Krzysia Górniak - Memories (2020)

Krzysia Górniak

Krzysia Górniak - guitars
Michał Wróblewski - piano, synth
Piotr  Wrombel - piano, synth
Michał Jaros - double bass
Marcin Jahr - drums

Memories

PRIVATE EDITION 2020


By Adam Baruch

This is the eighth (sixth as a leader) album by Polish Jazz guitarist/composer Krzysia Górniak, recorded in a classic quartet setting with keyboardists Michał Wróblewski or Piotr Wrombel, bassist Michał Jaros and drummer Marcin Jahr. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Gorniak.

The music is all based on wonderfully melodic themes and kept elegantly within the mainstream Jazz idiom, but the use of synthesizers and contemporary arrangements effectively eschew unnecessary nostalgic tendencies, presenting an up to date sound and ambiance, which are delightfully embracing. Although obviously on the lighter side of the Jazz spectrum, this music is splendidly put together and aesthetically solid.

Górniak manages to keep her guitar playing strictly within the Jazz boundaries, successfully avoiding slipping towards Fusion, which would have ruined the effort. She skillfully combines playing notes and chords with the right balance between them, always with restrain and stylish distance, which results in a highly effective overall outcome. The beautiful guitar sound she manages to achieve also contributes to the result.

The participating musicians are all skillful and highly professional musicians, which of course is immediately apparent. They support her amicably and add splendid solo parts of their own on the way. Considering the delicate and often quite intimate nature of this music, the mutual respect and interplay between the quartet members is a crucial element contributing to the successful result. Both keyboardist offer acoustic piano and synthesizer parts perfectly suited to the melodic continuity, Jaros glues everything together with his virtuosic bass parts and Jahr supplies elegant but firm rhythmic backbone.

Overall this is a highly pleasurable, beautifully melodic, serene and relaxed guitar album, which can be enjoyed by a wide range of listeners, not only strict Jazz enthusiasts but also connoisseurs of guitar from other genres. This is a wonderful example of less is more, where the Artist uses only what is absolutely necessary to achieve the optimal result and eschews superfluous gimmickry. A wonderful album from start to finish, Milady!

Michał Wróblewski Radiostatik – Lucid Dream-Live At Filharmonia Szczecin (2019)

Michał Wróblewski Radiostatik

Michał Wróblewski - keyboards
Andrzej Gondek - guitar
Michał Kapczuk - bass
Sebastian Kuchczyński - drums

Lucid Dream-Live At Filharmonia Szczecin

FILHARMONIA SZCZECIN 007


By Adam Baruch

This is the fourth album by Polish Jazz keyboardist/composer Michał Wróblewski recorded live with his ensemble called Radiostatik and the Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra. Radiostatik was originally formed in NY in 2015, when Wróblewski was invited by trumpeter Terrence Blanchard to record an album, which resulted in the studio version of "Lucid Dream", and which sadly remains so far unreleased. The American-Polish lineup of Radiostatik, which was created to perform the material live, includes two American vocalists: singer Andre Washington and rapper Raashan Ahmad, the leader on Fender Rhodes, guitarist Andrzej Gondek, bassist Michał Kapczuk and drummer Sebastian Kuchczyński. The album presents twelve original compositions, all by Wróblewski and arranged by him, with lyrics by him and Ahmad.

The music is a exactly what it promises to be, a Jazz-Pop Fusion with orchestral arrangements, based an excellent melodic themes, which sounds as American as American goes, the kind of stuff which usually gets nominated for Grammy over the pond. It is catchy, groovy, smooth and easy on the ear, but in this case it is also highly musical and truly excellently put together. If it proves anything, it is the fact that European composers and musicians can easily beat the Americans at their own game.

Except for a few instrumental soli, the music has very little to do with Jazz, which means that the Polish Jazz lost the talents of Wróblewski for a while, but personally I am quite convinced he will be back to his musical roots again. In the meantime he can pursue other goals and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this as long as the music is well done and does not deteriorate to the normal level of contemporary Pop, which is killing us mercilessly.

The orchestral parts are the real surprise of this album, ideally suited to the music and performed with great taste and skill. Such class of Pop instrumentation is almost completely absent from contemporary Pop music, probably because it is simply too expensive. But the album proves that a real orchestra can not be replaced by synthesizers. Overall this is a highly entertaining and classy Pop album with some Jazzy features and orchestral ornamentation, beautifully executed and accessible to a wide music loving audience, which should satisfy every true popular music connoisseur. Definitely worth investigating!

Łukasz Juźko Quartet – First Breath (2017)

Łukasz Juźko Quartet

Łukasz Juźko - tenor saxophone
Michał Wróblewski - piano
Bartosz Świątek - bass
Sebastian Kuchczyński - drums

First Breath

SJ 027



By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by Polish saxophonist/composer Łukasz Juźko, recorded in a quartet setting with pianist Michał Wróblewski, bassist Bartosz Świątek and drummer Sebastian Kuchczyński. The album presents nine original compositions, presumably all by the leader, although the album's artwork does not state it. The album is beautifully recorded and the sound quality is truly remarkable.

The music is a highly melodic mainstream Jazz, easy on the ear, romantic and basically belonging to the Smooth Jazz idiom, which of course does not mean, contrary to popular opinion, that the music is not ambitious or well played, far from it. The compositions are all very well structured and coherent harmonically and serve as perfect vehicles for the improvisations created by Juźko and Wróblewski.

All four instrumentalist are excellent, playing as well as can be expected from these well educated and talented young musicians, who already have remarkable achievements behind them. Juźko has a nice tone, and his tenor saxophone performances sound highly professional and inspired. Wróblewski is a superb pianist and his chord structures and solos are simply perfectly suited for this music. The rhythm session also performs brilliantly, with a strong rhythmic signature, which gives the music quite a kick. Overall this is an impressive debut album, which presents Juźko as a mature composer and player, and which shows a lot of potential for his future endeavors. Highly recommended to connoisseurs of melodic Jazz and ageless romantics!

Michal Wroblewski Trio – City Album (2014)

Michał Wróblewski Trio

Michał Wróblewski - piano
Michał Jaros - double bass
Paweł Dobrowolski - drums

City Album

ELLITE 5903111529024




By Adam Baruch

This is the third album by the young and very gifted Polish Jazz pianist/composer Michal Wroblewski, which sees him returning to the piano trio format with bassist Michal Jaros and drummer Pawel Dobrowolski. The album presents eight original compositions, all but one by Wroblewski, with the exception being a piece based on the music by Frederic Chopin and arranged by Wroblewski. The music was recorded (same as his debut album) at the now legendary Studio Tokarnia, with Jan Smoczynski doing his usual sound magic with spectacular results.

The music, as stated by Wroblewski, was influenced by playing a concert tour in 2013 with American superstar trumpeter Terence Blanchard, but the experience influenced also the trio's approach to music, which became much more focused and intense. As a result this album is remarkably stronger and vital than the two earlier efforts, even though those two were already first class achievements, and places Wroblewski just a notch higher on his way to fame and fortune. His compositions, as usual, combine the right amount of melodic substance with lyrical contents and harmonic beauty, very much like many Jazz standards do. Listening to this album is a true delight from start to finish, with time passing by in a breeze.

Of course a piano trio is only as strong as all three musicians involved and Wroblewski is extremely lucky to find two partners who fulfill him completely, match his sensibilities, his virtuosity and his elegance. This piano trio is a classic example of what a piano trio should sound like in the mainstream Jazz milieu. Yes, this music does not make any groundbreaking discoveries as far as Jazz is concerned, but we need to keep the legacy alive and this trio is just perfect in that capacity.

It is difficult to predict how Wroblewski's career will develop from this point on, but he certainly already made his mark both as a pianist and a composer. I am certainly keeping my eye, or rather ear, on his moves, as he managed to impress me for the third time in a row. Jazz fans who love the piano trio format will have a field day with this one. Well done indeed!

Michal Wroblewski – Jazz I Orkiestra (2013) ****

Michal Wroblewski - piano, composer
Maciej Obara - saxophone
Michal Jaros - bass
Michal Miskiewicz - drums
Pawel Dobrowolski - drums

ELITE 5903111529017




By Adam Baruch

Following his debut recording with his piano trio, released a year earlier, Polish Jazz pianist / composer Michal Wroblewski returns with a new and much bolder project involving a Jazz quartet playing with a symphony orchestra. The album includes eight compositions, all originals composed and arranged by Wroblewski. Seven of the compositions were recorded by a quartet comprising of Wroblewski, saxophonist Maciej Obara, bassist Michal Jaros and drummer Michal Miskiewicz and accompanied by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice conducted by Szymon Bywalec. The eighth track was recorded live at the Polish Radio Three, without Obara and with drummer Pawel Dobrowolski replacing Miskiewicz and the Gorzow (Wroblewski's home town) Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Krzysztof Switalski.

The amalgam of Jazz and contemporary Classical music is quite a common phenomenon on the Polish Jazz scene, definitely more so than anywhere else in the entire world. There are many reasons contributing to this reality: the classical music education that many young musicians are exposed to during their studies, the openness of classical orchestras and their conductors to cooperate with Jazz musicians, the "higher" status of Classical music, which challenges Jazz musician to prove they can embrace the format and improve their standing in the music community and many others. Regardless of the motivation behind them, such projects are very popular and often result in excellent achievements.

This particular project presents the "easier" side of the Jazz-Classical Fusion, with a series of beautifully melodic pieces, excellently performed by the quartet and with the orchestra staying mostly in the background, playing the "second fiddle" (pun intended). One can speculate that this music would have sounded great without the orchestra being present; therefore the role of the orchestration seems a priori to be relatively limited. This is not to say that the overall result suffers from the orchestral arrangements, but on the other hand their contribution remains relatively restricted with little synthesis between the two elements, except perhaps for the last piece on the album, which is the most successful on that front.

The individual contributions by the players are all splendid, especially those by Obara, who exhibits a truly magical touch and heartbreakingly beautiful, soulful sound of his alto saxophone. Wroblewski plays also very well, with a both elegant, delicate solos and lively up tempo arpeggios, but concentrating mostly on stating the melodies. The rhythm section drives the music steadily and provides the basis, which holds the music together. Overall the album is great fun to listen to and is accessible to a large audience, including music lovers with little Jazz familiarity or those listening mostly to Classical music.

Michał Wróblewski Trio – I Remember (2011)

Michał Wróblewski Trio

Michał Wróblewski - piano
Michał Jaros - bass
Michał Bryndal - drums

I Remember (2011)




By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by the young Polish Jazz pianist / composer Michal Wroblewski, recorded with his trio with bassist Michal Jaros and drummers Michal Bryndal and Wojciech Romanowski. The first version of this album was recorded by the trio with Bryndal and released as a promo. This, the final version of the album adds four more tracks recorded by the trio with Romanowski. Since both trios recorded the title track, the album's nine tracks are in fact only eight distinct compositions, of which five were composed by Wroblewski, one by Jaros, one is an interpretation of a John Coltrane tune and the title track is a contemporary house composition, which proves that Wroblewski listens to other music than Jazz as well. Both trio sessions were recorded at the legendary Studio Tokarnia, with Jan Smoczynski behind the knobs, which is always a guarantee of superb sonic quality.

The Polish Jazz scene seems to be an endless source of excellent piano players over the years, and the contemporary scene, which hosts both the veterans, the middle aged and the young pianist is simply exploding with talent and activity. Wroblewski is certainly one of the interesting newcomers, who still have to pay the dues and put forward their accomplishments before achieving an honorary position on the pedestal reserved for the Polish Jazz piano giants. Judging by this recording he's certainly on the right track, as the music presented on this album is quite excellent, both from the point of view of the performance and the compositions. Both trios play elegantly and display individual skills as well as an ensemble spirit, carefully listening to each other. The compositions present a nice balance between the melodic themes, rhythmic progressions and harmonic structures, which are ideal vehicles for the improvised passages. There is a frequent usage of Classical quotes and neo-romantic mannerisms, which are probably mostly sub-conscious and quite understandable considering the pianist's age.

The overall level of performance is quite excellent, turning this album into an ideal type of piano trio experience, which many Jazz connoisseurs greatly enjoy. The album could have been slightly longer and more adventurous musically, but than again many listeners will probably wish to change absolutely nothing. One can only hope that future recordings by Wroblewski will show him striving to achieve an individual voice and unique style, which will surely come to fruition as he gets older and more experienced. Keeping things in the right perspective, this is definitely a most impressive debut, exposing a talent to be watched. This album is highly recommended to piano trio enthusiasts, but basically every Jazz lover should be able to deeply enjoy this music. Great stuff!

Michał Wroblewski Trio - I Remember (2011)

I like debut recordings since they are like green apples: sour, hard-to-bite but full of fresh flavors difficult to find in  ripe ones. So what flavors are present in this standard cool jazz trio? Surprisingly varied proving that Wróblewski succesfully assimilated all major influences in modern jazz piano in persons of Hancock, Jarrett or Mehldau. What distinguish him among so many young pianists (he is 27 years old) graduating every year from Katowice Music Acadamy is his compositional talent: tunes are varied showing great span of his musical interests from traditional stride piano, bop and cool jazz styles to Monkish broken rhythms, Polish folk as well as free jazz (like in last tune on this album titled "Open Take"). One must be under impression at ease with which he merges all these influences, transforms them and accordingly sings his own, original song. 

In this journey Michał Wróblewski is accompanied by Michał Jaros whose line is impeccable timely and Michał Bryndal who is playing with excellent Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet ("Smells Like Tape Spirit") but up-to-this point was not associated by me with mainstream jazz. But they never fail Wróblewski meanderings accross vast tradition of jazz piano and sound as if playing together already for a long time.  

Summarizing, it is definitely strong debut by Michał Wróblewski (deservedly rated five stars by Ryszard Borowski from Jazz Forum magazine). But question remains open how even such talented pianist may reach audience in country where in one generation so gifted pianists like Leszek Możdżer, Marcin Wasilewski, Przemysław Raminiak, Piotr Wyleżoł, Sławek Jaskułke or Mateusz Kołakowski are active? In a view of so strong competition even a very promising debut like "I Remember"  may be too little to single himself out among such a magnificent pack. I wish Wróblewski to remain persistent (and even more daring...) going his own way since by this record he proved to have at least same talent and musicality as his already more famous predecessors...

Check following link for music from this album.

Author of text: Maciej Nowotny (http://kochamjazz.blox.pl/html)