Record Reviews

VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ POLISH RADIO JAZZ ARCHIVES VOL.30 POLSKIE RADIO 2063 (Barcode: 5907812244026) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1966 Released: 2017 This is the thirtieth installment in the series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings from the radio vaults. 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 tracks presented here were recorded live in October 1966 during the ninth Jazz Jamboree Festival in Warsaw and are the second volume of a collection of tracks from that event. The first ten tracks present the legendary French vocal group The Swingle SingersFind albums by this artist, led by Ward SwingleFind albums by this artist (an American in Paris) and including seven more vocalists. The vocal octet is accompanied by bassist Guy PedersenFind albums by this artist and drummer Daniel HumairFind albums by this artist. In contrast to the earlier iconic French vocal ensemble Les Double SixFind albums by this artist (which included several of the Swingle Singers members earlier on), which sung vocal versions of Jazz standards, The Swingle Singers performed mostly vocal Jazz arrangements of Classical Music pieces, by Johann Sebastian BachFind albums by this artist, Wolfgang Amadeus MozartFind albums by this artist and others. The tracks present here are all in this particular idiom. The next two tracks present a trio led by American organist Lou BennettFind albums by this artist, who moved to Paris in 1960. The other members of the trio are: Belgian guitarist Philip CatherineFind albums by this artist and Italian drummer Franco ManzecchiFind albums by this artist. These tracks are of interest as early examples of Catherine´s playing before he started his illustrious solo career. The last track presents a Polish Jazz quartet led by saxophonist Zbigniew NamyslowskiFind albums by this artist, which also includes pianist Adam MatyszkowiczFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Adam MakowiczFind albums by this artist), bassist Janusz KozlowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Czeslaw BartkowskiFind albums by this artist. They perform an original composition by Namyslowski, recorded on his debut Polish album by the same lineup. 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.

Updated: 07/07/2017Posted: 07/07/2017

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