Randy Brecker / Wlodek Pawlik – Night In Calisia (2012)

Randy Brecker - trumpet
Wlodek Pawlik - piano / composer
Pawel Panta - bass
Cezary Konrad - drums

Kalish Philhamonic Orchestra
Adam Klocek - conductor

LICOMP 014


By Adam Baruch

This is the second album on which the legendary American trumpeter Randy Brecker cooperates with Polish Jazz pianist / composer Wlodek Pawlik, performing a Jazz suite composed by Pawlik. Their previous cooperation resulted in the album "Tykocin Jazz Suite", which was very warmly received by critics and audiences alike. This time they perform the "Night In Calisia" suite, which was commissioned by the Polish City of Kalisz to commemorate its 1850 Anniversary. The music is performed by Brecker, a piano trio led by Pawlik with bassist Pawel Panta and drummer Cezary Konrad and the Kalisz Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Adam Klocek. The suite is sub-divided into six sections, which together provide a continuous flow of integrated music.

The suite is based on several melodic themes, which reappear throughout the sections, with some passages performed by the orchestra and others featuring the piano trio and the trumpeter. There are several extended solos, all executed perfectly as expected from such high-class musicians. The instrumentation and arrangements balance beautifully between the Jazz undercurrent and the orchestral parts, with naturally tend to sound more Classical in nature. The music is wonderfully lyrical and melodic, tranquil and serene most of the time, simply stroking the listener's attention note by note. Brecker plays simply outstanding, with exceptional clarity and stability, which is extremely difficult. Pawlik fills the space with the melodic motifs, always attentive and gentle. The bassist displays sheer virtuosic qualities and a warm sound of rare beauty and the veteran drummer keeps time, when keeping time is needed and gently strokes the set during the more atmospheric passages. This is pure bliss.

I suppose some listeners and Jazz connoisseurs might find this music to be slightly "sugary" at times. Well, perhaps so, but it certainly does not bother me at all. This is supposed to be a melodic, Jazz oriented amalgam of cross-genre explorations, well framed within the Classical tradition as well as the Jazz heritage. Pawlik is obviously a Master of his trade, which anybody listening to this recording must admit fair and square. There is a plentitude of wonderful Jazz / Classical interplays, which are intelligent, interesting and entertaining. The artistry involved both in the composition as well as the execution of this music is definitely praiseworthy.

This album is highly recommended to listeners, who love the proximity of Jazz and contemporary Classical music, and who will find this work delicious at all times. Pawlik confirms his position as a major force on the Polish Jazz scene and listening to Brecker's trumpet is always a pleasure. Well done!

Szymon Makohin – Tryin' Times (2012)

Szymon Makohin - vocals
Michal Tokaj - piano
Radek Nowicki - saxophone
Michal Jaros - bass
Sebastian Frankiewicz - drums

MUZA 1449




By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by Polish Jazz vocalist Szymon Makohin, which was recorded in 2008 and waited for four years to finally see the light of day. It presents Makohin performing eleven Pop / Blues / Soul standards, beautifully arranged by pianist Michal Tokaj, who leads the excellent quartet accompanying the singer, which also includes saxophonist Radek Nowicki, bassist Michal Jaros and drummer Sebastian Frankiewicz. On two of the tracks Makohin performs duets with female singers, the incredible Aga Zaryan and Irena Kijewska.

It seems that most Polish Jazz (and not only Jazz) vocalists consistently repeat the fatal mistake of trying to sing in English, which unfortunately in most cases, including this one, simply does not work. It becomes especially apparent in the duet with Zaryan, where the singer's accent and phrasing contrasts with those of Zaryan, who is one of the very few Polish vocalists able to sing properly in English. Therefore, regardless of how good this album is on the instrumental level, the vocals are a priori an obstacle. Makohin has a very nice tone and obvious vocal talents, but his battle is lost the minute he opens his mouth. It's a pity he didn't follow in the steps of other Polish vocalists, like Grzegorz Karnas for example.

The selection of the material is also quite problematic, as all the songs have a strong common bond of sounding "sweet", with very little diversity, and none of them are challenging vocally. All these songs were performed brilliantly by their original authors, and this slightly Jazzed up version has very little added value. The only case of a Jazz standard present here is more a showcase of a brilliant bass accompaniment than vocal ability.

Of course Tokaj and the quartet play spotlessly and brilliantly, as always. The instrumental work keeps this album alive and kicking, which in retrospect is a pity, since this could have been such a great album under different circumstances.

However, considering this is a debut album, it should not be judged too severely; there is a lot of potential here and Makohin has a lot to offer, so I'm looking forward to hear his next album, hopefully in Polish this time. I certainly wish him all the best and keep my fingers crossed.

Mack Goldsbury Quintet feat. maciej Fortuna – Live At CoCo's (2012)

Mack Goldsbury - saxophone
Maciej Fortuna - trumpet
Shaun Mahoney - guitar
Erik Unsworth - bass
Ricky Malichi - drums

CADENCE JAZZ 1245






By Adam Baruch

This album presents a live recording by a quintet, which comprises of four American Jazz players: saxophonist Mack Goldsbury, guitarist Shaun Mahoney, bassist Erik Unsworth and drummer Ricky Malichi and also features the Polish Jazz trumpeter Maciej Fortuna. The American players are pretty anonymous, but Fortuna is very well known on the Polish Jazz scene in the last couple of years and made several recordings as a leader, co-leader and sideman recently. The album includes seven compositions, two of which are standards, two are by Mahoney and the remaining three are by Goldsbury, Unsworth and Fortuna contributing one composition each. The recording quality is quite good and the music has a worm ambience and a clearly defined sound.

Stylistically the music is straightforward American mainstream, which of course in not very exhilarating. Fortunately Mahoney plays some really great and sensitive guitar and Fortuna blows beautifully, as always, being by far the best musician in the quintet and his composition is the most ambitious of the original compositions present herein. There is very little innovation or ambitious improvisation here, with the quintet sticking to the melody like flies to honey, which of course is hardly surprising. To put things in the right perspective, this is a respectable showcase of mainstream Jazz, which simply becomes sort of "not very exciting" after a while.

Of course it's very educational for Fortuna to play with American Jazz musicians, as Jazz in Poland sounds pretty different in most cases. Dues have to be paid and these cats can swing. So no harm done and Fortuna gets another album in his discography, where he shows off his chops. Would I pay money to buy this music? Sorry… I'd have probably enjoyed the evening at the club when this music was recorded, but not much beyond. But hey, that's just me, if you like mainstream Jazz, this ain't bad at all.

Noya / Jakubek / Maseli – Live (2012)

Nippy Noya - percussion
Zbigniew Jakubek - keyboards
Bernard Maseli - vibraphone

PRIVATE EDITION








By Adam Baruch

This album presents a live recording of a trio, which comprises of world famous Indonesian (living in Netherlands) percussionist Nippy Noya and two veteran Polish Jazz musicians: keyboardist Zbigniew Jakubek and vibraphonist Bernard Maseli. The album includes six original compositions, four of which were composed by Maseli and two by Jakubek. Three of these compositions receive extended treatment and carry on for twelve and up to seventeen minutes, while the other three last the usual six / seven minutes. The sound quality is excellent and every detail of the music is perfectly audible, even though it was recorded live.

The music is mostly ambient and atmospheric, with a strong Jazz-Rock orientation, although much more fragile and delicate than the usual output of the genre. A strong World Music influence is also evident. The melodies are stated clearly and are the basis of the extended improvised passages. Jakubek often plays the bass lines using his instruments, so at times the music sounds like being performed by a quartet. The overall atmosphere is reminiscent of several Pat Metheny recordings with his group featuring keyboardist Lyle Mays.

The music is relaxed and flows gently from one track to another, but manages to stay inside the creative limits of the Jazz parameters, without spilling over into the muzak territory, which is usually where such undertakings eventually arrive at. Both Jakubek and Maseli play some truly great solos here and keep the music interesting, with Noya sticking to his percussive background. This is obviously an album, which belongs to the "lighter" side of Jazz, but it is does neither compromise the participating musicians nor insult the listener.

Not exactly my cup of tea, but I suspect that many listeners will love this album to bits, which is perfectly fine with me. This album is definitely recommended to those folks, who love melodic and well played music, which does not make your teeth ache.

Premiere of new album by Wojtek Jachna & Jacek Buhl

Jachna/Buhl - Tapes (2013)

Wojtek Jachna - trumpet, flugelhorn, electronics
Jacek Buhl - drums, percussion

Wojtek Jachna (trumpet, flugelhorn, electronics) and Jacek Buhl (drums, percussion) formed Jachna/Buhl, a spontaneous duo of experienced collaborators whose language is inspired as much by jazz as by freeimprov or electronic music. They recorded three albums up-to-this-date with their latest, "Tapes", available now for free at bandcamp:

http://jachnabuhl.bandcamp.com/album/tapes-milieu-lac-phale-2013

 

Maciej Fortuna – Sahjia (2012)

Maciej Fortuna - trumpet
Piotr Lemanczyk - bass
Krzysztof Gradziuk - drums

PRIVATE EDITION






By Adam Baruch

This is the third album as a leader by young Polish Jazz trumpeter Maciej Fortuna and also his third album as a leader or co-leader released in 2012, which definitely seems to be his breakthrough year. The album was recorded in a trio setting with the excellent rhythm section comprising of bassist Piotr Lemanczyk and drummer Krzysztof Gradziuk (of RGG fame), recorded live during several of the trio's performances at various venues around Poland. Six of the tunes appearing on the album were composed by Fortuna and the remaining two by Lemanczyk. There is also an unlisted bonus track, which features pianist Lukasz Ojdana as a guest.

The album is obviously a document, capturing the trumpeter at this specific stage of his career, rather that a pre-planned studio recording, which usually is intended as a next stage in any musician's path of continuous development. As such it is absolutely perfect in what it does, with the natural open sound, no editing and somewhat casual straightforward capture of the music, including the audience's reaction. Clearly the music is at the center here and everything else is superfluous.

The most striking effect of these recordings is the importance of the teamwork, which is absolutely stunning. This is not a leader / sidemen situation, as all three players contribute equally to the overall result at all stages. These players are undoubtedly virtuosi on their respective instruments, as anybody familiar with the Polish Jazz scene already knows, but in this situation the trio is definitely much more powerful than the sum of its respective ingredients. Also the musical ambience prevailing on these recordings is significantly more free and open than on the earlier recordings by Fortuna, which enables him and his cohorts to take off and hover above the earthly plane defined by the basic melody and chord changes. With the support of this specific rhythm section, the possibilities seem to completely unlimited.

In addition to the leader's soloing, which of course is the albums focal point, both the bassist and the drummer solo extensively, turning the music into a spectacular listening experience, full of emotional fireworks and uplifting displays of sheer musical delight. We should be grateful that Fortuna decided to capture this music for posterity, as it would have simply faded out into the past leaving those, who didn't attend these concerts, without the opportunity to enjoy its glory.

Fortuna is definitely a player to be watched closely in the future. With 2012 behind us the future looks decisively very bright for him, and his position at the center of the local scene seems to be ensured. He deserves to be recognized worldwide and hopefully this will be the next stage of his career. In the meantime a big thank you for a wonderful musical 2012 - Well done indeed!

Julia Sawicka Project - Fields Of Soul (2012)

Julia Sawicka - vocals
Hans Peter Salentin - trumpet
Tomasz Pruchnicki - saxophone
David Doruzka - guitar
Klaudius  Kovac - keyboards
Krzysztof Dys - keyboards
Roman Chraniuk - bass
Marcin Jahr - drums

PRIVATE EDITION


By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by Polish Jazz vocalist Julia Sawicka and her international band, which includes German trumpeter Hans Peter Salentin, Czech guitarists David Doruzka, Slovak keyboardists Klaudius Kovac and Polish players: saxophonist Tomasz Pruchnicki, keyboardist Krzysztof Dys, bassist Roman Chraniuk and drummer Marcin Jahr. A string trio is also used. The album is beautifully packaged in a hardcover digipak, which is exquisitely designed and features some breathtaking aerial photography, obviously a high-class labor of love.

The album is subtitled: "Unconventional versions of popular songs by Sting", which says it all; the ten songs included have been all written (or co-written in one case) by Sting, appear here arranged in a Jazzy manner and are beautifully performed by the ensemble, which comprises of first-class musicians and does not disappoint. So far so good.

However, tackling Sting's material can be a perilous undertaking, for many reasons; Firstly his songs are quite Jazzy in their original versions, as anybody familiar with Sting's songbook and career should be aware of, and therefore Jazzing them up might prove to be superfluous. Secondly Sting's songs are extremely complex, tricky and above all personal, which makes any attempt to perform them by others almost completely impossible. The gravest mistake was leaving the original English lyrics, which presents an insurmountable challenge for a non-native English speaker performing the vocals. Such ambitious project should have taken the additional step of translating the lyrics into Polish, which probably would have made it so much better.

As a result the album certainly presents nothing, which is "unconventional", as stated in its marketing subtitle, being simply one more tribute album of Jazzed up Pop or Rock material, which is certainly nothing new, even on the Polish Jazz scene. Secondly the vocals suffer badly from the English pronunciation, phrasing and articulation, which unfortunately are below par and plainly stand in the way of the vocalist in order to express her best abilities.

All things considered this is still a nice album, mostly due to the great instrumental parts and solos, providing one can somehow isolate the vocals and not be bothered too much by them. Sawicka is probably quite a talented vocalist, but this album is not working in her favor. I'd certainly love to hear more of her work under different circumstances. In the meantime I'll keep listening to Sting au naturel.

Maciej Jeleniewski & Deer Project - Stop The Time (2013)

Maciej Jeleniewski - producer

Piotr Remiszewski - producer

Guests:
Jarosław Śmietana - guitar
Karen Edwards - vocal
Jerzy Mazzoll - clarinet
Wojtek Karolak - keyboard
Mirosław Kaczmarczyk - guitar
Piotr Iwicki - drums
Tomek Lipnicki - raeding text

Stop The Time (2013)

By Maciej Nowotny

Maciej Jeleniewski and Piotr Remiszewski teamed-up and as Deer Project produced this album which features many respected jazz musicians. Jeleniewski is known as a bass guitarist playing in rhythm section of pop band Oczi Cziorne (together with avantgarde drummer Michał Gos). Piotr Remiszewski has similar background and has been playing as a drummer and also arranging and producing in number of pop projects. 

The overall style of this release verges between pop, smooth jazz and mainstream jazz (OK, this  last reference is a bit of exaggeration I admit). For hardcore jazz lovers who look always forward to see future of this music it will probably sound too sweet and predictable. But one must be aware that jazz audience consists of various people of different needs. For a significant part of it jazz is less spiritual matter but just one of stylistics they found useful for certain occasions or moods in their life. I believe that's why this music when played in fancy bar or during evening meeting with friends may fit perfectly to enhance the beauty of the moment. Perhaps not as a source of any distinctive aural experience in itself it yet may serve well a classy background to other activities.

Although as I said it tastes best when served in background it may still offer some surprisingly nice moments when we catch some of outstanding solos of excellent jazz musicians Jeleniewski and Remiszewski invited to this project. Jarosław Śmietana guitar passages in "Thoughts Moving", Jurek Mazzoll hauntingly beautiful bass clarinet solo in "Fountime" are enough to redeem this music but that's not the end since additionally we will find on this album also a legendary keyboardist Wojtek Karolak, excellent vocalist Karen Edwards or Mirosław Kaczmarczyk and Piotr Iwicki from Loud Jazz Band. These are big or in same cases even great names in Polish jazz but please do not expect anything revolutionary from this music. It was all heard hundreds of times before, and no new ways are explored here. Still if you like such an easy and uncomplicated side of jazz it may be pleasant experience, especially since it is very well recorded.

Tracklist :
1. Myśli Przeprowadzka
2. Przegrana Wieczór
3. Fountime
4. Widok z okna
5. San Francisco Come Back
6. Nikt nie ma to jak profesor
7. W czasie między
8. Niech was Bóg błogosławi Wariata
9. Violet Brainwashed
10. Empty Chair
11. Sophie Sticated

World loves Komeda!

This is terrific story indeed! Daniel Volovets, a 20-year-old classical, flamenco, Brazilian, and jazz guitarist, who recorded 3 albums already, got enamored in Krzysztof Komeda music. He is now working on 2 more albums, one of which will be a tribute to legendary Polish composer and pianist. That's what he says about this project: "It will feature original arrangements of his compositions for solo guitar and duet with guitar + tenor/soprano saxophones, guitar + violin, guitar + flute, etc." It may sound similar to this home-made rendition of "Ballad for Bernt" which he made when 18 years old with his brother playing on soprano saxophone (then 14!).

If you to help his dreams come true, please show your generosity and help finance his project by donating a small sum through this Kickstarter page:

Janusz Yanina Iwanski – Yanina Free Wave (2011)

Janusz Yanina Iwanski - guitar
Lukasz Klucznik - saxophone
Marek Pospieszalski - saxophone
Marcin Lamch - bass
Przemek Pacan - drums

MTJ 10934



By Adam Baruch

This is an excellent album by veteran Polish Rock and Jazz guitarist / composer Janusz Yanina Iwanski, recorded with a quintet which also includes saxophonists Lukasz Kluczniak (alto) and Marek Pospieszalski (soprano and tenor), bassist Marcin Lamch and drummer Przemyslaw Pacan. The album comprises of six original compositions, five of which were composed by Iwanski and one is a group composition. Three of the compositions are quite extensive and last between eleven and sixteen minutes. The last track on the album is dedicated to the memory of the great Polish trumpeter Andrzej Przybielski, who died shortly before the album was released and with whom Iwanski played in the past.

The music is a unique cross-genre amalgam, which moves between Jazz-Rock Fusion, ambient / atmospheric improvised stretches and quite Free passages with the guitar and both saxophones improvising simultaneously. A strong melodic presence is felt throughout the entire duration, moving between the foreground and the background of whatever is happening in the course of the performance. Overall the album is mostly Free Jazz oriented and most of the time the group improvisation is the focus, although several simpler and more lyrical moments also materialize. Regardless of any attempts to categorize this music, it is quite elusive and listening to it is the only proper way to deal with it.

The individual instrumental performances are all quite excellent, as all these musicians are obviously highly talented. Iwanski plays some superb guitar licks, which one expects to find only on albums by the top guitar players around. His tone is fairly unusual and clear and his work will surely make many guitar freaks extremely happy. Both saxophonists play with passion and conviction, both able to play unisono or play against each other like fighters in a ring. The rhythm section does a perfect job, keeping the music right on track. The bass is solid and steady and the drums strongly present and almost as aggressive as the soloists, which is exactly what this music needs.

It's a pity this album found only a limited audience, as it truly deserves to be heard by a lot of people, who listen to the different sub-genres of Jazz, as there is something for everybody herein. As all good music this is not easy-listening by any standard, but will definitely grow on the listener with consecutive listening sessions. Therefore people looking for challenging, innovative and highly absorbing new musical vistas should check this album out as soon as possible and as long as it can be found on the market, before it disappears into the great limbo, where all good music seems to be sucked into these days. Great stuff!