Jazzpospolita - Humanizm (2017)

Jazzpospolita

Michał Przerwa-Tetmajer - guitar
Michał Załęski - keyboards
Stefan Nowakowski - bass
Wojciech Oleksiak - drums

Humanizm

PRIVATE EDITION



By Adam Baruch

This is the sixth album by Polish ensemble Jazzpospolita and the last one to feature the original lineup of bassist Stefan Nowakowski, drummer Wojciech Oleksiak, guitarist Michał Przerwa-Tetmajer and keyboardist Michał Załęski. Vocalist Paulina Przybysz is featured on one song and another vocalist Novika is featured on another song. The album presents eleven original compositions, all co-composed by the ensemble members, except the song featuring Przybysz, which was composed and written by her (lyrics in English) and the song featuring Novika that includes her lyrics (in Polish).

Stylistically the music preserves the unique qualities characterizing all the earlier albums by the ensemble, but is somewhat more Pop oriented, not only because of the presence of vocals but primarily due to the melodies being more "tame" and well organized and the instrumental passages being less expressive and searching. In retrospect it might seem that they ran out of steam, being enslaved within a formula, which stopped to "lay the golden eggs".

Nevertheless this music is still a slick aesthetic experience and the atmosphere of dreamy, mysterious and repetitive soundscapes did not lose its magic touch entirely. Przerwa-Tetmajer still produces long, lazy guitar solos that seem to flow on the wind in slow motion, and are easy to impress. The keyboards remain mostly in the background in a supportive role and the rhythm section keeps the music moving ahead gently, with little rhythmic variety. The two songs don't really belong with the rest of the music and as far as I am concerned don't contribute anything in the big picture.

Overall this is still Jazzpospolita, and these guys are masters of ambient Jazz/Fusion, so the album is still very enjoyable altogether, although it created little reverberation on the scene at the time of its release. For dedicated fans of the group this album is of course a must, but their next album with a new lineup and new musical direction proves to be much more rewarding. Still definitely worth investigating!

Leszek Zaleski Quartet – My Songs (2017)

Leszek Zaleski Quartet

Leszek Zaleski - guitar
Dawid Troczewski - piano
Piotr Sypień - bass
Marek Jakubowski - drums

My Songs

QBK 022



By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by Polish guitarist/composer Leszek Zaleski, recorded in a quartet setting with pianist Dawid Troczewski, bassist Piotr Sypień and drummer Marek Jakubowski. The album presents ten original compositions, all by Zaleski.

The music is a melodic mainstream Jazz, very clean and straightforward and yet elegant and aesthetically appealing. The melodic themes, which as Zaleski states in his liner notes, were composed over a period of several years, are all solid and coherent, presenting a gifted composer, obviously influenced by contemporary guitar superheroes but stating his own ideas.

The instrumental performances are excellent, as expected, no big surprises but solid professional playing and a lot of joy for guitar fans. Zaleski plays both acoustic and electric guitars and his clean tone and imaginative solos are very pleasing. Troczewski also deserves attention, as his piano work here is every bit as strong as the leader's guitar, beautifully enriching the overall sound. The rhythm section is proficient, but does not step beyond the expected support needed by the soloists, simply doing what is needed in this case.

The recording quality is top notch, which results in a well balanced sound and perfect clarity, which are essential to ensure full enjoyment of the music. The album as a whole should satisfy all guitar loving music connoisseurs, who are not looking for experimentation or groundbreaking excursions, but who love to sit back and enjoy a set of beautifully melodic tunes played exactly the way they should be. I hope to hear more from Zaleski and his team in the future, and in the meantime enjoy this little gem to the max!