Gniewomir Tomczyk - perkusja, produkcja muzyczna Mateusz Smoczyński - skrzypce Krzysztof Lenczowski - wiolonczela Jan Smoczyński - fortepian Kuba Dworak - kontrabas Kuba Kotowicz - wibrafon, dzwonki Rafał Dubicki - trąbka, flugelhorn Szymon Klekowicki - puzon, tuba Jarek Kaczmarczyk - flet Ewelina Hajda -marimba Julianna Kamila Siedler-Smuga ksylofon, marimba
Album: "Perpetus"
Wydawca: Perpetus (2025)
Tekst: Robert Kozubal
Gniewomir Tomczyk to pierwszy muzyk na świecie, który konsekwentnie i na tak wysokim poziomie improwizuje ze sztuczną inteligencją (AI). Choć nie ma to bezpośredniego związku z konkretnymi nutami na tej płycie, sądzę, że definiuje jej autora. Tomczyk nie tylko używa AI, ale aktywnie prowadzi działalność popularyzującą ten mariaż technologii i sztuki. W ten sposób udowadnia, że zaawansowana technologia może być przyjacielem artysty, a nie konkurentem. To artysta, który w pojedynkę, a czasem wbrew własnemu środowisku, przesuwa granice muzyki. Nie mogłem zapomnieć o tym słuchając "Perpetus". Słuchałem albumu artysty świadomego, który - mam takie wrażenie - dobrze wiedział, jaki efekt chciał osiągnąć. Efekt: klasycznego innowatora.
This is the third album by
Polish Jazz drummer/composer Gniewomir Tomczyk, recorded with a core quartet
including vocalist MIN t (a.k.a. Martyna Kubicz), saxophonist Maciej Kądziela
and keyboardist Zdzisław Kalinowski. A long list of guests appears on selected
tracks. The album presents nine original compositions, eight composed or
co-composed by Tomczyk and one by Kądziela. There are also six bonus tracks
which are either remixes or radio edits of the album’s tracks.
The music shows clearly the
path Tomczyk has been following since the start of his career, moving gradually
away from the traditional concept of Jazz into contemporary Pop. Although his
music still carries some marginal Jazz accents, the emphasis is on production,
contemporary sound and highly melodic contents.
Although not exactly my cup of
poison, the music is professionally put together and Tomczyk knows exactly what
he is doing. Make no mistake, he is quite an accomplished Jazz drummer is he
wants to be, but obviously his current desire is to produce elegant and quite sophisticated
Pop music, which is every iota as good as the best accomplishments in this area
over the pond and anywhere else around the globe, without being disgusting and
plainly primitive, as most Pop productions are these days. Large parts of this
music are instrumental and there are some nice solo parts by Kądziela and the guest
artists, with makes the music shift between Jazz-Pop Fusion and Smooth Jazz,
with a bit of Avant-Garde touch for good measure, which awaits the listener
just when he is blissfully floating towards the horizon.
As already said earlier, this
is not "strictly" Jazz, but at least it does not pretend to be so. It operates
within clearly defined cross-genre borders, offering its own rules and production
values, which are highly effective. I really enjoy this music, here
it is, I admit it! It has its time and its place and does not replace my love for
Jazz or Classic Rock or anything else, but I do appreciate the effort and talent
put into it and completely non-snobbishly enjoy it. And as usual I don’t give a
damn what others think. Well done!
20 kwietnia miała miejsce premiera cyfrowa nowego singla oraz teledysku do utworu "Light Up!" projektu Gniewomira Tomczyka. Singiel jest zapowiedzią płyty "Pieces Of My Journey", która ukaże się jeszcze w tym roku. Wydawcą i dystrybutorem jest wytwórnia Soliton. Reżyserem klipu jest Max Pavlenko.
"Życie muzyka to ciągłe balansowanie między dwoma stanami umysłu. Z jednej strony - zapalasz się, płoniesz, zdzierasz wszelkie zasłony, aby pokazać szczerość, emocje i prawdę na scenie. Blask reflektorów daje ucieczkę, odskocznię od nużącej codzienności. Z drugiej - występując przed publicznością zakładasz maskę, chowając część swoich zwykłych, ludzkich spraw tuż przed sceną, zaraz za kurtyną…" - tak o utworze "Light Up!" mówi Gniewomir Tomczyk.
Gniewomir Tomczyk - perkusista jazzowy, perkusista hybrydowy, pedagog. Absolwent Akademii Muzycznej im. I. J. Paderewskiego w Poznaniu, w klasie perkusji jazzowej prowadzonej przez prof. Krzysztofa Przybyłowicza. Finalista konkursu w ramach festiwalu Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa (2019 r.), Krokus Jazz Festiwal (2019 r.) czy laureat I Nagrody na Ogólnopolskim Festiwalu Rytmu Drum Battle (2008 r.). Założyciel oraz lider zespołu Gniewomir Tomczyk Project. Wraz z projektem wydał dwie solowe płyty, "Quality Jazz Live" i "Event Horizon" oraz trzy single wraz z teledyskami: "Light Up!", "Generation of Numbers" oraz "Mechanical Cats". Współpracuje na stałe m.in. z zespołem elektronicznym Xxanaxx, producentką MINt czy wokalistką Patrycją Zarychtą. Organizator oraz producent cyklu koncertów jazzowych, autorskich, improwizowanych "Jazz Session" w warszawskim klubie muzycznym Bardzo Bardzo.
Gniewomir Tomczyk - drums, samples, fx
MIN t - vocal, rap, synth bass
Maciej Kądziela - saxophone
Zdzisław Kalinowski - keyboards, synth bass
Anna Furkałowska - cello
Robert Seniuta - violin, fx
This is the second album by
Polish drummer/composer Gniewomir Tomczyk, this time recorded live and
presenting some of the compositions included on the debut album recorded with
keyboardist Andrzej Mikulski and new original compositions by Tomczyk intended
to appear on the next studio album. The album consists of seven tracks recorded
live and five additional bonus tracks recorded in various locations either live
or in studio. Tomczyk is accompanied by an impressive group of young Polish
musicians, which includes keyboardist Zdzisław Kalinowski, cellist Anna
Furkałowska, violinist Robert Seniuta, saxophonist Maciej Kądziela and others,
with several people providing the rap and vocal parts.
The music is a sophisticated
amalgam of Jazz roots with contemporary Pop/electronic/Avant Rock/Rap
excursions, melody based but allowing plenty of space for improvisation and
individual statements by the participating musicians, which works quite well
and definitely explores new horizons as far as Jazz music is concerned,
bringing it much closer to contemporary popular music trends, without loosing
any of the intellectual and artistic quality.
The album is a very refreshing
listening experience and although it is a compilation of available recordings
rather than a coherent and well planed album, it still works out well and
offers plenty of diverse and at times even fascinating music. For the young
generation of Jazz musicians and listeners, such cross genre excursions sound
completely natural. For the Jazz purist my advice is to take the stick out of
their rectum and let go – this is fun music and is to be treated as such. Personally I am already waiting
to hear the next album by Tomczyk, which promises to be an exciting journey.
This is the debut album by Polish duo Event Horizon, which comprises of drummer Gniewomir Tomczyk and keyboardist/bassist Andrzej Mikulski. A plethora of guest musicians, some form the echelons of the young Polish Jazz circles and others from different areas, add their contributions, including Piotr Schmidt, Aga Derlak, Krzysia Górniak, Mateusz Smoczyński, Kuba Więcek, Marek Kądziela and many others. The album presents ten original compositions (one repeated twice), recorded over a period of several years, five of which were co-composed and arranged by Tomczyk and Mikulski, others composed either individually by one of the duo members or co-composed with others, improvised or being arrangements of Classical themes, in short a very diverse collection of ideas. Three of the pieces feature texts/lyrics in English.
The music is strongly melody
based and rooted in Jazz, but emphasizes production and sound at least as much
as improvisation, creating wonderful contemporary vistas, which feel completely
cross-genre and can be liked by a very wide spectrum of listeners,
predominantly belonging to the younger generation. The music is intelligent and
wonderfully coherent, offering a superb selection of melodies and harmonies, which
often are absent in the so called "serious Jazz" recordings. Although
this music can be categorized as Smooth Jazz for lack of a better definition,
based on the "cool" and seemingly "smooth" approach, it is
full of excellent musicianship and masterly music production.
Overall this is a classic
example of "don't judge a book by its cover" (here both
metaphorically and directly, as the album's cover art is rather bleak,
completely uncharacteristic of its contents). What might be considered as a
youthful experiment turns out to be a solid piece of excellent music, which
stands its own ground, regardless what the Jazz purists might say. In many
respects this album represents what the new generation of Jazz players feels
about Jazz, respecting the tradition but reaching out to electronics, new
sounds and original approach, which attempts to discover new ground, which
after all is the most important aspect of music making. This is definitely one
of the most interesting releases so far in 2017, as far as I am concerned. Well
done Wonder Kids!
This is the seventh album by Polish Jazz guitarist/composer Krzysia Górniak, recorded in a quartet format with keyboardist Zdzisław Kalinowski, bassist Łukasz Makowski and drummers Grzegorz Grzyb or Gniewomir Tomczyk. The album presents nine compositions, five of which are originals by Gorniak, one is co-composed by her, two are by the Greek bassist/composer Evangelos Tzimkas, who played on Górniak's debut album, and the final one is by Makowski.
The music is all melodic
mainstream Jazz, on the easy side of the spectrum, with excellent compositions
which present a wide spectrum of emotions and moods. The sound of the guitar
dominates the proceedings, playing clear single notes and harmonic chord
structures, which basically need only limited support from the rhythm section
and the keyboards. Górniak clearly developed a mature sound and style over the
years and this album is coherent and professional to the max. Some nice World
Music influences are also incorporated into the music on some of the tunes.
All the musicians involved play
excellently from start to finish and are given an opportunity to show their
chops in solo parts, but Górniak is obviously the leader in charge and dictates
the terms. Her guitar sound is sleek and demonstrates her absolute charge of
the instrument. She is definitely different from all other guitar players on
the Polish scene, and her unique approach to the instrument puts her in a class
of her own.
It seems that this album is
somewhat more Fusion oriented than I expected, which is not that much evident
in the guitar playing but more so in the parts played by the band behind.
Luckily there is still enough of the Jazz feel on this album, to make it work
within the Jazz framework. Górniak's solos are kept carefully in check and
don't enter the typical race with the notes, which makes many Fusion albums
hard to bear.
Overall this is a wonderful
guitar album, which should make guitar lovers wet their lips with delight, and
which is also very accessible to a wide range of listeners, without making any
compromises as far as the quality of compositions and performances are
concerned. Combined with the superb sound quality the album offers, this is an
album music lovers should not miss!
