Dennis Gonzalez Yells At Eels feat. Wojtek Mazolewski - Bandoleros En Gdańsk (2012)

Dennis Gonzalez Yells At Eels feat. Wojtek Mazolewski - Bandoleros En Gdańsk (1Car Garage Records, 2012)

Dennis Gonzalez - C trumpet, Bb cornet, voice
Marek Pospieszalski - tenor saxophone, alto clarinet
Aaron Gonzalez - contrabass
Wojtek Mazolewski - contrabass
Stefan Gonzalez - drums

By Ken Shimamoto

Bandoleros en Gdansk is the second recording from a collaboration Dennis Gonzalez/Yells At Eels undertook last year with a pair of Polish musicians, bassist Wojtek Mazolewski and tenor saxophonist Marek Pospieszalski. While their session at Radio Gdansk was curtailed after only 24 minutes, the full results are now available on two vinyl artifacts, both on Dallas-based indie labels: TreeFallSounds' Wind Streaks in Syrtis Minor 7" from earlier this year, and now this newly released 45 rpm 12" on 1 Car Garage.

Opening track "The Polish Spirit" is a moody waltz, which Stefan Gonzalez propels like a runaway freight train, clattering along polyrhythmically and throwing out jaw-dropping fills with insouciant abandon. Dennis solos in the middle of his horn's range with a burnished tone, his careening line skirting the limits of tonality. Pospieszalski joins in, commenting on the trumpeter's improvisation before undertaking one of his own. The saxophonist plays with great soul and invention, his long tones evoking the solitude of snow-dusted forests.

Turning the record over, the title track opens with horn polyphony that recalls Ornette's early '70s band with Dewey Redman, then falls into a rock-like, bass-driven groove, with Pospieszalski and the elder Gonzalez testifying on their horns. The rapturously kinetic romp "Artykuty Gospodoarstwa Domowego" begins and ends with a lighthearted vocalization of the title by Dennis, with Mazolewski and Aaron Gonzalez wrestling monolithic slabs of sound from their twin basses in between. It's a pithy and humorous way to end the outing. Jimi Bowman's mastering and the high-quality pressing preserve the immediacy of the moment beautifully.

The Moongang - Taxi (2012)

Joanna Knitters - vocals
Roman Badenski - harmonica
Marcin Wadolowski - guitar
Hubert Swiatek - piano
Karol Kozlowski - bass
Piotr Gora - drums

ALLEGRO 024




By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by a young Polish Blues-Rock / Funk band Moongang, fronted by female vocalist Joanna Knitter, with harmonica player Roman Badenski, guitarist Marcin Wadolowski, pianist Hubert Swiatek, bassist Karol Kozlowski and drummer Piotr Gora. The album comprises of eleven original songs and one instrumental. The guitarist composed eight of the pieces, the vocalist two and the bassist and pianist contributed one each. Knitter wrote the lyrics to all eleven songs, ten of which are in English and one is in Polish.

Obviously based on the Blues tradition, the music stretches out into other genres, like Rock, Funk and even occasionally Fusion. Almost all the tunes are up-tempo and have a very funky feel about them, which certainly tends to make the listeners dance or at least tap their feet. The instrumental performances are all quite excellent, especially the beautiful harmonica parts, which are the link to the Blues roots of this music, but also the guitar and electric piano solos are a delight. The rhythm section does an excellent job keeping the music moving forward and providing the funky feel. The vocalist has a worm, strong voice, which she uses cleverly and effectively and which is ideal for this kind of music. She has a great timing and phrasing and overall her performances are just what this music needs.

Having said all that, there are some points about this album, which bother me personally, although most local listeners probably won't mind them at all. I understand the desire of Polish bands to sound "international" and use English lyrics. The vocalist's English pronunciation and accent are actually quite passable and are not a problem as such, but the lyrics are. Using slang and dirty words does not make lyrics more "native" English, does it? One does not have to even go beyond this very album to see that the sole song in Polish sounds so much better that all the others, in order to learn a lesson not to make the same mistake again, hopefully.

But all in all this is an excellent debut album by a band with a lot of abilities and even more potential in the future. This band most probably kicks ass on the stage like few others and gives the audiences a great time. The album is great for driving, as I've experienced, making the long stretch of the road to pass unnoticed. Well done indeed!

Staroniewicz / Jagodzinski / Rajski – Tranquillo (2012)

Wojciech Staroniewicz - saxophone
Andrzej Jagodzinski - piano
Adam Cegielski - bass
Czeslaw Bartkowski - drums
with
Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra
Wojciech Rajski - conductor

ALLEGRO 025


By Adam Baruch

Lush saxophone, gently strumming piano and a string orchestra sound more like a recipe for a soundtrack to a third-rate erotic movie (i.e. porn flick) than a serious musical venture. The iniquitous "Sax and Strings" trap made many of the best Jazz saxophone players sound like muzak junkies, leaving only a few of them, who managed to create some superb music out of this unforgiving format. I was prepared for the worse when I placed this album into the CD player and hesitantly pushed the Play button. Lo and behold, the music turned out to be simply delightful… what a relief.

Veteran Polish Jazz saxophonist / composer Wojciech Staroniewicz combines forces with pianist Andrzej Jagodzinski and his trio, which also includes bassist Adam Cegielski and Master veteran drummer Czeslaw Bartkowski. The resulting quartet is accompanied by the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot, conducted by Wojciech Rajski. The album consists of eleven compositions, two of which are originals by Staroniewicz and the rest are standards (four of those are by Antonio Carlos Jobim). The orchestral arrangements of seven of the tracks were written by another veteran Polish Jazz hero Wlodzimierz Nahorny, three are by Jagodzinski and the remaining one by Artur Jurek.

The music is presented on three overlaying platforms: the saxophone, the piano trio and the orchestra; each of those with its separate content, and merging with the other two to create the overall effect and compliment each other. Staroniewicz is a superb sax player and his wonderful tone and flow are absolutely perfect for this music. He plays the melodies, but also improvises constantly, although staying well within the harmonic boundaries. Jagodzinski and his trio are also one of the finest Polish Jazz ensembles, and although their role on this album is mostly limited to provide the Jazzy atmospheric background and rhythmic backbone, the trio's leader plays several beautiful lyrical solos and the rhythm section swings like there's no tomorrow.

The strings are the biggest surprise of them all; the arrangements are quite unusual and often not what the listen might expect at all – intelligent, challenging and with a life of their own. Combined with the quartet playing on top they enhance the overall result enormously and one must admit they do it most pleasantly.

Yes, this is the gentle side of Jazz. It is sweet and romantic and beautiful, but it is also clever, perfectly done and heartwarming. It manages to avoid being kitschy, which is so damn difficult under these circumstances. OK I admit, I'm a dead romantic at heart and I love this stuff, exactly for what it is – bite me ;) The album's artwork is also beautiful, one of the few cases when the artwork fits the album's contents perfectly. Great stuff!

Wojciech Staroniewicz – A`FreAK-aN Project (2011)

Wojtek Staroniewicz - saxophone, leader
Przemek Dyakowski - saxophone
Darek Herbasz - saxophone
Irek Wojtczak - saxophone
Dominik Bukowski - marimba, vibraphone, kalimba
Janusz Mackiewicz - bass
Adam Czerwinski - drums
Larry Okey Ugwu - percussion
Slawomir Berny - percussion

ALLEGRO 021

By Adam Baruch

This is a very interesting concept album by veteran Polish Jazz saxophonist / composer Wojciech Staroniewicz, dedicated to African music. Staroniewicz assembled an unusual lineup, fronted by a four-saxophone brass section: himself on tenor, Przemek Dyakowski on tenor, Dariusz Herbasz on baritone and Irek Wojtczak on tenor and soprano saxophones. There are no keyboards, as appropriate for African music, which are replaced by typical African instruments like marimba and kalimba, with some vibraphone, all played by Dominik Bukowski. The rhythm section comprises of bassist Janusz Mackiewicz and drummer Adam Czerwinski and two percussionists complete the lineup: Larry Okey Ugwu and Slawomir Berny. The album includes seven original compositions, all by the leader, and was recorded "live" in the studio.

Rather than copying obvious African elements, Staroniewicz creates a set of compositions, which are African more in spirit than in form, a task which is most commendable and of course much more difficult. The brass arrangements sound similar to African Brass Bands, mostly those from Southern part of the continent, but what is most impressive, is that Staroniewicz presents Africa as a whole, with music influences originating from all the four corners of the Black Continent – North with its Middle-Eastern flavor, West with its typical rhythm signatures, East with its enchanting expressive melodies and South with its highly energetic, danceable spirit. The decision not to include keyboards, especially electronic ones, adds significantly to the authenticity and genuineness of the overall result.

Although obviously a team effort, especially in light of the live recording circumstances, there are plenty of great solos by all the players involved. These are all experienced and talented musicians, mostly leaders of their own ensembles and the common strength of their conglomerated effort is quite impressive. One should note that although this is obviously a Jazz-World Fusion album, the ethnic elements are not dominating the basic Jazz feel and order of things here, which happens so often in this genre. After all these are European musicians, who grew up on European aesthetics and heritage, and for them pretending to be native Africans would be ridiculous. Therefore this subtle and intelligent approach is much more effective.

In addition to the great musical content the album is also beautifully packaged and the graphic design of the digipak enclosure is simply wonderful and highly original, which proves how much thought and love went into making this album.

Highly recommended to Jazz-World Fusion enthusiasts, who should enjoy this music wholeheartedly and repeatedly, discovering the many layers it has to offer. Nice stuff!

Jerzy Mazzoll - Responsio Mortifera (2012)

Jerzy Mazzoll - clarinet, copositions, texts

Marcin Dymiter - producing and mixing

Responsio Mortifera (2012)





By Maciej Nowotny

"Responsio mortifera" were words written by the scribe upon the record of final interrogation of Jeanne D'Arc. Based on this she was condemned to death by auto-da-fe. Why Jerzy Mazzoll chose these words to become a title for his latest album will remain his mystery. But it should be noticed that his life was not without pain and suffering, be it private or musical. As the latter is concerned despite being one of protagonists of so-called yass - free jazz influenced movement which in 90ies last century refreshed somewhat stale air of Polish music - he never really got as much recognition as he deserved. Virtually unknown abroad, he was despised by leading exponents of mainstream jazz in Poland who looked at him and his colleagues (Tymon Tymański, Tomek Gwinciński, Mikołaj Trzaska and others) with the same dismay as once Miles Davis seen music of Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy or Cecil Taylor. 

This lack of support combined with personal problems (among them very grave illness) all resulted in long break since his last albums, recorded with band or under his own name, respectively 6 or 12 years ago!!! It doesn't mean he was inactive - the music is all his life - but he didn't contributed to mainstream with new musical ideas. Great loss taking into account how innovative thinker and accomplished musician he is! Set upon such a background his 2012 comeback looks even more conspicuous because he returned this year with three (sic!) new albums. His "Minimalover" was warmly received by critics and audience and was followed by EP "Jeden Dźwiek i Pan Bóg" (transl. "One Sound and the God") and finally this album released at the end of year. They all share one characteristic common for all Mazzoll projects: they are difficult to describe. Mazzoll style is highly individual like no other in Polish jazz or even the world.

The labels such as jazz, avantgarde, electronic music, punk rock though applicable are far from denoting precisely what you can find on this disc. Perhaps names of musicians which Mazzoll himself regards as his favourites will tell you more: Eric Dolphy, Roscoe Mitchell, Peter Jorgensmann, Evan Parker or Bill Laswell. None of them appears on this album but no less than 19 (sic!) other musicians were recorded or sometimes caught unaware and are present on this album. To make a coherent music out of such a maze is a great achievement of Marcin Dymiter who is not only a producer but effectively co-creator of this album. In the end it works very fine, being very personal an yet very forward thinking. In some aspects it sounds like, say, Matana Roberts' famous "Coin Coin" where she relates the history of her family, its emancipation from slavery, in universal language of jazz. Nature of a slavery Mazzoll found himself in is different but the goal itself is the same since times of Aristotelis: to get rid of the past through artistic experience. A catharsis. In this context the only setback of this recording is that the translations of Polish texts spoken by Mazzoll are not included with CD. But even without them the sheer power of emotions present here should be moving to any open-hearted listener.

Mazzoll instrumental:

Mazzoll reading his poetry:

Responsio Mortifera...

Długie, ciemne włosy Joanny D’Arc spływały w dół jak wodospad z wysokiej skały. Oczy miała opuszczone. Jej usta drżały. Henryk Beaufort, kardynał Winchester, wypowiedział ostatnie pytanie: “Kto zesłał głosy i dźwięki, które słyszałaś?”. Lecz Inkwizytor usłyszał tylko ciszę, bo przecież gęsia skórka, którą zauważył na ramionach Joanny nie mogła być odpowiedzią. Dlatego powtórzył pytanie i dodał: “Córko, jeśli wyznasz, że pochodzą od Szatana ocalisz życie i duszę! Dokonasz żywota w klasztorze. W przeciwnym razie jeszcze tego wieczora spłoniesz na stosie...”. “Wszystko co usłyszałam pochodzi od Boga” - wyszeptała. Kardynał pokręcił głową i nakazał skrybie zaprotokołować: “Oto jej ostateczna odpowiedź - responsio mortifera - na takie bluźnierstwo jedynym lekarstwem jest śmierć w płomieniach”. Mazzoll skończył opowieść, ale ja patrzyłem na niego z oczekiwaniem. “To wszystko?” - zapytałem. “Jakie jest znaczenie tej historii?”. “Posłuchaj muzyki” - odparł.

Ale właśnie o muzyce Jerzego Mazzolla pisać jest trudno. Bo nie pasuje do niej żadna etykietka. Oczywiście wszyscy uważają go za legendę yassu na równi z Tymonem Tymańskim, Tomaszem Gwincińskim czy Mikołajem Trzaską. Niektórzy nazwą go jazzmanem, bo (jak Eric Dolphy)... gra na klarnecie, a w takich powołanych przez niego formacjach jak Arhythmic Perfection pobrzmiewały echa muzyki tworzonej w kręgu chicagowskiego AACM. Jednak on sam chociaż marzy o tym, aby zagrać z Roscoe Mitchellem, odrzuca wszelkie afroamerykańskie konotacje. Bliżej mu do europejskiej awangardy spod znaku Petera Brotzmanna czy Evana Parkera (kolejni muzycy z jego wymarzonego zespołu), która przejęła ducha free jazzu, lecz w formie inspirowanej dwudziestowieczną muzyką klasyczną. W tej galerii ważnych dla siebie postaci Mazzoll umieszcza jeszcze Billa Laswella, którego eksperymenty z elektronicznym przetwarzaniem dźwięku miały duże znaczenie dla tego, jaki kształt przybrał ten projekt.

Zatem etykietki nie będą kluczem, dzięki któremu uda nam się zgłębić zagadkę ”Responsio Mortifera”. Może lepszym tropem będzie pogmatwana biografia Mazzolla? Choćby taki zdumiewający fakt: w tym roku wydaje już drugą płytę po wydanym na początku 2012 roku albumie “Minimalover” (a z EPką “Jeden Dźwięk i Pan Bóg” to nawet trzecią!). Te krążki ukazały się po... sześciu albo dwunastu latach milczenia, zależy od tego czy liczymy odpowiednio płyty nagrane w zespole czy pod własnym nazwiskiem. W tych latach przez jego życie osobiste przeszła fala wielka i niszcząca jak tsunami, lecz nie czas i miejsce, aby o tym pisać. Szczególnie bolesne było odrzucenie przez środowisko muzyczne, brak docenienia, a może po prostu brak zrozumienia, który sprawił, że yass, a wraz z nim Mazzoll, traktowani byli (i są!) przez naszych “jazzmanów” trochę jak Miles Davis traktował free jazz i Ornette’a Colemana. Jednak ten się śmieje kto się śmieje ostatni i wyklęty przez Milesa free jazz, podobnie zresztą jak i yass w Polsce, wydaje się wywierać większy wpływ na nową generację muzyków (tzw. post-yass!) niż otaczane takim kultem sławy mainstreamu z przeszłości.

Wreszcie na tę płytę można spojrzeć przez pryzmat tego kto przyczynił się do jej powstania i skąd pochodzą znajdujące się na niej dźwięki. I znów rzecz ciekawa! Naszych starych mistrzów, poza Stańką oczywiście, bardzo trudno namówić do wspólnych projektów z młodzieżą, do traktowania ich po partnersku. Mazzolla zaś ciągnie do tych młodych bardzo. Zachował dziecięcą ciekawość tego, co nowe, którą wielu w jego wieku dawno utraciło. “Responsio Mortifera” jest tyleż jego jego dziełem co odpowiedzią Marcina Dymitera, który podjął się produkcji tej płyty. A nie było to zadanie banalne! Muzyka na niej przypomina wielki gordyjski węzeł: składają się na nią dźwięki, których autorami jest 19 różnych muzyków, nagrane w różnych sytuacjach tak muzycznych jak i prywatnych. Że Dymiter z tego chaosu potrafił dobyć czyste złoto jest niewiarygodnym wprost wyczynem!

Nie oczekujcie zatem łatwej do słuchania płyty, zawierającej zbiór banalnych melodyjek. “Na granicy skupienia i zmęczenia trzeba zacząć” - tymi słowami cały ten niezwykły krążek się zaczyna. A jakimi się kończy, przynajmniej w mojej skromnej opinii, to już wiecie...

Skrybą był Maciej Nowotny

Kocin Kocinski Trio – Proverbs 3:5 (2012)

Maciej Kocinski - saxophones, EWI, electronics
Andrzej Swies - bass
Krzysztof Szmanda - drums
guests:
Kuba Badach - vocals
Patrick Jiya - vocals

ALLEGRO 026



By Adam Baruch

This is the debut recording by the trio led by Polish saxophonist / composer Maciej Kocinski, who is primarily known as the leader of the Soundcheck quartet, which received a lot of positive attention on the local scene in the last few years. The other members of the trio are bassist Andrzej Swies and drummer Krzysztof Szmanda, who are also Soundcheck members. Vocalists Kuba Badach and Patrick Jiya appear as special guests. The album consists of ten original compositions, all by Kocinski.

The trio serves as another vehicle for the leader and his cohorts to present music, which does not fit within the framework of the Soundcheck quartet, moving into areas like atmospheric / ambient / contemplative music influenced by folkloristic motifs and to some extent by contemporary Classical music. The usage of electronics and electric bass takes the music further away from purely acoustic Jazz mainstream. There is also an atmosphere of deep emotional expression, enhanced by the album's beautiful artwork, title and of course its subject matter. Naming an album after a Biblical quote (and even printing the original Hebrew text on the cover) is surely no accident.

The music is quite an unusual amalgam, which makes sense only after listening to the whole album, preferably more than once. It involves many different techniques, from "conventional" acoustic saxophone trio to purely improvised passages, electronic soundscapes, vocal chanting, recitation and others. And yet all these different elements fit together perfectly against all odds, creating truly exciting and emotional sonic experiences. Kocinski uses the EWI skillfully to produce a plethora of different sounds, enhancing the overall instrumental range. The element of melody is vital to this music and reoccurs repeatedly, with beautiful lyrical themes, which later serve as the basis for improvised excursions.

The album and the music are obviously a team effort, and although the leader is the primary soloist, his partners get ample opportunity to contribute. Swies is brilliant, as always, with his bass (acoustic and electric) being the backbone of this excellent music. Szmanda fills the blanks and supports delicately, which is exactly what this music needs. His intelligence and good taste are obvious all the way through. All in all this is a superb musical effort, which keeps the listeners on their toes for the entire duration, leaving them wishing for more of the different same.

The Polish Jazz scene seems to be a bottomless pit of great music and talented musicians. It is always a great pleasure to discover yet another example of the above and this album certainly stands out as one of the most interesting releases of 2012. Wholeheartedly recommended to all those lionhearted connoisseurs of exciting, surprising and adventurous music!

Innercity Ensemble - Katahdin (2012)

Innercity Ensemble

personnel:

Radek Dziubek - laptop, pady
Rafał Iwański - gongs, percussion
Wojtek Jachna - trumpet, flugelhorn
Rafał Kołacki - gongs, percussion
Artur Maćkowiak - guitar, synthesizer
Tomek Popowski - drums, percussion
Kuba Ziołek - guitar, sampler, voice

guests:
Tomek Pawlicki - flute on Ołowiane słońce
Antek Majewski - cello on Niedzieli Życia III

Katahdin (2012)

By Dirk Blasejezak

“This album was recorded in three days during an improvisational meeting in Mózg, Bydgoszcz. The idea was to capture unique sound of seven different personalities merging into one stream of free-flowing peaceful and sincere musical experience. The results of this meeting turned out very fruitful and the listening opportunity that we give to you should be as opening as creating those sounds was for us.”

“Opening” probably is the key word here! This is definitely a hard one for the Jazz Police. Katahdin goes beyond some of the borders of jazz music. Anybody who thinks that it has to swing to be jazz should better keep his hands off this record. Free jazz fans on the other hand will also have problems with this album. The Innercity Ensemble walks here on rarely explored terrain; somewhere on the intersections between some of the most important musical movements of the 20th century. 

Starting into the album my first association was: Is this new music? Are those some jazz musicians playing improvisations on Terry Riley? Because the first thing that hits the ears are patterns - percussive patterns. And it takes a while until you realise that those patterns are here to stay. One half of the band is involved in percussion and it takes the rest of the band some time to get heard. When finally on the second track the horn comes through more clearly to help the listener out every jazz fan should get a grip on this album.

This is also when the second association swept over me: The Panthalassa album with remixes of Miles Davis by Bill Laswell, and the (quieter) music from Miles Davis’ electric phase in general. And this kept coming whenever trumpet and drums are more present although this is in no way comparable with the 60ies or 70ies but truely a work of the 21st century. 

And there’s another influence I’m not exactly sure of (maybe that’s only me); and I had to search a while through my not so often enjoyed music until I found what faintly shines through: at some time after listening twice or three times through the whole album I was reminded of some music I hadn’t put on for more than a decade: consumed by Ritchie Hawtin aka Plastikman. For me that was the missing link - if you can imagine something in-between the patterns of the minimalists, the minimal techno and some dark ambient influences you might get a picture of this recording. This is not any kind of fusion, this is rather an amalgam comprising something new. Something very exciting! 

I’m afraid though that this my also be one of the problems of this album: there is no confined audience for this. It gets even harder when gongs and other percussion in combination with voice and samples create a sound that takes you to places far east. (Although I think that I am mislead as Katahdin is a mountain in Maine, USA, but I have to admit that my knowledge of the Indian traditional music is rather restricted.)

Katahdin indeed is “peaceful and sincere” music by some well known Polish musicians that could already be heard in projects like Hati, Contemporary Noise Sextet, Sing Sing Penelope, and many more. A very fruitful get-together it seems when you think of the two other releases in 2012 (i.e. Odrzutowce and the self titled album presented by Milieu L'Acéphale). What’s even more interesting is, that all three were recorded at the Mozg club in Bydgoszcz in August 2011 - it seems they had a very creative time there. But please do not mix these recordings up with the video of Przesilenie (which is often presented for this project) - on this album you find completely different material. And I do hope that there will be many explorative listeners out there - I would definitely recommend this to anybody, not only jazz lovers. In the end the good thing about music crossing borders is that it’s also capable of uniting listeners from different directions. And Katahdin is definitely able to achieve this!

One example from this album (available as a free download):

Grzegorz Karnas – Karnas (2011)

Grzegorz Karnas - vocals
Michal Tokaj - piano
Adam Oles - cello
Michal Jaros - bass
Sebastian Frankiewicz - drums

HEVHETIA 0050




By Adam Baruch

This is the fourth album by Polish Jazz vocalist / composer / arranger Grzegorz Karnas, one of the most unique and talented representatives of the young generation of the local Jazz scene. Separated by five years from its predecessor "Ballady Na Koniec Swiata", this album is significantly different from his earlier work and presents several novelties as far as his recording career is concerned, for example the inclusion of songs not composed by him, usage of lyrics in several different languages, a new instrumental concept, etc. The singer is accompanied by a splendid quartet, which features pianist Michal Tokaj, cellist Adam Oles, bassist Michal Jaros and drummer Sebastian Frankiewicz. Except for the bassist the other three musicians are long time collaborators on his earlier recordings. The presence of a bassist allows Oles to play his cello more in the way it was originally intended, as opposed to the earlier recordings, where it was mostly playing the bass parts.

The album comprises of no less than nineteen tracks, some quite short (under a minute) and other fully developed and lasting around seven minutes. One song (Laurie Anderson's "Langue D'Amour") appears four times in different incarnations and two other songs are reprised. Karnas composed or co-composed six of the pieces, four other pieces are credited to the band accompanying him, one is an instrumental composed by Tokaj and three are songs from the canonic Rock repertoire like Sting's "Roxanne", Joni Mitchell's "Black Crow" and the a.m. song by Laurie Anderson.

It is immediately obvious that this is Karnas' most ambitious album to date. The complexity and versatility of the material is overwhelming and music moving from one theme to another creates a charming flow, which makes the listener whish for it never to stop. Instrumentally this album, with Tokaj taking over the role of the main soloist, is finally perfect and Tokaj's beautiful tango is the best original piece of music on the album. Oles finally shows what he's made of and plays some amazing sounds. The vocal performances are also excellent, obviously more mature and relaxed than ever before. This time Karnas is pretty minimalistic, not trying to overemphasize his part and treating the entire project as a whole rather than another solo album. The group effort is definitely what makes this album tick so wonderfully and takes it a few notches up the scale.

Overall this is a truly amazing vocal Jazz album, which plainly stands out as an artistic achievement, leaving most other albums of its kind way behind. Suffice to listen to the vocalist's interpretations of the three well known songs, in order to appreciate his originality. Add to this the strength of his original material and Karnas emerges as an artist worth following and already leaving his mark on the contemporary scene, with very few contenders. An absolute must!

Grzegorz Karnas – Ballady Na Koniec Swiata (2006)

Grzegorz Karnas - vocals, composer, lyrics
Adam Oles - cello, co-composer
Radoslaw Nowicki - saxophone
Tomasz Kalwak - electronics
Bogusz Wekka - percussion
guests:
Michal Tokaj - piano
Damian Kurasz - guitar

NINTH FLOOR 1002


By Adam Baruch

This is the third album by Polish Jazz vocalist / composer / arranger Grzegorz Karnas, one of the most unique and talented representatives of the young generation of the local Jazz scene. Born in the southern Polish province of Upper Silesia, Karnas graduated form the Jazz Institute at the Katowice Academy of Music, where a large percentage of the young Polish Jazz musicians get their initial graduate education. His debut album "Reinkarnasja", released in 2000, created quite a stir on the local scene and immediately established him as one of the most significant newcomers.

Stylistically this album is a direct continuation of its predecessor "Sny", except for the fact that all the music was co-composed by Karnas and cellist Adam Oles (who also plays on the album) with lyrics by Karnas. The thirteen pieces are all relatively low-key, hence the reference to ballads in the title, although they have little in common with what is considered a ballad in classic Jazz other than the slow tempo. The accompaniment is also more subtle than on the previous album, with more ambient background sounds and less typical Jazz solos. Oles, who plays his cello mostly as if it was an acoustic bass, sets much of the overall sound and atmosphere. Other participants include saxophonist Radoslaw Nowicki, keyboardist and electronic sounds creator Tomasz Kalwak, and congas player Bogusz Wekka. In addition two guest artists also participate: pianist Michal Tokaj and guitarist Damian Kurasz.

Karnas apparently found in Oles an ideal partner in his search for a decisive stylistic crystallization, which is quite apparent here. His vocal explorations are less chaotic and outrageous, with spontaneity replaced by self-control and moderation, which of course does not make his music any less exciting. But this album is somewhat less accessible and immediately likeable that his earlier work, perhaps due to the depressing lyrical subject matter (end of the world), which is apparent not only in the lyrics but also in the somewhat gloomy melody lines. All in all this is definitely another excellent piece of musical artistry.

Karnas is a unique voice and everything he recorded is worth the listeners' attention, especially since vocal Jazz is such a neglected area dominated by mediocrity if not worse. Therefore this album stands out as a beacon of hope that not all is lost and the end of the world will have a wait for a while. Exciting stuff!