Polish Jazz Quartet – Meets Studio M-2 (2017)

Polish Jazz Quartet

Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski - saxophone
Wojciech Karolak - piano
Juliusz Sandecki - bass
Andrzej Dąbrowski - drums

Meets Studio M-2

GAD 054


By Adam Baruch

This is a sensational archival album presenting the recordings by one of the formative modern Polish Jazz ensembles, the Polish Jazz Quartet, which comprised of saxophonist/composer Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, pianist/composer Wojciech Karolak, bassist Juliusz Sandecki and drummer Andrzej Dąbrowski. The music included herein was recorded at the Polish Radio Studio M-2 with the studio orchestra conducted by Bogusław Klimczuk. Twelve wonderful pieces of early modern Polish Jazz are included on this album, seven of which are original compositions by Wroblewski, two are original compositions by Karolak and the remaining three are by other Polish composers, arranged by Wróblewski or Karolak. This album is the only source of recorded material by the Polish Jazz Quartet other than their debut album released in 1965 as the third volume of the legendary "Polish Jazz" series.

The fact that the album does not include any American standards is extremely significant and points the way towards the development of the newborn Polish Jazz scene, which from its early days tried to create music different from the Jazz tradition, breaking away from the limitations and exploring new avenues, combining Jazz with the European musical tradition, local folklore and other influences, which eventually were to produce the "Polish Jazz Sound", which became an integral part of the Polish Cultural heritage.

Stylistically the music moves between Swing, Bebop and Orchestral Jazz, still very much rooted in the American Jazz tradition, but already clearly trying to break away from it, which can be heard especially in Wróblewski's masterful arrangements, which are very different from the American Big Band convention. The melodies are also much more sophisticated and diverse that the standard Bebop tunes, which served as vehicles for improvisation, whereas in the tunes present here the melodic contents has a much larger presence and position.

The performances by all the musicians involved in these sessions are brilliant and one would never guess that this music was recorded beyond the Iron Curtain, where Jazz was in its early stages of development (at least on the National scale) and the musicians involved had very limited access to recorded material or performing experience. Listening to this album feels like taking a time machine trip five decades back in time, in order to visit the early childhood of modern Polish Jazz and the experience is truly magical. As usual the fact that this music is available for us to enjoy is by no means trivial and only thanks to the efforts of Michał Wilczyński, owner of the GAD Records label, it became a reality. Polish Jazz connoisseurs should be ever so grateful to this man for his unprecedented work.

Polish Jazz Quartet Meets Studio M-2 - nieznane nagrania z lat 1964-66

Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski – tenor saxophone, flute
Wojciech Karolak – piano
Juliusz Sandecki – bass
Andrzej Dąbrowski – drums

Pod koniec lutego nakładem GAD Records miała miejsce premiera "nowej" płyty formacji Polish Jazz Quartet, wyjątkowego zespołu, który w latach 60. tworzyli Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, Wojciech Karolak, Andrzej Dąbrowski oraz – przemiennie – Roman Dyląg i Juliusz Sandecki. Nagrali jedną z pierwszych płyt w słynnej serii „Polish Jazz”. To jednak tylko część ich historii.

W latach 1964-66 Polish Jazz Quartet współpracował z radiowym Studiem M-2 Bogusława Klimczuka. Muzycy w składzie poszerzonym do małego big-bandu zarejestrowali szereg autorskich kompozycji oraz wyjątkowe adaptacje przedwojennych szlagierów, które dzisiaj brzmią jak najlepsze amerykańskie standardy. Wszystkie te utwory, poza kilkoma prezentacjami radiowymi, nie były nigdzie wcześniej publikowane. Teraz ukazują się na płycie CD (limitowana edycja winylowa ukaże się wiosną), wzbogacone o książeczkę z barwnymi wspomnieniami Jana Ptaszyna Wróblewskiego.

To był projekt bez precedensu – przyznaje po latach Ptaszyn. Cechą tego niezwykłego zespołu był fakt, że... tak naprawdę żadnego zespołu nie było. Pod nazwą Studia M-2 kryła się grupa aranżerów i kompozytorów, otwarte studio nagraniowe, od którego projekt wziął swoją nazwę, oraz niezwykle sprawny inspektor nagrań. Klimczuk skupił wokół siebie cały ówczesny aranżerski kwiat i był także otwarty na współpracę z jazzmanami. Każdy z nas mógł wymyślić utwór na dowolny zestaw instrumentalny – to mogła być sekcja rytmiczna ze smyczkami, mniejszy lub większy big-band, harfy, oboje, waltornie... Mogliśmy sięgać po absolutnie wszystko. Jedynym warunkiem było napisanie kilku partytur na ten sam zestaw instrumentów, by wykonawcom sesja się opłaciła.

"Polish Jazz Quartet Meets Studio M-2" kontynuuje odkrywanie nieznanych, słabo udokumentowanych płytowo kart z historii polskiego jazzu, zapoczątkowane przez GAD Records w 2010 roku albumem "Nora" kwartetu Zbigniewa Seiferta. W katalogu wydawnictwa znalazły się także liczne nagrania archiwalne Jerzego Miliana, Krzysztofa Sadowskiego czy formacji SBB. W przygotowaniu kolejne tytuły.

Andrzej Trzaskowski – Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol.05 (2013)

Andrzej Trzaskowski - piano
Zbigniew Namyslowski - saxophone
Michal Urbaniak - saxophone
Roman Dylag - bass
Juliusz Sandecki - bass
Adam Jedrzejowski - drums
Andrzej Dabrowski - drums

POLSKIE RADIO 1609


By Adam Baruch

This is the fifth installment in the new series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland's most important Jazz venue, the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well.

The material presented here presents the iconic figure of the post WWII Polish Jazz pioneer, pianist / composer Andrzej Trzaskowski. Of the twelve tracks on this album, first five are live recordings from the 1962 Jazz Jamboree Festival and the remaining seven are studio radio recordings from the same year. The material was recorded by three different lineups: The Wreckers quintet (which alternated bass players), which included saxophonists Zbigniew Namyslowski and Michal Urbaniak, bassists Roman Dylag or Juliusz Sandecki and drummer Adam Jedrzejowski, the Andrzej Trzaskowski Quintet, which had the same lineup as The Wreckers, except for drummer Andrzej Dabrowski and the Andrzej Trzaskowski Trio, which included bassist Roman Dylag and drummer Adam Jedrzejowski. The material includes both original compositions by Trzaskowski (four of the five live tracks) and modern Jazz standards.

Listeners familiar with the Polish Jazz history will of course notice immediately that the core of Trzaskowski's group (Namyslowski and Urbaniak) was also the core of the soon to be formed revolutionary ensemble led by Krzysztof Komeda, and Dylag already played with Komeda as a member of his trio at the very same Jazz Jamboree 1962 Festival. This brings on the issue of the buried controversy as to who was in fact the pivotal Godfather figure of the Polish Jazz, Andrzej Trzaskowski or Krzysztof Komeda. Komeda (born 1931), who was a couple of years older from Trzaskowski (born 1933) but they both definitely belonged to the same generation, both dominated the scene in the late 1950s and early to mid 1960s and both were breaking new ground with their music, as performers and composers. Of course Komeda will go down in history as the overall winner of this little debated contest, due to his enormous international success as composer of film music, which Trzaskowski also dealt with but with a much lesser success.

Considering the fact that Trzaskowski's recorded legacy is lamentably limited, this album is a superb addition to his heritage, especially in view of the top-form performances and fantastic remastering work, which makes the music herein sound fresh, clear and vibrant. Namyslowski and Urbaniak fans will also have a field day with this music, which documents the early days of their illustrious careers. This album is therefore a "must have" for any Polish Jazz fan, old and young alike, as this music is ageless and its historic significance is priceless.