Record Reviews

RAMA 111 ~ RAMA 111 (SWINGING TRICITY VOL.2) SOLITON 101 (Barcode: 5901549899733) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1968 - 1987 Released: 2012 This is the second installment in the excellent archival series documenting Polish Jazz created in the country´s Tricity on the Baltic Sea, one of the important centers where Polish Jazz thrives and over the years produced numerous first-rate musicians and superb bands. The series presents material, which in most cases never previously appeared in any form and therefore is of immense historic importance. This chapter presents the Rama 111Find albums by this artist ensemble, which is now almost completing five decades of musical activity, having toured extensively worldwide. The group was founded in 1966 and exists to this very day, but unfortunately never managed to record even one album under their name (they did record with the Polish Jazz vocalist Marianna WroblewskaFind albums by this artist), which sadly was the fate of many Polish Jazz artists during the Socialist regime. However they did record for the Tricity Polish Radio station in Gdansk, where all of the material included on this album comes from. Rama 111 changed musical directions over the years and in retrospect covered a wide range of styles, from modern mainstream, via Jazz-Rock-Fusion, Swing and even Dixieland. The recordings included on this album originate mostly in the early to mid-1970s, and present primarily their Jazz-Rock side, although the Jazzy side is much more dominant than the Rock elements. It was founded by keyboardist Jan RejnowiczFind albums by this artist and over the years featured the following musicians present on this album: saxophonists Przemek DyakowskiFind albums by this artist, Maciej FlontFind albums by this artist and Tadeusz PetrowFind albums by this artist, trumpeters Piotr NadolskiFind albums by this artist and Boguslaw SkawinaFind albums by this artist, pianist Andrzej NowakFind albums by this artist, bassists Eugeniusz KadyszewskiFind albums by this artist, Roman SkurzynskiFind albums by this artist and Aleksander SliwaFind albums by this artist and drummer Andrzej SliwaFind albums by this artist. The group performed both their original compositions, mostly by Rejnowicz, which were truly excellent, as well as their arrangements of Jazz standards, also mostly by Rejnowicz, which were unique and elaborate. The radio recordings have excellent sonic quality and the overall level of performances is superb. This is another great piece of Polish Jazz history, which should definitely be told and preserved as part of the country´s Cultural Heritage. Kudos to Marcin JacobsonFind albums by this artist for creating this series and keeping it going!

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend