Record Reviews

BARTOSZ DWORAK ~ POLISHED HEVHETIA 0091 (Barcode: 8588005257336) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2015 Released: 2015 This is the second album by Polish Jazz violinist / composer Bartosz DworakFind albums by this artist and his quartet, which also includes pianist Piotr MatusikFind albums by this artist, bassist Jakub DworakFind albums by this artist and drummer Szymon MadejFind albums by this artist. The quartet performs nine original compositions, four by Bartosz Dworak and five by Matusik. Several of these compositions already appeared on the quartet´s debut album, which was a live recording, and get here a more polished (tongue-on-cheek) version. Dworak proudly joins a long list of Polish Jazz violinists, which keeps growing as the years go by, and includes such luminaries as Michal UrbaniakFind albums by this artist, Zbigniew SeifertFind albums by this artist, Krzesimir DebskiFind albums by this artist, Adam BaldychFind albums by this artist and young lions like Mateusz SmoczynskiFind albums by this artist and Dawid LubowiczFind albums by this artist. This wonderful legacy can be of course quite overwhelming and daunting, but Dworak seems to have no inferiority complexes whatsoever and gallantly steps into their shoes, doing his own thing. Although Dworak is the leader of this quartet, the compositional and soloing duties are split quite equally between him and Matusik, who wrote about half of the music and plays superb piano parts, both supporting the violin parts and soloing himself. The rhythm section plays along with the two soloists supporting them amicably but staying mostly in the background, which in this specific music is probably all for the best. The music is all pretty straightforward melodic mainstream, although at some moments the quartet ventures, albeit only partly, into a less clearly defined set of parameters. Of course, as usual with Polish Jazz violinists, the music is soaked in melancholy and lyrical folkloristic undertones, which brings fond memories of the material recorded by those musicians listed in the second paragraph. All nine tunes are beautifully melodic, which surely opens this album to a very widespread range of audiences, even those beyond the Jazz idiom. In many respects this album could be considered as a debut, since the semi-formal live recording released earlier was really just a teaser of things to come. And as a debut it certainly is a very impressive effort, in every respect, which keeps the hopes for a new generation of Polish Jazz musicians in general and violinists in particular at their highest. Personally I simply can´t wait for the next album, which will be the decisive proof of maturity. In the meantime we can all enjoy this gem!

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