znany ze współpracy z Markiem Napiórkowskiem gitarzysta Artur Ślesicki - cudny "sound" na gitarze klasycznej Artura w dialogu z liderem w pięknej piosence "Meeting With Friends" przenosi od razu całą muzykę w stratosferę. Także pozostali goście wnoszą coś ciekawego, osobistego, mieszcząc się zgrabnie i z klasą w paradygmacie jazzu jako muzyki rozrywkowej. Dla niektórych ta rozrywka będzie zbyt sztampowa, ale inni - ze swego punktu widzenia zapewne słusznie - stwierdzą, że rozrywka ma po prostu rozrywać i kropka.

Maciek Mazurek · My Home

Marek Napiórkowski/Artur Lesicki – Celuloid (2015)

Marek Napiórkowski/Artur Lesicki

Marek Napiórkowski - guitar
Artur Lesicki - guitar

Celuloid

V RECORDS 009




By Adam Baruch

This is the fifth album as a leader (or co-leader in this case) by Polish guitarist/composer Marek Napiórkowski, one of the most respected musicians on the local scene. This time Napiórkowski teams up with another Polish guitarist/composer Artur Lesicki, and as a duo they deliver a series of wonderful tunes, dedicated, as the title suggests, to the Polish Cinema and the music associated with Polish Cinematic Art. The album's nine tracks feature music from six classic Polish movies (or TV series), composed by such luminaries as Krzysztof Komeda, Tomasz Stańko, Wojciech Kilar, Andrzej Kurylewicz and others, directed by no less iconic figures such as Roman Polański, Andrzej Wajda and others. Both Napiórkowski and Lesicki contribute one original composition each, with the title tune (by Napiórkowski) repeated twice.

The intimate and delicate duet setting creates a truly magical atmosphere, with the perfect balance between the acoustic and touches of electric sound, melody and improvisation, lyricism and inspiration. In fact this is definitely one of the best guitar duo albums I had the pleasure to listen to ever since I can remember. It is a perfect example of a case when two musicians simply amalgamate into one completely symbiotic and integral musical unit. Although obviously at some moments one of the players does play the lead and the other accompanies him, interchangeably of course, they are at all times simply one instrument, producing a coherent and fused soundscape.

The music selections as well as the original compositions are all beyond reproach and the affectionate and intelligent treatment applied by the musicians awards everything such great music deserves: respect, love and personal involvement. Although seemingly basic and simple, the resulting music is full of intricacies that can be revealed only by very attentive and open-minded listening, which this exquisite album truly deserves.

It is such a pleasure to see Napiórkowski move forward and try new things on his musical path. Compared to the complexity and sophistication of his previous album "Up!" the intimacy and modesty of this album might appear as strikingly different, and yet Napiórkowski manages to preserve the quality and total dedication in full, regardless of the external form of his work. There are but a few musicians around with such class.

In short this is simply a gem of an album, which enchants and uplifts spiritually from the very first to the very last note delivered. Superb sound quality and production turn it into a superb aesthetic treasure, which should not leave any listener unmoved. Hats off to both magicians!

Slawek Dudar Quartet – Inside City (2014) ***1/2

Slawek Dudar - saxophone
Robert Jarmuzek - piano
Adam Kabacinski - bass
Wojciech Bulinski - drums
with
Artur Lesicki - guitar
Jacek Zamecki - vocals

LUNA 337



By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album as a leader by Polish Jazz saxophonist / composer Slawek Dudar, recorded by his quartet, which also includes pianist Robert Jarmuzek, bassist Adam Kabacinski and drummer Wojciech Bulinski. A couple of guest musicians: vocalist Jacek Zamiecki and guitarist Artur Lesicki participate on selected tracks. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Dudar.

Musically the album presents the lighter side of the Jazz spectrum, somewhere between mainstream, Jazz-Rock Fusion (when the guitar is present) and Smooth Jazz, but in contrast to most albums released with such characteristics it is a solid and valuable contribution, especially due to the excellent compositions, which are all surprisingly diverse, melodic and far from being trivial or banal. Actually some of these tunes are truly outstanding to be honest.

Dudar has a nice tone and plays with self-confidence and a lot of feeling. He manages to sty within the Jazz framework and not cross over to the Smooth Jazz vocabulary (or lack of it), which is often the case. Jarmuzek plays some splendid piano parts, very supportive and always displaying great taste. His contributions keep the album solidly on the Jazz ground. The rhythm section, especially the drums, although perfectly executed and technically fine, is a bit too Rocky for my taste, but that is a minor point.

The album has a very good sound quality, balance and ambience, which in addition to the fine music makes it a most pleasant listening voyage. For me this music is "sunny" and perfect for a ride on a shore in our kind of weather. Sometimes the morose Polish melancholy is simply too much, and this album manages to avoid it almost completely, except for the last tune, which is a beautiful ballad dedicated to the EST trio – not surprisingly. Very well done gentlemen!