Record Reviews

WIERBA / SCHMIDT QUINTET ~ THE MOLE PEOPLE SJ 004 (Barcode: 5902596066017) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2011 Released: 2012 This is the fourth album by the Polish Jazz quintet, which was founded by two young players / composers: pianist Michal WierbaFind albums by this artist and trumpeter Piotr SchmidtFind albums by this artist. The quintet also includes bassist Michal KapczukFind albums by this artist and drummer Sebastian KuchczynskiFind albums by this artist. The fifth member of the quintet is a guest artist and in this case it the fabulous Polish saxophonist Piotr BaronFind albums by this artist. The quintet performs seven tunes, five of which are original compositions by Wierba, one by Schmidt and the remaining one is a Jimmy RowlesFind albums by this artist standard. The music sits well within the comfortable boundaries of typical Jazz mainstream, moving vaguely between Bebop and Hard Bop. The original compositions are all quite solid, but overall unremarkable and lack an edge which could keep the listener focused for the duration of the music. The performances are also very good, but than again there´s nothing here that every Jazz fan never heard before. Baron, who obviously represents a completely different league, sadly contributes very little, as most of the music is performed without his direct involvement. The only moment when the music becomes truly inspired is when the beautiful standard is performed solo by the pianist. To make things perfectly clear this is not a bad album; there are plenty of interesting moments and excellent solos (Baron´s solos in particular) but it is not enough to make it a remarkable album. In view of the music made by the very young Polish Jazz players, even younger than the ones on this album, constantly breathing on the neck of their slightly older colleagues, the level of competition requires everybody to try ever so harder. Life is a bitch.

Updated: 12/06/2018Posted:

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