Oles Brothers – Duo (2008)

Marcin Oles - bass
Bartlomiej Brat Oles - drums

FENOMMEDIA 007







By Adam Baruch

This is a bold and unusual album by Polish Jazz heroes, brothers Marcin Oles (bass) and Bartlomiej Brat Oles (drums) collectively know as Oles Brothers, which presents them as a duo without a participation of any additional musicians. The music consists of ten original compositions: six composed by Marcin, three by Bartlomiej and one being co-composed by them both.

The bass and drums, universally accepted as the rhythm section which stands behind the vast majority of all Jazz activities, is almost never considered being able to produce music on its own, which is evident by almost complete lack of recordings featuring bass / drums duets. In fact there are quite a few solo bass or solo drums albums; some of them even seminal recordings, but in contrast almost no bass / drums outings. The fact that Oles Brothers decided to record such dramatically unusual album is another evidence of the fact that they are definitely much more than just a brotherly rhythm section, but also talented composers, virtuosic performers and Jazz innovators.

Contrary to the expectations which a bass / drums album might suggest, the music is actually deeply melodic. Marcin states the melody line switching between arco and pizzicato and then the duo expands it by improvising and adding a rhythmic line, which often not only supports the melody by also introduces a secondary melodic theme. Both players remain attentive at all time to each other and the rhythmic patterns change often during one piece. The music is delicate, but distinctive, making a statement at all times; there are no fillers or redundant idle moments, its pure music from start to finish, intense, fascinating and deeply moving.

Of course the individual contributions are hardly surprising to anyone familiar with the Oles Brothers output so far; their reputation as Poland's most formidable rhythm section is once more attested herein. It's much more than just superb technique, but more importantly their mutual respect, intelligence and sensitivity, which makes them a marvelous team.

Music connoisseurs should really try out this album, as it is definitely a masterpiece of minimalism, which has very few equals, not only on the Polish Jazz scene, but worldwide. This is a rare gem indeed!

Oles Brothers / Theo Jorgensmann – Live in Poznan 2006 (2007) ****

Marcin Oles - bass
Bartlomiej Brat Oles - drums
with
Theo Jorgensmann - clarinet

FENOMMEDIA 006





By Adam Baruch

This is the third album by Polish Improvised Music heroes, brothers Marcin Oles (bass) and Bartlomiej Brat Oles (drums) collectively know as Oles Brothers, with the German clarinetist / composer Theo Jorgensmann. The music was recorded live and includes eight original compositions: four composed by Bartlomiej and two each by Marcin and Jorgensmann.

The music presents a wonderful Free Jazz / Improvised Music setting, full of great melody lines, exciting improvisations, fiery displays of virtuosic abilities and telepathic conversation between the musicians involved. Jorgensmann is a very dynamic, but non-aggressive player, who sounds wonderfully melodic even if he improvises freely, which creates an exceptionally easy-going atmosphere, rarely present on Free Jazz albums.

The Oles Brothers are famous for being the best Polish rhythm section in Free Jazz / Improvised Music environment and this album clearly shows why. They are not only technically perfect but more importantly superbly musical, and as a result the music doest not offer a soloist supported by a rhythm section setup but rather a trio of equally important parts playing together as one.

Large part of the material included here is a live version of the same material recorded by this trio on their previous album "Directions", which was recorded in a studio. Those two albums are a splendid manifestation of how music is influenced by circumstances, the presence of an audience and so on. Basically these two albums should be combined into a double CD release – perhaps when reissued at some later date.

Overall this is one of those instant "classics" which simply leave nothing out and are pieces of Culture captured for posterity. Wonderful listening experience from start to finish!

Oles Brothers – Chamber Quintet (2005) ****

Marcin Oles - bass
Bartlomiej Brat Oles - drums
with
Erik Friedlander - cello
Michael Rabinowitz - basoon
Emmanuelle Somer - oboe

FENOMMEDIA 003



By Adam Baruch

This is an interesting recording, initiated by Polish Improvised Music heroes, brothers Marcin Oles (bass) and Bartlomiej Brat Oles (drums) collectively know as Oles Brothers, which involves also three additional musicians: American cellist Erik Friedlander, American bassoon player Michael Rabinowitz and Belgian oboe player Emmanuelle Somer. They perform together as a quintet eleven pieces, nine of which were composed by Bartlomiej and two by Marcin.

The music presents an innovative idea to create Improvised Music, using Classical chamber instrumentation, ambience and to a certain extent also methodology. As farfetched and bizarre as the idea might appear at first, this album proves that is can be done and the result can genuinely offer some perfectly valid and beautiful music. The pieces present a wide range of musical ideas, some quite melodic, others more atmospheric, but always interesting and even fascinating.

The level of musicianship on this album is truly outstanding. All the participants possess virtuosic abilities and utilize them with astounding effectiveness. The same applies to their cooperation and the overall ensemble functionality. It is very difficult to believe that this is indeed Improvised Music, as it sounds completely coherent and synchronized at all times. To an innocent listener unaware of what is being played, this music might sound similar to contemporary Classical Music, with a twist, and after all it might be considered as such.

The album is a great example of the unlimited possibilities that music offers to the listeners, when created by daring and ground-breaking Artists. Assimilating many different elements, not only from Jazz and Classical Music, but also World Music, especially Jewish and Middle Eastern themes that are very clear to a trained ear, this is a true cross-genre excursion definitely worth experiencing. Satisfaction guaranteed!

Krzysztof Scieranski – Night Lakes (2014) ***1/2

Krzysztof Scieranski - guitar & bass
Michal Lyczek - keyboards
Michal Kobojek - saxophone
Przemyslaw Kuczynski - drums

and others

POLSKIE RADIO 1713


By Adam Baruch

In the liner notes attached to this album Polish Jazz electric bass virtuoso Krzysztof Scieranski confesses that his initial dream was to become a guitarist and the fact that he became Poland's bass guitar legend is, as often happens in life, a matter of circumstances and of course the fact that his brother already played guitar. One way or another, the audiences had the pleasure of enjoying his superb performances for four decades now. This album is primarily a realization of a dream where Scieranski could play guitar in addition to his already legendary bass routine. He is accompanied on this album by a core trio: saxophonist Michal Kobojek, keyboardist Michal Lyczek, drummer Przemyslaw Kuczynski and a few other musicians. Two tracks (the opening and closing ones) also include vocals. The album presents twelve original compositions, all by Scieranski.

The music is a mixture of relatively uncomplicated Smooth Jazz tunes, ranging between Jazz-Rock Fusion and almost Popish signatures, all very melodic and well structured harmonically. The tunes are definitely much more solid than most in not all the material found on Smooth Jazz recordings. There is something for everybody here and all of it is slick and pleasurable, so I wouldn't be surprised if this album becomes very popular indeed among listeners of all ages and musical persuasions.

The performances are all excellent from start to finish. These are all highly skilled and professional musicians and one should expect nothing less than technical perfection. Absurdly, although Scieranski plays some great guitar licks, it is his bass playing that is the most impressive, especially when he uses the fretless bass. He actually plays guitar on only about half of the tracks.

To summarize this is an excellently executed Smooth Jazz album, which includes a collection of tunes that are much stronger that the usual stuff one finds on that type of releases. Scieranski is a virtuoso by any standard and this album is simply another proof of the fact that he is simply great in any environment. And yes, he can play the guitar as well, which nobody can deny!

Music for fast red cars, long haired blondes and sunny beaches… California here we come!

Various Artists – Polish Radio Jazz Archives Vol.12 (2014) ***1/2

Jerzy Milian - vibraphone
Krzysztof Komeda - piano
Michal Urbaniak - saxophone
Tomasz Stanko - trumpet
Maciej Suzin - bass
Leszek Dudziak - drums
Czeslaw Bartkowski - drums

POLSKIE RADIO 1632



By Adam Baruch

This is the twelfth 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 material collected here presents recordings made in 1963 during the sixth Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw. The majority of the material, i.e. thirteen of the seventeen tracks, is performed by Dutch vocalist Rita Reys (who died a few months ago in July 2013) accompanied by a trio led by her husband pianist Pim Jacobs with guitarist Wim Overgaauw and Pim's brother bassist Ruud Jacobs. In addition one instrumental track by the trio is also included. The remaining three tracks are performed by the top Polish Jazz musicians at the time: two by vibraphonist / composer Jerzy Milian accompanied by the Krzysztof Komeda trio with bassist Maciej Suzin and drummer Leszek Dudziak; the last track is by the Komeda quintet, with saxophonist Michal Urbaniak, trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, bassist Maciej Suzin and drummer Czeslaw Bartkowski. All the tracks are Jazz standards except for the last one, which is a Komeda composition.

Reys performs a set of classic vocal material, comprising of popular songs known to all Jazz listeners. Her singing is beautifully expressive, but not virtuosic and copying mannerisms from American vocal Jazz stars. She also has a slight foreign accent, but definitely passable. The accompaniment is elegant and supportive, with Pim's piano playing being truly exceptional. The guitar plays sadly only a few solo spots, and when not soloing it is mostly hidden in the recording balance; as a result is seems Reys is accompanied mostly by a piano / bass duo only. Overall this is a fine presentation of mainstream Jazz vocals, nothing spectacular but a nice document of the moment in time.

The Milian tracks are also rather pale, well performed and all, but again nothing special. Komeda plays some great piano phrases, which are always delightful and the rhythm section is doing its job as expected. The Komeda quintet is obviously the most interesting track herein with a typical beautiful melody line only he could weave and the quintet playing along splendidly. One may wonder why these three tracks were selected as the "filler" for this album, as both ensembles (Milian's and Komeda's) played full sets, which would be very interesting in their entirety.

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.

The Cyclists – Etiudy Miejskie (2013) ***

Daniel Mackiewicz - keyboards
Wojciech Wozniak - bass
Jacek Buhl - drums
DJ G.R.Z.A.N.A. - sampler

PRIVATE EDITION






By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by Polish experimental quartet The Cyclists, formed by keyboardist Daniel Mackiewicz (Sing Sing Penelope) with other musicians from the Bydgoszcz scene: bassist Wojciech Wozniak, drummer Jacek Buhl (Glabulator) and DJ G.R.Z.A.N.A. Together they play thirteen relatively short pieces, eleven of which were composed / improvised by the entire quartet and two were composed by Krzysztof Gruse, also a well known Bydgoszcz household name.

The music is a mixture between Jazz-Rock Fusion ditties and the ambient ventures produced by the DJ, which together sounds like an updated version of early Soft Machine sans the vocals. The compositions, although pretty basic, are all nicely melodic and the Rhodes electric piano brings waves of nostalgia. There is essentially nothing very innovative here, or perhaps the entire proceedings are purposely retrograde; in any case this is a nice and very listenable piece of music, but overall quite déjà vu.

Of course these are very talented musicians and they produced some excellent music in the past, so one should accept this project as an attempt to relax and have fun, which is exactly what it is all about.

Splatter with Rafal Mazur – Cloudseed (2013) ****

Rafal Mazur - bass
with
Splatter

CITYSTREAM 00106







By Adam Baruch

This is an excellent album by British Improvising Music quartet Splatter, recorded in an expanded lineup which also includes the Polish bassist Rafal Mazur. Splatter consists of clarinetist Noel Taylor, saxophonist Anna Kaluza, guitarist Pedro Velasco and drummer Tom Greenhalgh. On the album they perform thirteen relatively short improvised pieces, and since no composing credits are given one can assume all the music was simply spontaneously created by all the musicians involved.

For a freely improvised music the content of this album is remarkably melodic and beautifully serene. Surely this music was at least rehearsed to some extent before the recording, as most of it has a clearly defined melodic sequence and harmonic structure. As such it is also easily accessible to a wide range of listeners, including those who normally wouldn't make the effort to listen to Improvised Music.

Quite honestly this is definitely one of the most beautiful Improvised Music efforts I have been exposed to in the last few years, especially due to its complete lack of aggressiveness and belligerence that often overwhelms similar efforts. In contrast this music projects a kind of calmness and piece of mind, which perhaps reflects to some extent the need of regeneration and relaxation through Art, which becomes more popular recently. But regardless of the inner motives behind the music, the overall result is simply soothing.

The individual performances are all excellent, as expected. Personally the clarinet, which is on the short list of my favorite instruments, is the most impressive here with a superb tone and melodic consistency. But again, all the other players contribute equally well. The addition of the bass solidifies the sound of the ensemble and its pulsations are another dimension which goes perfectly well with the rest. Of course the work of the ensemble as a coherent unit, and in this case almost telepathically coherent, is the most important factor contributing to their success to make brilliant music.

This is definitely an album every true ambitious music connoisseur should listen to; satisfaction guaranteed!

Marcin Wadolowski - Blue Night Session (2014)

Marcin Wadolowski - guitar
Wojciech Staroniewicz - saxophone
Dominik Bukowski - vibraphone
Janusz Mackiewicz - bass
Adam Czerwinski - drums

ALLEGRO 028




By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by the Polish Jazz guitarist / composer Marcin Wadolowski, recorded in a quintet setting with saxophonist Wojciech Staroniewicz, vibraphonist Dominik Bukowski, bassist Janusz Mackiewicz and drummer Adam Czerwinski, all seasoned players from the Polish Tricity region. The album presents ten original compositions, all by Wadolowski. Wadolowski can be also heard as a member of Elec-Tri-City and Moongang.

The music is all very melodic and kept within the mainstream Jazz conventions. All the tracks are relatively short, creating a sort of "songs" album, although of course entirely instrumental, in contrast to a typical Jazz recording, which focuses on the improvisational skills. Wadolowski simply decides to concentrate on featuring his skills as a composer and presenting his music rather than his and his quintets performing talents. There is basically absolutely nothing wrong with such approach of course.

Nevertheless the album features very talented and skilled instrumentalists and although the framework and time limitations of this album allow rather modest contributions, those are all executed perfectly. Staroniewicz is a marvelous player and so is Bukowski, who uses recently more and more the xylosynth (a combination of xylophone and synthesizer, which sound really more like a keyboard and produces some very beautiful moments. The rhythm section is also perfect for the job, staying mostly in the background but providing a solid support for the soloist and doing it with grace and elegance. As to the leader, personally I prefer his work in a more electric / Fusion / Funky environment than playing gentle almost acoustic guitar, which limits his possibilities or perhaps exposes more his technical weaknesses, but overall his performance is also quite satisfactory.

All in all we have here a pleasant well played album, which should satisfy most Jazz connoisseurs, with a slight tendency towards melodic and less complex musical forms. This album is quite ideal for a lazy evening with a glass of a wonderful cognac or very old single malt on ice.

Wierba / Schmidt Quintet – Black Monolith (2011) ***1/2

Piotr Schmidt - trumpet
Marcin Kaletka - saxophone
Michal Wierba - piano
Michal Kapczuk - bass
Sebastian Kuchczynski - drums
with
Dante Luciani - trombone

SJ 001


By Adam Baruch

This is the third album by the Polish Jazz quintet, which was founded by two young players / composers: pianist Michal Wierba and trumpeter Piotr Schmidt. The quintet also includes saxophonist Marcin Kaletka, bassist Michal Kapczuk and drummer Sebastian Kuchczynski. On this album the quintet is expanded into a sextet with the addition of American trombonist Dante Luciani. The sextet performs six tunes, three of which are original compositions by Wierba, two are standards and the remaining one is a composition by Czech trumpeter / composer Stepanka Balcarova, who studied at the Katowice Music Academy as did all of the quintet members. The album was recorded at the fabulous Studio Tokarnia and was engineered by Jan Smoczynski, with excellent, as usual, sonic results.

Although the music is all within boundaries of typical Jazz mainstream, it is superbly arranged and executed. The original compositions are interesting and poise perfectly the melodic themes and the spirited attitude; the piece by Balcarova is the most impressive on the album. Overall this is a very pleasant well rounded Jazz album, which presents the sextet as a small Big Band, balancing between the brass and rhythm sections, features many excellent solo spots and shows that young Europeans can play mainstream as well as anybody else anywhere. The individual skills of the musicians involved are of course spotless.

This album is the first release on the SJ label, owned by Schmidt, which is one of the small independent Polish Jazz labels releasing music by young Polish Jazz musicians, a most welcome phenomenon of course, spreading the local Jazz gospel around the world.

Mazzoll / Janicki / Janicki – Minimalover (2012) ***

Jerrzy Mazzoll - clarinet
Slawek Janicki - bass
Qba Janicki - drums

PRIVATE EDITION






By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by the Polish Avant-garde trio, which consists of clarinetist Jerzy Mazzoll, bassist Slawek Janicki and drummer Qba Janicki. The album consists of a CD, which includes six improvised pieces recorded in a studio, based on Mazzoll's ideas, and a DVD which documents a live concert filmed immediately following the studio recording. The music and video was recorded at the legendary "Mozg" center in Bydgoszcz, which includes a recording studio and a club, one of Poland's most interesting musical epicenters.

Mazzoll, one of the pioneers of Polish contemporary Free Jazz / Improvised Music scene and one of the Godfathers of the Yass movement, remains to be a central figure of that scene and his prolific activity is well documented. Slawek Janicki was a member of Mazzoll's Arhythmic Perfection for many years and they are now joined by Slawek's son Qba. Mazzoll was also an early member of the legendary ensemble Milosc.

Although obviously highly spirited and full of great musicianship, the music presented on this album failed to engage me, which is a prerequisite to be able to truly enjoy it. To make sure this is not just a whim of the moment I listened to the music on different occasions and still was left cold. Even the additional visual layer present on the DVD failed to change the situation. Perhaps this music was an ideal vehicle as a means of communication between the players, but it failed to break the intimate inner circle. I admit a personal failure here, not blaming the musicians.

The album itself is a beautiful document of the Mozg center and the activities that are carried out there. Considering the fact that this kind of underground culture, which is supported by local Government and carries on a tradition for several decades, this is a wondrous and highly unusual phenomenon.