POLISH JAZZ 2016 PODSUMOWANIE !!!

MUZYK ROKU 2016: KAMIL PIOTROWICZ

Polski pianista, kompozytor. Twórca i lider zespołu Kamil Piotrowicz Quintet, Kamil Piotrowicz Sextet. Laureat wielu festiwali jazzowych, m. in. Jazz Nad Odrą (Nagroda Indywidualna za kompozycję), Krokus Jazz Festival (Grand Prix), Blue Note Jazz Competition (Grand Prix), Ogólnopolski Przegląd Zespołów Jazzowych i Bluesowych w Gdyni (Grand Prix) oraz wielu innych. Zadebiutował świetnie przyjętą płytą "Birth" wydaną w wytwórni Hevhetia w 2015 roku. Album zawiera 10 kompozycji autorstwa lidera grupy. W 2016 roku ukazały się dwie znakomite płyty z udziałem Piotrowicza - autorska "Popular Music" z sekstetem oraz "Dark Matter" formacji Minim Experiment. Odbył 6 miesięczne stypendium w prestiżowym Rhythmic Music Conservatory w Kopenhadze.

DEBIUT ROKU 2016: MINIM EXPERIMENT - DARK MATTER

Minim Experiment to kwartet dowodzony przez gitarzystę Kubę Wójcika, w skład którego wchodzą pianista Kamil Piotrowicz, kontrabasista Luca Curcio oraz perkusista Albert Karch. Razem stworzyli "Dark Matter", jeden z najważniejszych płytowych debiutów 2016 roku. Jak pisał Maciej Krawiec, muzyka nie jest dobra ot tak sobie – musi stać za nią koncept, kompozycja, dyskusja w grupie, wreszcie realizacja. A "Dark Matter" to płyta właśnie przemyślana, inteligentnie równoważąca żywioły i potrzeby artystyczne. Każdy z muzyków ma czas, aby się zaprezentować, kreując przy tym wyraz całości albumu. Być może w kontekście całego poprzedniego roku "Dark Matter" to największa pozytywna niespodzianka. Czapki z głów !!!

REEDYCJA/NAGRANIE ARCHIWALNE 2016 ROKU: THE ANDRZEJ TRZASKOWSKI QUINTET - THE ANDRZEJ TRZASKOWSKI QUINTET (POLISH JAZZ SERIES)

Album kwintetu Andrzeja Trzaskowskiego został wznowiony przez Polskie Nagrania w ekskluzywnej reedycji kultowej serii Polish Jazz, znanej fanom polskiej muzyki jazzowej od lat 60. Reedycję przygotowano z niezwykłą starannością, autorem odświeżonego brzmienia jest wybitny reżyser dźwięku - Jacek Gawłowski. Płyty zostały wytłoczone w gramaturze 180. Czwarta płyta serii z nagraniami kwintetu Andrzeja Trzaskowskiego jest jedną z najwybitniejszych pozycji zbioru. Nagrana w styczniu 1965 roku, stanowi obok "Astigmatic" Komedy manifest twórczy dla jazzu polskiego tamtych lat, a wpływu jej autora na rozwój tego gatunku muzyki w Polsce nie sposób przecenić. Wiernie oddaje kunszt kompozytorski lidera, jego styl improwizacyjny i charakterystyczną poetykę utworów.

Various Artists – Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol. 27 (2016)

Various Artists

Various Artists

Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol. 27

POLSKIE RADIO 2059





By Adam Baruch

This is the twenty-seventh installment in the series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings from the radio vaults. 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 available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland's most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well. The tracks presented here were recorded live in December 1965 during the eighth Jazz Jamboree Festival in Warsaw and are the second volume of a collection of tracks from that event.

The first two tracks present a trio led by one of the Godfathers of modern European Jazz, the German pianist/composer Joachim Kuhn with bassist Klaus Koch and drummer Reinhard Schwartz. They perform two original compositions by Kuhn and the performance is one of the earliest examples of European Free Jazz. Kuhn's performance here is absolutely stunning as everything he played at the time, before he moved from East German to West Germany. The fact that his Free Jazz playing was tolerated by the GDR regime is a fascinating story by itself. More details about his activity around the time this music was recorded can be found in the review of the Zbigniew Namysłowski's album "Live At Kosmos, Berlin", which was recorded just a month earlier.

The next four tracks present a quintet led by another Godfather of modern European Jazz, the German trombonist/composer Albert Mangelsdorff with saxophonists Gunter Kronberg and Heinz Sauer, bassist Gunter Lentz and drummer Ralf Hubner. They perform three original compositions by Mangelsdorff and one composition by the British trumpeter/composer Ian Carr, a great pioneer of modern British Jazz. Although the music performed by the Albert Mangelsdorff quintet is not as Free Jazz oriented as that by Joachim Kuhn, it is a superb of early modern European Jazz, which was already emancipated from the American Jazz influence and clearly showed the new direction being created in Europe. Both these performances show the importance of German musicians as co-creators of early European Jazz.

The last track present a sextet led by yet another Godfather of modern European Jazz, the Polish Jazz pianist/composer Andrzej Trzaskowski with American trumpeter Ted Curson (who was living in Europe at the time), saxophonists Janusz Muniak and Włodzimierz Nahorny, bassist Jacek Ostaszewski and drummer Adam Jędrzejowski. They perform one extended original composition by Trzaskowski. The music is again a stunning example of early modern European Jazz and a great precursor of the explosion of the Polish Jazz scene, which was happening at the time.

The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes/booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

Polish Radio Jazz Orchestra/Andrzej Kurylewicz – Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol. 23 (2015)

Polish Radio Jazz Orchestra

Andrzej Kurylewicz - conductor

Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol. 23

POLSKIE RADIO 1875





By Adam Baruch

This is the twenty-third installment in the series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings from the radio vaults. 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 available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland's most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well.

The nineteen tracks collected here were recorded in 1964 by the Polish Radio Jazz Orchestra conducted by pianist/trumpeter/trombonist/composer Andrzej Kurylewicz. Sixteen tracks were recorded by the Polish Radio Studio during various sessions and three were recorded live during the seventh Jazz Jamboree Festival. The orchestra included at the time several well known musicians, like saxophonists Michał Urbaniak and Zbigniew Namysłowski, vibraphonist Jerzy Milian and others. The material is a mixture of Jazz standards (five tracks) and original compositions by Polish Jazz composers: Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski (six tracks), Jerzy Milian (three tracks), Andrzej Trzaskowski (two tracks), Edward Dyląg (two tracks) and Michał Urbaniak (one track).

The arrangements and orchestrations are firmly based in the American Big Band tradition, but the overall sound of the orchestra already shows the European approach and the majority of original compositions reflects the tendency to find a new path, which will take big format Jazz another step forward in the years to follow. Of course the individual performances, soloing and orchestral harmonization are all top-notch. In the historic perspective this is a superb document of the transition between the American influenced Jazz and the emancipated European Jazz that is about to erupt, including the big format Jazz environment. Trzaskowski, of course, was definitely one of the pioneers of this new movement, and his influence was crucial as far as the Polish Jazz is concerned, prompting and leading it to make the shift.

The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

Various Artists – Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol. 20 (2015)

Various Artists

Tomasz Stańko - trumpet
Andrzej Trzaskowski - piano
Janusz Muniak - saxophone
and others

Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol. 20

POLSKIE RADIO 1872


By Adam Baruch

This is the twentieth 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 available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland's most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well.

The ten tracks collected here were recorded during the seventh Jazz Jamboree Festival, which took place between October 24 and 26 1964 in Warsaw. The music was performed by four different ensembles, which are: a quartet led by the German brothers Rolf Kuhn on clarinet and Joachim Kuhn on piano with Polish rhythm section consisting of bassists Tadeusz Wójcik or Julian Sandecki and drummer Andrzej Dąbrowski (four tracks), a trio led by Hungarian bass virtuoso Aladar Pege with Polish pianist Wojciech Karolak and drummer Andrzej Dąbrowski (also four tracks), a quintet led by Polish pianist/composer Andrzej Trzaskowski with trumpeter Tomasz Stańko, saxophonist Janusz Muniak, bassist Jacek Ostaszewski and drummer Adam Jędrzejowski (one track only) and finally a trio led by Dutch pianist Pim Jacobs with his brother Ruud Jacobs on bass and guitarist Wim Overgaauw (also one track only).

Most of the music consists of standards and the only original material is one piece by Rolf Kuhn and the only track by the Trzaskowski quintet, which was composed by Stańko and which is absolutely the best and most interesting track on this album.

The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes/booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

Various Artists – Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol.08 (2013) ****

Andrzej Trzaskowski - piano
Zbigniew Namyslowski - saxophone
Jerzy Milian - vibraphone
Andrzej Kurylewicz - trumpet

and others

POLSKIE RADIO 1627



By Adam Baruch

This is the eighth 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 collected here presents recordings made during 1961 and 1962 by the top Polish Jazz musicians active at the time, exhibiting a wonderful panorama of the local scene at the time. All the thirteen tracks are Jazz standards performed by Jazz musicians all over the world and therefore the album is a superb opportunity to compare the level of musicianship of the first post WWII generation of Polish Jazz to their American and European counterparts. Listening to the album immediately shows that technically these players were as gifted and skilled as any other Jazz performers at the time, despite the disadvantage of living and playing behind the Iron Curtain and being almost completely isolated from the current developments. Stylistically Polish Jazz at the time was still very much under the American mainstream influence, and although Free Jazz was already making a rapid progress and breaking all the established boundaries in the US, it would take a few years until it bloomed in Poland as well.

The material was recorded by four iconic figures of the early Polish Jazz and their respective ensembles: pianist / composer Andrzej Trzaskowski and his quintet, saxophonist / composer Zbigniew Namyslowski and his quintet called Jazz Rockers, vibraphonist / composer Jerzy Milian and his quintet and trumpeter / composer Andrzej Kurylewicz and his group. The most renowned sidemen include saxophonist Michal Urbaniak, pianist Wojciech Karolak, bassist Roman Dylag and many others.

The performances are all excellent and their invaluable historical significance is beyond reproach. Beautifully restored sound quality and a warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy.

As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Polish Jazz. Nevertheless this is an essential piece of history which every European Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

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.

Stan Getz / Andrzej Trzaskowski Trio – Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol.01 (2013)

Stan Getz - saxophone
Andrzej Trzaskowski - piano
Roman Dylag - bass
Andrzej Dabrowski - drums

POLSKIE RADIO 1567





By Adam Baruch

This is the first 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 was recorded in 1960 during the 3^rd Jazz Jamboree and features American saxophone Giant Stan Getz, accompanied by a Polish rhythm section consisting of pianist Andrzej Trzaskowski, bassist Roman Dylag and drummer Andrzej Dabrowski. Nine of the twelve tracks included here were recorded live during the Festival and the additional three tracks were recorded in the same hall but late at night, without any spectators being presents. All the music comprises of Jazz standards. This recording was made before Getz reached the superstar popularity as a result of his Bossa Nova recordings a couple of years later, but he was already a much respected saxophonist with a very impressive record behind him, although he was just 33 years old at the time.

The story about why Getz opted to play with a local rhythm section has many versions. Most Polish sources quote some vague statements indicating this as being a conscious decision made "in recognition of the talent of the young Polish Jazz musicians". That version has very little support in reality. One should bear in mind that Getz was living at the time in Scandinavia and did not have a steady group he performed with in Scandinavia, where he actually arrived from to play at the Jazz Jamboree (not from the USA). When I talked to Getz about his first visit in Poland (he was there again in 1974 and 1980), he told me that he heard just a little about Jazz in Poland before he arrived there, thanks to the early relationships between the Polish and the Scandinavian scenes, which was about to be expanded in the years to come. His willingness to play with the young Poles should be rather credited to his open-mindedness and general good nature, with always characterized him as a person. Also let us not forget that the logistics and costs involved with bringing an entire quartet from the USA at that time were quite beyond the capabilities of the festival's organizers.

As to the music, there is actually no need to say much about it. Getz plays divinely, as usual, with his unique tone and virtuosity and the sweetest saxophone sound ever. Obviously enjoying himself enormously, he allows the rhythm section to stretch out, playing relatively long solos. The young Poles: Trzaskowski (aged 27), Dylag (aged 22) and Dabrowski (aged 22) sound like veterans, obviously uplifted spiritually by the event. The music is simply perfect, from start to finish. The wonderful ambience of the hall and the remastered sound quality are spectacular, worm and natural, leaving many contemporary recordings way behind, even though they were done 53 years ago using quite primitive equipment. In short everything about this album is simply miraculous.

The only note of criticism about this new edition is the lack of a proper booklet with proper liner notes, photographs and other well deserved details, which this monumental music truly deserves. Polish Radio really should have made an effort there. A pity!

No wander that this material (in one form or another) was bootlegged countless times and the original vinyl release ("Stan Getz W Polsce") reached outrageous sums on the collectors' market all over the world. Now they are available in the best sounding quality ever for the price of a regular CD, so don't even dare to think about this twice. This is an absolute must!

Andrzej Trzaskowski – Seant (Polish Jazz Vol.11, 1966)

Andrzej Trzaskowski - piano

Janusz Muniak - soprano sax
Ted Curson - trumpet
Wlodzimierz Nahorny - alto sax
Jacek Ostaszewski - bass
Adam Jędrzejowski - drums

Seant (Polish Jazz Vol.11, 1966)

This monumental album, perhaps as important as fellow Polish Jazz Godfather Krzysztof Komeda's "Astigmantic", recorded at the same period, is unfortunately significantly less known and appreciated, both in Poland and abroad, which is a great misfortune. Pianist / composer Andrzej Trzaskowski contributed enormously to the development of Polish Jazz, especially in the field of more experimental, avant-garde, Free Jazz music, which was rapidly developing worldwide in the 1960s. This sextet recording, which includes American trumpeter Ted Curson (of Charles Mingus fame), who was spending as much of his time in Europe as at home, playing along brilliant Polish crew: saxophonists Wlodzimierz Nahorny and Janusz Muniak, bassist Jacek Ostaszewski and drummer Adam Jedrzejowski. The music, all original compositions by Trzaskowski, is simply brilliant and absolutely pioneering in every respect. Listening to this album in retrospect one can hear clearly that in the historic perspective it was as innovative and groundbreaking as anything else created at the time over the pond and beyond the Iron Curtain. In addition it is also aesthetically beautiful and intellectually challenging. An absolute must to any Polish Jazz enthusiast; this is an essential piece of Polish Jazz history.

Track listing: 1. Seant; 2. Wariacja na temat „Oj, tam u boru” / Variation on the theme „Near the Forest”; 3. The Quibble; 4. Cosinusoida

By Adam Baruch
www.adambaruch.com