Irek Wojtczak - saks. sopranowy, klarnet basowy Tomasz Dąbrowski - trąbka Emil Miszk - trąbka Tomasz Ziętek - trąbka Piotr Chęcki - saks. tenorowy Michał Ciesielski - saks. sopranowy Piotr Mania - fortepian Paweł Niewiadomski - puzon Adam Żuchowski - kontrabas Krzysztof Szmańda - perkusja
Ta recenzja powinna ukazać się już dawno. Przecież "Suita" była dodatkiem do numeru JAZZ Forum w marcu 2023! .
Niestety… praca, praca, przygoda w stacji RadioJAZZ.FM... no i to półtora roku ciężkiej harówy aktorskiej jako hoplita na planie zdjęciowym "Odysei"...
This is a live recording by a
quintet led by Polish Jazz saxophonist/composer Irek Wojtczak, which also
includes trumpeter Tomasz Dąbrowski, pianist Piotr Mania, bassist Adam Żuchowski and drummer Kuba Staruszkiewicz. The quintet plays music that was
recorded by the "American" quintet led by Wojtczak, which recorded
the splendid "Folk Five" album for the For Tune label slightly over a
year before this music was recorded. As the title suggests, this recording is
another attempt to play almost the same music that was recorded for the
"Folk Five" album, but this time by an all-Polish quintet. The album
presents eight tunes, all originating in Polish Folklore and arranged by
Wojtczak, six of which were already recorded on "Folk Five" and two
are new tunes used here for the first time.
The musical concept is of
course quite clear: Jazz-World Fusion which transfers some of the treasures of
Polish Folklore into the Jazz idiom, an idea that is quite common in Polish
Jazz since its Genesis. As usual, some efforts dealing with this concept worked
out better than others, but overall the seven or so decades of Polish Jazz
produced a sizable and highly original amount of superb music created under
this moniker. The aforementioned "Folk Five" album was definitely one
of the highlights of that idiom and the attempt to try and repeat the magic
that happened on that album was a bold and audacious undertaking. I am happy to
say that Wojtczak and his cohorts not only managed to recreate the magic, but also
managed to take the music to a higher plane.
There is of course no doubt as
to the quality of the music or the level of the execution, they are both simply
extraordinary. Therefore the comparison between the two versions of the music
must touch upon the fundamental differences between American and European Jazz,
of which these two albums are a textbook example or even a paradigm. One might
of course say that such comparison is a priori unfair, as the Polish Jazz
musicians are way more familiar and culturally accustomed to the Polish
Folklore element of the music than their American counterparts. But such
argument is simply irrelevant, as these two albums clearly show. These albums
are different not because the lack of familiarity with Polish Folklore by the
American musicians, but by the intrinsic attitude towards improvisation and
even more broadly towards music making, between the American and the European
Jazz musicians.
As a result of these
fundamental differences "Folk Five" remains an excellent, very well
played album, whereas "Play It Again" shows where the same music can get
to, when played without the restrictions the American Jazz tradition imposes
even on the best musicians. The flair, elegance, imagination, feeling and openness
present on this album takes it to a completely new level of awareness and creativity.
But comparisons aside, this is
above all a masterpiece of modern Polish/European Jazz, which takes the
Jazz-World Fusion idiom light years ahead in comparison to its rather humble
beginnings, clearly showing that Polish Jazz is a stronghold of originality, imagination
and musical ingenuity. This is an absolute must to
every Polish Jazz fan and a supreme gem of an album for all seasons. Hats off!
This is the debut album as a leader by Polish Jazz saxophonist Dariusz Herbasz and his double tenor saxophone quintet, which also includes saxophonist Tomasz Grzegorski, pianist Piotr Mania, bassist Adam Zuchowski and drummer Tomasz Sowinski. The album comprises of six original compositions, all by Herbasz and was recorded at the superb Tokarnia Studio with engineer Jan Smoczynski presiding.
If I would have been subjected to listening to this album in a blindfold test situation, I would be sure this is an unknown recording of mid 1960s Blue Note period, as this music has the distinctive feel of modern mainstream, which flourished at the time and was captured for posterity by Rudy Van Gelder. The warmth and presence of the overall sound and the crisp piano sound are quite remarkable.
But of course there is also the music, which stylistically returns to that wonderful period that summarized the Jazz tradition bringing it to sheer perfection on one hand and opening doors for the free form just wide enough to make it interesting on the other hand. These wonderful compositions are truly grand on every level; there are some beautiful melancholic melodies, several great vamps, and a strange feeling of familiarity even upon the first hearing. I must admit that it's been a while since I've heard a collection of such superbly crated tunes on one album.
Herbasz takes a considerable risk with the double tenor saxophone frontline, since such setting is often prone to clashes and outright contest rather than cooperation, but also opens intriguing opportunities of harmonizing and completing each other. It's a pleasure to hear how well this situation was handled here, enabling both players to solo as well as play together in a variety of quite distinct musical surroundings and atmospheres. Both saxophonists [lay remarkably well, both when simply stating the lyricism of a melody or venturing into almost free form excursions.
The rhythm section is excellent as well, providing the ideal support for the soloists and framing the musical expressions with just the right amount of direction, allowing space for less constrained experimentation at times. The pianist is an ideal harmonizer and his vamping is a classic form obviously learned from the best. Bass is round, clear and worm and the drums play exactly the amount of time keeping to keep everything tick, with some great topping of inventive drumming. The overall dynamic sensitivity of the entire rhythm section is simply just what the doctor ordered to make the music perfect.
This is a remarkable debut and a brilliant Jazz album, which comprises of everything that makes Jazz such a great music: it's interesting, artistic, intelligent, well played and above all honest, simply stating the artist's credo and not trying to be something it isn't. Well done indeed!
Irek Wojtczak – saxophones, flute Piotr Mania- piano Patryk Stachura – bass Kuba Staruszkiewicz – drums
Outlook (Allegro Records, 2007)
This is an excellent album by Polish Jazz saxophonist / flautist / composer Irek Wojtczak and his quartet Outlook, which also includes pianist Piotr Mania, bassist Patryk Starucha and drummer Kuba Staruszkiewicz. The album comprises of six original compositions, three of which are by Wojtczak and the other three are co-credited to all the quartet members.
Wojtczak is one of the busiest players on the local scene and is featured on quite a few recordings made in the last decade, both as a leader and a sideman, which span very versatile musical settings, proving that he feels comfortable in any situation. His technical proficiency and musical maturity are truly admirable, as are his compositional skills.
This particular recording is kept in a "retro" Jazz-Rock Fusion atmosphere, emphasized by the excellent utilization of the electric piano, re-creating the ambience of early days of the genre à la Herbie Hancock. But the music is completely original and up to date, with brilliant melody lines, which serve as a vehicle for expanded improvisations by the leader and the pianist. The rhythm section is also first class, providing just the right amount of support for the soloist during their solos and keeping the entire show appropriately slick and funky.
Overall this album is a most pleasant listening experience, with intelligent and aesthetically satisfying music and first rate playing. Both mainstream and Jazz-Rock listeners should find listening to this album a valuable experience. Wholeheartedly recommended!
Piotr Mania- piano
Patryk Stachura – bass
Kuba Staruszkiewicz – drums
Outlook (Allegro Records, 2007)
Irek Wojtczak is still young but his career is very interesting example of how young generation avoid being classified in one genre only. He is doing equally fine in experimental "Freeyo" (2009) or "Jebał Was pies" (2010), free jazz "Trio+2" (2011), avantgarde "A-Kineton" (2012) and mainstream releases like this one titled "Outlook". This is just a sample of many more recordings he did during his career but nonetheless proving not only his immense versatility but also that his skills are highly valued by other artists. It is important to note that in all these projects there were involved best musicians and that they may be counted as most important in jazz music in Poland in recent years.
What distinguish "Outlook" from all previously mentioned discs is that it is Wojtczak's own album, second (as far as I gathered), after "Look to the Sky" (2004) while in 2011 he issued his last disc "Direct Memory Access". This last album was disappointment to me, it was too eclectic, lacked internal coherency. On the other hand when I had the opportunity to listen to material from this record played live during recent JazzArt Festival in Katowice it made very good impression on me! It was very interesting and creative mixture of modern jazz and Polish folk music, so well moulded as nobody else did since such great recordings of the past as Namysłowski's "Kuyaviak Goes Funky".
"Outlook" is less looking for something new but rather exploring mainstream jazz field but it does so with an astonishiong skill indeed. Everything here is on very high level: great, though young, musicians (pianist Piotr Mania deserves exceptional praise), deep interplay between them, inspiring tunes all composed by the leader. If Wojtczak one day unites in certain future project of his this incredible technical proficieny of "Outlook" and creativity of "Direct Memory Access" or some of his free jazz projects, Polish jazz will obviously gain an artist of the greatest calibre. That is at least what I would like for him to happen!
Piotr Mania- piano
Tomek Sowiński- drums
Adam Żuchowski- bass
Pearl (4 Ever Music, 2009)
Piotr Mania has immense talent and with this album he made first recording under his own name. And it turned out to be very successful move since he was awarded for it with prestigious Fryderyk Award for best debut of year 2011. Moreover, as evidenced by his last record "Jazz na pTak" which is even better, he is committed to stay on this track and is developing fast. All in all this trio has all potential necessary to be soon counted among best cool jazz trio in Poland!
I was very curious about this recording, good opinions about it reached me from many directions. The explanation of this good opinions is simple: album's strongest side are melodies, all penned by a leader, guitarist Marcin Wądołowski. He really deserves accolade for them as one after another the tunes keep listener attached to speakers, the music flows so captivating, so well played, so light and warm that it is impossible to stop. Moreover it is all very well played, musicianship is at astonishing level and to no surprise since players participating in this session are from first ranks in Polish jazz: Piotr Mania on piano, Adam Czerwiński on drums, Darek Herbasz on saxophone and Janusz Mackiewicz on double-bass, they all play perfectly. So summarizing it is decent debut album although I am a bit worried where Marcin Wądołowski will go from this point? If he continues to play even prettier and sweeter on his next albums he will soon find himself on smooth side of jazz. And I am not sure this is the turn of events he desires most...
There are in Polish jazz musicians almost completely unknown to public who nonetheless have outstanding skills and should be much more appreciated. Such a list would be long so let me now focus only on pianists and give you few names as examples: Michał Tokaj ("Bird Alone"), Leszek Kułakowski ("Code Numbers"), Joanna Gajda ("Heaven Earth") or Piotr Mania, a man about whom I want to write few words now. His style may be described as cool, referring clearly to line started by Bill Evans, then picked up by Keith Jarrett and so creatively developed by great Scandinavian jazz pianists like Bobo Stenson, Esbjorn Svensson or Tord Gustavsen. But he somehow manages to saturate this language with his own individuality which though low-profile, unobtrusive, laid down is as distinct as once was for example Kenny Drew's style or recently Kenny Werners's or Fred Hersch's are. His music rustles, whispers and purrs in most relaxing way yet without ever sliding into being too smooth, too conventional, too pretty.
So the question arises what are our chances to listen to the music as created by this talented pianist? Two years ago in 2009 he released his debut album with the same trio titled "Pearl" which was recognized as best jazz debut in that year and awarded prestigious Fryderyk award in 2010. He also took part in many projects as sideman out of which I liked most his collaboration with drummer Tomek Sowiński and his The Collective Improvisation Group (check album "Synergy"). Not much however was heard about him since then so I was recently very pleasantly surprised that to one of biggest Polish newspapers this disc was attached as promo! Financed by some energy company, intended to promote knowledge about nature, especially birds, whose sounds and trills are incorporated gracefully into music and distributed free in thousands of copies by one of Polish biggest newspapers it is perhaps showing the way for other musicians to follow if they want their music to reach much wider audience than typical jazz ghetto. Congratulations to all sides involved in this exceptional project!
Check a tune form this album titled "Hejnały na bagnach":
Irek Wojtczak, reedist, is player whom I hold in high esteem. Only recently he took part as sideman in such successful projects as free jazz "Freeyo" (2009) with Michał Goś and Wojtek Mazolewski, mainstream on Krystyna Stańko "Secretly" (2010) or ethnojazz Wojciech Staroniewicz "Afreakan Project" (2011). I only mentioned few out of many and it is then no surprise he came to conclusion that time has come for project under his own name. In this undertaking he is backed first of all by trumpeter Tomasz Ziętek who is not only playing on this album but also together with Wojtczak arranged more than half of all tunes. They are backed by magnificent pack of Polish jazz players with names like Przemek Dyakowski, Kuba Staruszkiewicz, Michał Goś, Adam Żuchowski, Piotr Mania, Tymon Tymański, Sławek Jaskułke, Leszek Możdżer, Dominik Bukowski appearing. The only musician not present here is Tomasz Stańko, I am joking of course, but judging by list of players who took part in this recording it should be one of the best albums in recent years. List of players is yet incomplete because "Direct Memory Access" provides kind of ethnojazz music we find here also quite numerous pack of Polish folk players, few musicians with African background and even a choir of Tibetan monks! And string quartet!! I wonder how Irek Wojtczak managed to finance this incredible cast? This is truly fantastic organizational achievement!!!
But from musical point of view it is unsatisfactory. Strange blend of music genders, featuring crowd of players, it leaves impression of chaos and lack of direction. Arrangements are pop-like, music is written to be easy-to-listen and one wonders for what purpose all these fantastic players were gathered here? To play such trivial, shallow and uncomplicated notes? Doubtful as doubtful is artistic effect of all this tremendous effort...
Goddamn Polish Jazz so motherfucker strong! exclaimed one of my American colleagues upon hearing this recording. And indeed it is extremely funky although names of musicians involved in this project may be totally unknown and impossible to spell for foreign listeners. Nonetheless they are all creme de creme of Polish young jazz players and they really do hit the roof with this music!
Groove is strong in this music as once force in Luke Skywalker. Recently in one of my texts I cried over the fact that we lack in Poland of drummers of calibre of Jack DeJohnette, Jim Black or Jeff "Tain" Watts. But this record headed by young Polish drummer Tomasz Sowiński proves that I was completely wrong. His work on both drums and Łukasz Ruszkowski's on percussion is so creative and forward-thinking that I simply find no words to express my admiration for them. Everything rustles, bounces and leaps in this music! Rhythm is omnipresent as Holy Ghost in hearts of true (jazz) believers.
Finally let me underline the role played in this recording by Piotr Mania. His presence on the piano reminds me very much of Kenny Drew style. Like Drew Mania remains low profile, subtle and vigilant to slightest changes in complicated rhythms of music but he never fails to support, nurture and expand it.
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