Record Reviews

RGG ~ MYSTERIOUS MONUMENTS ON THE MOON MUSIC CORNER 1002 (Barcode: 5906489287206) ~ POLAND ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2020 Released: 2021 This is the twelfth album by Polish Jazz trio RGGFind albums by this artist, which celebrates its 20th Anniversary these days, with a remarkable recording legacy to its credit. Pianist Lukasz OjdanaFind albums by this artist, bassist Maciej GarbowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Krzysztof GradziukFind albums by this artist present this time fifteen mostly short pieces, nine of which are improvisations, eight called “Monuments” (numbered I to VIII). Three pieces are composed by Ojdana, one is by Eric SatieFind albums by this artist, another one by Artie ShawFind albums by this artist and one remains mysteriously uncredited. The music was recorded at the Studio Tokarnia and was engineered by Jan SmoczynskiFind albums by this artist, offering not surprisingly excellent sound quality. RGG is obviously a very unique music-making setting, a leaderless ensemble of three dominant and very different personalities, which manage to combine their relative talents significantly more efficiently than any of their Polish Jazz colleagues, despite the fact that the Polish scene is blessed with incredible abundance of wonderful musicians. The trio excels in is uncompromised pursue of individuality and eschews commercialism, even if it means to remote itself from the “fame and glory” of the legendary “Polish Jazz” series, where their previous album was released on, an association which ended with a painful divorce. There is no doubt that this album marks a new approach in the trio’s music making, with an emphasis on Free Improvisation. Although their earlier albums included plenty of advanced improvisation, it was never a focus of their recorded statements. The need to search for new forms of expression is not surprising in view of the fact that Polish Jazz scene is experiencing, perhaps to some degree influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic, a period of self-examination. RGG’s path in the last two decades is a reflection of the stellar development of the Polish Jazz during that period, which produced some of the best Jazz music on a world scale, but also seems to experience an identity / aesthetics crisis with the entry into the third decade of the 21st Century. Perhaps playing “more of the same” is simply not enough anymore? Jazz, like most other things, is mostly about balance… How much Free Improvisation is needed to express “freedom” in music is often heatedly discussed. This album does not expel completely melody, harmony and even romanticism from the music, but makes it more difficult for the listener to identify them, which sometimes might prove too difficult for some. Well, too much freedom causes chaos, and too little causes frustration, a question of balance… Personally I see this album as a “transitional experiment” by one of my favorite Jazz ensembles, and love and respect always require slack and acceptance. Their music always makes me want to hear the next album, and this one is no different. Overall, this is a courageous statement by mature Artists, who know what they want to say, obviously much better than anyone can guess. It takes a few listening sessions to get into, but, as usual in RGG’s case, the music becomes irresistible. This was a long and painful birth, well worth waiting for.

Updated: 28/10/2021Posted: 28/10/2021

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