Ignacy Jan Wiśniewski + Kamil Dominiak – Kantata Jazzowa (2018)

Ignacy Jan Wiśniewski + Kamil Dominiak

Ignacy Jan Wiśniewski - piano
Adam Żuchowski - double bass
Paweł Osicki - drums
Kamil Dominiak - vocals

Kantata Jazzowa

MOOD AND WOOD 0011


By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by Polish Jazz pianist/composer Ignacy Jan Wiśniewski, recorded with the same trio he used to record his debut, which includes bassist Adam Żuchowski and drummer Paweł Osicki. In addition the album features also vocalist Kamil Dominiak. Together they present eight "songs", all composed by Wiśniewski to the lyrics written specifically for this project by Polish Poet Michał Rusinek. The entire song cycle is called a "Jazz Cantata" and of course firmly belongs to the marvelous Polish Jazz & Poetry tradition. The album was beautifully recorded at the now legendary Monochrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy Gruszecki.

The music presents an ambitious amalgam of cross-genre modern Jazz, with roots in contemporary Classical music, melodic mainstream Jazz and Avant-Garde improvisation, all tastefully put together with the lyrics, creating an impressive and powerful statement. Wiśniewski, who concentrates mainly on composing music for theatre, has definitely a very strong theatrical "streak" as a composer, which comes to full bloom herein.

The music is wonderfully executed, both on the instrumental and the vocal layers. Dominiak, who is not a Jazz singer, stands up to the challenge with flying colors, using his vocal abilities and more importantly theatrical expressionism to the max. The piano trio offers some excellent instrumental passages, shifting between melodic/rhythmic statements and Free Improvised moments with grace and elegance. The album offers a perfect balance between the instrumental and vocal contents, without one or the other being dominant, which is a rare quality in such projects.

The poetry, which sadly is only accessible to native Polish speakers, is a wonderful example of the thriving contemporary Polish Poetry scene. Rusinek (well-known as the private secretary of the great Polish Poetess Wisława Szymborska) is an accomplished writer/translator/poet and his brilliant plays on words are a true delight. Overall this is another valuable addition to the Polish Jazz & Poetry legacy, which is being kept alive by the new generation of Polish Jazz composers/musicians, with the same passion and dedication as that of the pioneers of the genre six decades earlier. Definitely highly recommended!

Ignacy Wiśniewski Trio – Jazz Shirim (2016)

Ignacy Wiśniewski Trio

Ignacy Wiśniewski - piano
Adam Żuchowski - bass
Paweł Osicki - drums

Jazz Shirim

WOOD AND MOOD 0001




By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album as a leader by young Polish Jazz pianist/composer Ignacy Wiśniewski, recorded in a trio format with bassist Adam Żuchowski and drummer Paweł Osicki. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Wiśniewski, that were originally created for a theatre production about the Jewish Community in Gdansk before and during the WWII. The Hebrew word "shirim" means songs.

The music is an ambitious amalgam of melodic modern mainstream and free form improvisation. The pieces start with a clearly stated melody, followed by much less restrained improvisations, which are also very diverse rhythmically. The compositions are therefore just frameworks that are filled up by the improvised parts. This is definitely a very unusual and bold musical statement, which is also quite listenable in spite of its complexity and sincerity.

The trio performs as a very tight unit, responding attentively to each other and complementing each other's statements. Although there is a lot of space and freedom in this music, the trio members are closely coupled at all times, which produces a wonderful effect of group cohesiveness. Sometimes music created for theatre or cinema has no independent existence, but this music definitely holds the floor on its own, being completely relevant in its minimal form, which of course speaks greatly of its qualities. It does not make any artistic compromises or attempts to be more acceptable and it manages to fascinate and create a lot of tension for the attentive listener, which happens relatively rarely.

Overall this is a very impressive debut, and although the music was recorded a while ago, it's good to see it finally released, as it certainly deserves to be heard. Serious Jazz connoisseurs should enjoy this music in full. Wholeheartedly recommended!

Festiwal "jaZZ i Okolice" - Kaszebe II; Peter Evans Quintet; Saagara

By Tomasz Łuczak

Kilka tygodni temu wraz z dobrym znajomym wspólnie zastanawialiśmy się nad znaczeniem yassu jako zjawiska kulturotwórczego w ujęciu totalnym. Który to już raz przywoływaliśmy nie tylko charakterystykę samej muzyki, ale i koncepcyjność oraz ideowość wynikającą chociażby z treści tekstów (Kury, Trupy). Umówmy się, właściwie nic nowego, tutaj wszystko zostało już powiedziane i przemielone po wielokroć. Niemniej dla fana yassowego fenomenu, każda okazja do przypomnienia historycznych momentów może być co najmniej pociągająca. Ten eklektyczny, sentymentalny kontekst powrócił do mnie podczas chorzowskiego koncertu Ola Walickiego (swego czasu jednego z ważnych filarów yassu) z projektem Kaszebe II.

Walicki proponuje tutaj drugą odsłonę swojej autorskiej wizji Kaszub, naznaczoną swoistą trójmiejską dezynwolturą, odważnym igraniem z publicznością na granicy dobrego smaku, czy fekalianym humorem i sowizdrzalstwem a la Tymon Tymański (znakomity Bunio na wokalu). To miejsce, gdzie przewrotna ironia i tandeta Wojciecha Smarzowskiego rodem z „Wesela” przeplata się z ekwilibrystyką słowną Doroty Masłowskiej. Gdzie w sposób inteligentny kiczowata swojskość współistnieje z elegancją na tych samych prawach, a nad wszystkim unoszą się symboliczne opary „Polovirusa”. Dodatkowo cała ta treść w połączeniu z formą muzyczną – mieszaniną pozornie prymitywnego synth popu, rocka alternatywnego spod znaku Captaina Beefhearta czy Pere Ubu, elementów jazz-rocka, folkowych przyśpiewek i znalezionych przez Walickiego fragmentów starych, kaszubskich zaśpiewek – daje piorunujący efekt. No ale jeśli w składzie legendarny gitarzysta Piotr Pawlak czy trębacz Tomek Ziętek, to czy można się dziwić?

Spotkać po raz kolejny Petera Evansa na żywo, to zawsze jest wydarzenie. I nieważne, czy akurat będzie to występ solowy, duetowy, kwartet, kwintet czy orkiestra. Zawsze zwraca uwagę, zawsze wprawia w poruszenie zwoje mózgowe, nigdy nie pozostawia obojętnym. Ileż to już razy pisano o jego technicznej perfekcji, wzorcowo wycyzelowanym brzmieniu, przedstawiano go jako modelowy wręcz przykład idealnego trębacza nowych czasów. 

W Sosnowcu zaprezentował projekt szczególny, czyli elektroakustyczny kwintet, gdzie dla mnie osobiście szczególną rolę prócz Evansa tworzą dwie indywidualności – wielka legenda perkusji Jim Black oraz Sam Pluta odpowiadający za instrumenty elektroniczne i wszelkie dźwiękowe preparacje. Przypadek Pluty jest tu oczywiście podwójnie interesujący. Pozornie niepasujący ze swoimi „udziwnionymi” instrumentami, bo śmiało i bezczelnie ingerujący w akustyczny kontekst formacji, tak jakby rozsadzając wewnętrzną, improwizowaną symbiozę grupy, prowadzący swoją własną elektroniczną narrację, jednocześnie pozostający w intuicyjnym kontakcie z każdym z muzyków. No i mój cichy bohater Jim Black, znakomicie odnajdujący się w tej całej gmatwaninie pełnej matematyki – przestrzenny, precyzyjny, niejednoznaczny, najbardziej bliski idiomowi jazzowemu. 

Ten koncert to cała prawda o muzyce proponowanej przez Evansa – momentami ekstremalnie wymagająca, inteligentna, przytłaczająca wielością znaczeń i rozwiązań, do bólu techniczna, bardzo złożona i intelektualna, w jakiś sposób ryzykowna, zimna i karkołomna. No ale podobno tak właśnie funkcjonują wielkie muzyczne osobowości.

Po takich koncertach ogromnie kusi nazwać Wacława Zimpla najbardziej etnicznym z naszych improwizatorów. Z jednej strony, biorąc pod uwagę pełny kontekst jego dokonań oraz funkcjonowania na muzycznej mapie świata, byłoby to nazbyt oczywiste i chyba jednak pretensjonalne. I nie chodzi już tylko o całą przeszłość związaną z nieodżałowaną Herą, projektami z Raphaelem Rogińskim czy Mikołajem Trzaską. O tym wszystkim już wiemy i nie ma sensu po raz setny mielenie tego wątku. Z drugiej strony mam jednak nieodparte wrażenie, że w przypadku projektu Saagara Zimpel pozwolił sobie na najgłębszą eksplorację definicji „etno”. Z całym pomysłem stuprocentowego zanurzenia się w tradycję, pewną swoistą obrzędowość, z absolutnym odkrywaniem jak najszerszego spektrum w tym przypadku staroindyjskiego dziedzictwa kulturowego. 

Jak opisują swój świat sami muzycy – z jednej strony funkcjonuje tu złożona i skomplikowana koncepcja muzyki karnatyckiej, z drugiej – a jakże – historia europejskiej muzyki improwizowanej, w której Wacław czuje się jak ryba w wodzie. Charakter korzennej celebracji uzupełniają specyficzne instrumenty o egzotycznie brzmiących nazwach – khaen, thavil, ghatam czy khanjira. A do tego wszystkiego coś, co mnie osobiście zaskoczyło najbardziej, czyli duża komunikatywność i klarowność przedstawionej koncepcji muzycznej, co oczywiście przełożyło się na odpowiednie, wielce pozytywne reakcje publiczności. Do pełni szczęścia brakowało tylko Dona Cherry’ego, Lestera Bowie’ego czy Archiego Sheppa. Jeden z najlepszych koncertów tegorocznej edycji festiwalu „jaZZ i okolice”.

Yeshe – Piastowska 1 (2012)

Yeshe

Antoni Gralak - trumpet
Piotr Pawlak - guitar
Darek Makaruk - keyboards
Paweł Osicki - percussion

Piastowska 1

SONY 887654098221



By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by the Polish ensemble Yeshe, led by the legendary trumpeter/composer Antoni Gralak, who was a member of such groundbreaking Polish ensembles as Free Cooperation, Young Power and Tie Break and participated in countless other projects over the years, including leading his ensembles like Graal and Yeshe. This incarnation of Yeshe includes also guitarist Piotr Pawlak and keyboardist Darek Makaruk who is in charge of a plethora of electronic effects and sampling. The music, all original by Gralak, was recorded live and is dedicated to the Polish pioneering visual Artist Andrzej Urbanowicz.

Stylistically the music presents a wide spectrum of contemporary musical trends and incorporates such diverse influences as Avant-garde Jazz, electronic music, Techno, Industrial and World Music. The amalgamated result is a completely original and unique blend, which is fascinating and electrifying from start to finish.

The basic formula presents Gralak improvising on top of an ambient/sampled background, which changes from track to track both rhythmically and conceptually. A trained listener will hear many citations form Indian and other Far Eastern Cultures, as well as samples of exotic instruments like sitar, tabla and a plethora of others. Gralak's trumpet work is nothing short of brilliant and brings immediately memories of his Free Cooperation cohort Andrzej Przybielski, who is sadly no longer with us. Throughout the entire duration of this album Gralak improvises almost without a break, in a truly phenomenal form.

This album is not only a rare musical gem, but also a wonderful example of completely boundless music, which crosses cultural, stylistic and time borders effortlessly and elegantly. It definitely deserves a much wider recognition that it actually has today. Brilliant stuff!

Yeshe - Yeshe Live Piastowska 1 (2012) ***

Yeshe (band)

Antoni Gralak - trąbka
Piotr Pawlak - gitara
Darek Makaruk - sampling
Paweł Osicki - perkusja

Yeshe Live Piastowska 1 (2012)

By Maciej Nowotny

The moving force behind this project is trumpeter Antoni Gralak. He is well known for his openness to different musical genres which manifested itself in being involved in yass (Free Cooperation), mainstream jazz (Young Power) or even rock projects (Tie Break). Eventually he matured enough to start his own enterprises of which GRAAL and YESHE seem most significant. In YESHE he is supported by his long time companion veteran guitarist Piotr Pawlak but also by Darek Makaruk responsible for samples and by young drummer Paweł Osicki.

Musically speaking the music on this CD may be described best as kind of new jazz with strong ethnic and improvisational elements. This ethnic component is not related to Polish folk but to Middle East. In concept it is of course nothing new and if someone already knows such recordings like for example Nils Petter Molvaer "Khmer" or "Hamada" and, going even further back, some discs by late Miles Davis, he will find in YESHE exactly the same language even to the point of imitation.

Lack of originality is definitely the weakest side of this album but it is at least to certain degree redeemed by enthusiasm and energy as conveyed by this LIVE recordings. Gralak and his partners definitely feel very comfortable when playing in front of the audience and this feeling transfers itself to listener while rehearsing the music. I must confess that because of that I really enjoyed listening to this CD even if from time to time some malignant voice in my ear repeated that it all already was played by others many times before...

Tracklist:
Już tu nie wrócę 05:21
Kandro Taniec 04:47
Asioka 08:00
Beyond Time 11:38
Swayambhu 06:56
Czarny Płaszcz 04:20
Wake Up India 07:29

Andrzej Przybielski – Tren Zalobny (Multikulti, 2011) by Adam Baruch

Andrzej Przybielski - trumpet, pocket trumpet, flugelhorn, cornet

Jacek Mazurkiewicz - double bass, electronics
Paweł 'Model' Osicki - drums

Tren Żałobny (Multikulti, 2011)

This is the third posthumous release (in a few months) by the great Polish avant-garde trumpeter / composer Andrzej Przybielski, which is about as many albums as he released under his name during his entire life. This sad statistic once more reminds us that Art should be appreciated preferably while the Artist is still with us rather than when he's gone. But, "better late than never", which is a solace for the fools, applies nevertheless. This album collects the recordings (both live and studio) Przybielski made with two young musicians: bassist Jacek Mazurkiewicz and drummer Pawel Osicki, which were one of his last projects. 

The music is quite different from the acoustic trio performances with the Oles Brothers, as it also includes some electronically generated sound layers, vocal parts (with Przybielski's distinctive voice) and other effects, which expand the scope significantly. In many respects this is a lesser known side of Przybielski's activity, although he was involved with many innovative projects his entire life, some of which lied well beyond the Jazz idiom. Of course the music is brilliant and challenging as always in his case and attentive and open-minded listeners should find here an unusual and most rewarding musical experience. The album is an overwhelming proof of Przybielski's versatility and complete disregard of conventions and limitations, which makes his untimely death even more tragic, as he definitely was one of very few of his class. Modern avant-garde Jazz lovers rejoice!

Track list: 1. Intro [Andrzej Przybielski]; 2. Tren Żałobny [1]; 3. De Profundis; 4. Rotacje II, part 1; 5. Rotacje II, part 2; 6. Rotacje II, part 3 [Guru]; 7. Sacrum; 8. Tren Żałobny [2]; 9. Outro

By Adam Baruch
http://adambaruch.com/

Andrzej Przybielski - Tren Zalobny (Multikulti, 2011) by Maciej Nowotny

Andrzej Przybielski - trumpet, pocket trumpet, flugelhorn, cornet

Jacek Mazurkiewicz - double bass, electronics
Paweł 'Model' Osicki - drums

Tren Żałobny (Multikulti, 2011)

Death comes always untimely, guest unwelcome. It leaves those who stay behind speechless, shocked, awed. Like many natural disasters it should not be surprise but still it is. It is denied by 99,99 % of living creatures, especially human beings. But this album proves that they are birds that can sing even about her. One's own death to be precise.

Everything that I have just written may sound quite controversial but it is only simple reflection of what music I found on this disc. Not the nicest discovery at all: gruesome, ominous, dark. For several reasons it has all chances to provoke more doubts than other albums released after Przybielski's premature death earlier this year (February 2011).

First, it is far from complete. Being recording of music in-statu-nascendi in its obscenity it comes close to semi-pornographic pictures of models taken just before pret-a-porter show. And obviously, because of that, it's even more fascinating, negotiating well with voyeurism so characteristic for modern culture built on TV reality shows.  

Second, unlike other albums released after Przybielski's departure ("Sesja Open" and "De Profundis") his companions on this session are young musicians with whom he never played before. Jacek Mazurkiewicz (his profile on this blog) produces coarse, rough, even vulgar sound on his double bass which I am sure will be despised by many. But he knows how to follow Przybielski's mood and assisted by electronics makes tone of his trumpet more barbarian, dramatic, tribal. Paweł Osicki on drums is even more difficult to appraise: his pulse reminds me heart beat of some mammoth animal which in turn suffocates, gasps in pain, roars in anger.

Third, this is most free in spirit and experimenting albums of those three. "Sesja Open", although released summer 2011, was in fact recorded in 2006 as kind of summary to music Przybielski played with his only regular band called Asocjacja. "De Profundis" on the other hand, released in February 2011, was another instance of Przybielski cooperation with Oleś Brothers, along with "Free Bop" (2000) or "Abstract" (2005). Oleś Brothers are musicians who were among very few able to establish long-lasting and fruitful relationship with Przybielski. However "Tren Zalobny" is more adventurous, spontaneous, unpredictable and therefore perhaps closer to the innermost spirit of Przybielski music conceptions. 

Summarizing, it is extremely difficult to take position on this album. I prefer to think about it as yet unfinished journey to the essence of jazz, to its improvising soul, between  madness and sanctity, into beauty of the sound which is looming somewhere ahead, between horizon and sky...

"Rotacje II" (Guru) from this album:

Author: Maciej Nowotny

http://kochamjazz.blox.pl/html