Record Reviews

MAREK GRECHUTA ~ DROGA ZA WIDNOKRES POMATON 724352574322 (Barcode: 724352574322) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1972 Released: 2000 This is the third album by Polish singer / songwriter / poet Marek GrechutaFind albums by this artist, one of the most iconic figures on the Polish popular music scene and the most important representative of the Music & Poetry movement in Poland. This is also his first album with the group WIEMFind albums by this artist (an acronym of the Polish phrase "W Innej Epoce Muzycznej"), which Grechuta formed after he left his previous group AnawaFind albums by this artist. The new group comprised initially of guitarist Pawel ScieranskiFind albums by this artist, brilliant bassist Pawel JarzebskiFind albums by this artist and three drummers / percussionists Jozef GawrychFind albums by this artist, Bogdan KulikFind albums by this artist and Tadeusz KalinowskiFind albums by this artist. Later on the group was expanded with some personnel changes and included among others violinist Piotr MicheraFind albums by this artist, guitarist Antoni KrupaFind albums by this artist and drummer Kazimierz JonkiszFind albums by this artist. The album includes eight tracks, all composed by Grechuta, who wrote lyrics to only one of the songs and the remaining lyrics are by some of the Polish poets Grechuta admired: Jan ZychFind albums by this artist, Tadeusz NowakFind albums by this artist, Tadeusz SliwiakFind albums by this artist and others. Musically the album marks a dramatic change in comparison to the acoustic World Music / Psychedelic atmosphere of his previous albums and moves into Jazz-Rock Fusion / Progressive Rock, which is quite understandable considering that all the new band members were previously active in these areas. But the music also amalgamates the lyrical elements dominating Grechuta´s music and the intrinsic melancholy of the poetic lyrics. The instrumental work is rather intimate, with the guitar being the only soloing instrument, playing sweet Bluesy / Jazzy riffs. The absolutely sublime performances on the (acoustic) bass are the album´s backbone, upon which the entire musical contents is completely dependent. The later, expanded version of the group, included much more developed instrumental support to Grechuta´s lyrics, as can be heard on the bonus tracks. Grechuta is a master of his trade and his vocal delivery is simply sublime. Always somewhere in between singing and reciting, his interpretation of the lyrics is exquisitely intelligent and insightful. The band performs also divinely, displaying obvious talents and sensitivity. Such combination of beautiful music performed as perfectly as here is indeed extraordinary. Therefore in retrospect this is one of the best Rock / Prog albums ever recorded in Poland, although less innovative and shocking musically that its predecessor. It stands the test of time beautifully and is an absolute must have for every lover of Polish music. This expanded and remastered edition includes seven bonus tracks recorded by the Polish Radio, all of excellent quality, both sonically and musically. One of the tracks is an extended almost all instrumental version of the epic title track of the previous album, which is truly brilliant. A gem worth having!

CD 1 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

MAREK GRECHUTA ~ MAREK GRECHUTA & ANAWA POMATON 724352774029 (Barcode: 724352774029) ~ POLAND ~ Pop & Rock Recorded: 1970 Released: 2000 This is the debut album by Polish singer / songwriter / poet Marek GrechutaFind albums by this artist, one of the most iconic figures on the Polish popular music scene and the most important representative of the Music & Poetry movement in Poland. This is also his first of the two albums with the group AnawaFind albums by this artist, which he founded during his student years in Krakow together with fellow architecture student, pianist / composer Jan Kanty PawluskiewiczFind albums by this artist. The version of Anawa playing on this album was sextet, which included also cellist Anna WojtowiczFind albums by this artist, viola player Tadeusz KozuchFind albums by this artist, bassist Jacek OstaszewskiFind albums by this artist and guitarist Tadeusz DziedzicFind albums by this artist. Several guest musicians also played on the album, including drummer Janusz StefanskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marek JackowskiFind albums by this artist, violinist Zbigniew PaletaFind albums by this artist and others. The album includes ten tracks, seven composed by Pawluskiewicz and three composed by Grechuta. Grechuta wrote lyrics to three of the songs and the remaining seven are by some of the Polish poets Grechuta admired: Adam MickiewiczFind albums by this artist, Julian TuwimFind albums by this artist, Leszek Aleksander MoczulskiFind albums by this artist (closely associated with the legendary Polish group SkaldowieFind albums by this artist) and others. Musically the album is light-years ahead of its time and completely different from anything else that was happening on the Pop / Rock scene at the time in Poland or anywhere else for that matter. It amalgamates seemingly conflicting elements like contemporary Classical music, Psychedelia, chanson and cabaret, Jazz and very strong Folklore and World Music influences. In addition there is also the omnipresent Polish melancholy, emphasized by the poignant lyrics and sensitive delivery. Although the Music & Poetry movement existed in Poland earlier, mostly in the intimate cabaret environment, Grechuta took it forward making a milestone step towards perfecting the genre and no less importantly popularizing it by bringing it to huge crowds rather than to the limited Avant-Garde / intellectual audiences of small clubs and student hangouts. Grechuta is a master of his trade and his vocal delivery is simply sublime. Always somewhere in between singing and reciting, his interpretation of the lyrics is exquisitely intelligent and insightful. The entire band performs simply divinely, displaying obvious talents and sensitivity. Such combination of beautiful music performed as perfectly as here is indeed extraordinary. Therefore in retrospect this is simply one of the best Pop / Rock albums ever recorded in Poland and absolutely nothing recorded since comes even close to its perfection, except of course for the next album he recorded with the same group called "Korowod", which is considered even stronger than this one. It is completely untouched by time and constantly gets better in contrast to most music created today. It is an absolute must have for every lover of Polish music and no collection of Polish music will be complete without it. This expanded and remastered edition includes twelve bonus tracks recorded by the Polish Radio or in concert, all of excellent quality, both sonically and musically. Perfection incarnate!

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted:

CD 1 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

MAREK GRECHUTA ~ SWIECIE NASZ POMATON 094631164026 (Barcode: 094631164026) ~ POLAND ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1967 - 2003 Released: 2005 This wonderful Box Set collects the entire recorded legacy by Polish singer / songwriter / poet / bandleader Marek GrechutaFind albums by this artist, one of the most iconic figures on the Polish musical scene of the 20th Century and one of the great instigators and pioneers of the Music & Poetry (Sung Poetry) movement in Poland. This Box Set includes all fourteen albums recorded by Grechuta, each one remastered and expanded with a plethora of bonus tracks as well as a fifteenth CD with previously unreleased archival material. This 2005 edition of the Box Set expands the previous edition from 2000, which included only thirteen albums. The material covers a career of a great Artist spanning almost forty years between 1967 and his untimely death in 2006. The early albums by Grechuta were light-years ahead of their time and completely different from anything else that was happening on the Pop / Prog scene at the time in Poland or anywhere else for that matter. They amalgamated seemingly conflicting elements like contemporary Classical music, Psychedelia, chanson and cabaret, Jazz-Rock and very strong Folklore and World Music influences. His first group AnawaFind albums by this artist was among the earliest ensembles to be influenced by World Music and some of its members would later create OssianFind albums by this artist, the first full-fledged World Music ensemble in Poland. Grechuta´s music was full of the omnipresent Polish melancholy, emphasized by the poignant lyrics and sensitive delivery. He was a master of his trade and his vocal delivery was simply sublime. Always somewhere in between singing and reciting, his interpretation of the lyrics is exquisitely intelligent and insightful. In addition to his own lyrics Grechuta sung and wrote music to many poems written by Polish poets, bringing them to the attention to the young generation. His bands always consisted of superb instrumentalist and suited perfectly the magic atmosphere he created with his superbly charming personal presentation. Grechuta managed to create exquisite music consistently during his career and was always relevant and up to date, aging exceptionally well musically up to the very end. His ability to remain relevant was one of the many exceptional qualities that characterized him as an Artist. In retrospect this is simply a collection of some of the best music ever recorded in Poland and almost nothing recorded by other artists comes even close to its perfection. It is completely untouched by time and consistently gets better as the time goes by, in contrast to most music created today. It is an absolute must have for every lover of Polish music and no collection of Polish music will be complete without it. Perfection incarnate!

Updated: 26/01/2019Posted:

CD 15 Mini-Sleeve Box Set Remastered Bonus Tracks Essential Recommend To A Friend

MAREK GRECHUTA / ANAWA ~ KOROWOD POMATON 724352774227 (Barcode: 724352774227) ~ POLAND ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1971 Released: 2000 This is the second album by Polish singer / songwriter / poet Marek GrechutaFind albums by this artist, one of the most iconic figures on the Polish popular music scene and the most important representative of the Music & Poetry movement in Poland. This is also his second and last album with the group AnawaFind albums by this artist, which he founded during his student years in Krakow together with fellow architecture student, pianist / composer Jan Kanty PawluskiewiczFind albums by this artist. Anawa was an octet, an unusually large ensemble on the Pop scene, and included also bassist / flautist Jacek OstaszewskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marek JackowskiFind albums by this artist, drummer Eugeniusz MakowkaFind albums by this artist, cellist Anna WojtowiczFind albums by this artist, viola player Tadeusz KozuchFind albums by this artist and violinist Zbigniew PaletaFind albums by this artist. The album includes nine tracks, five composed by Pawluskiewicz (including one instrumental), three composed by Grechuta and one by Jackowski (the instrumental intro opening the album). Grechuta wrote lyrics to three of the songs and the remaining four are by some of the Polish poets Grechuta admired: Jan ZychFind albums by this artist, Konstanty Ildefons GalczynskiFind albums by this artist, Leszek Aleksander MoczulskiFind albums by this artist (closely associated with the legendary Polish group SkaldowieFind albums by this artist) and Tadeusz SliwiakFind albums by this artist. Musically the albums is light-years ahead of its time and completely different from anything else that was happening on the Pop / Prog scene at the time in Poland or anywhere else for that matter. It amalgamates seemingly conflicting elements like contemporary Classical music, Psychedelia, chanson and cabaret, Jazz and very strong Folklore and World Music influences. Anawa was among the earliest ensembles to be influenced by World Music and it´s not surprising that Ostaszewski and Jackowski would soon after create OssianFind albums by this artist, the first full-fledged World Music ensemble in Poland. In addition there is also the omnipresent Polish melancholy, emphasized by the poignant lyrics and sensitive delivery. The short instrumental suite composed by Pawluskiewicz is an absolute masterpiece and a timeless gem in its own right. Grechuta is a master of his trade and his vocal delivery is simply sublime. Always somewhere in between singing and reciting, his interpretation of the lyrics is exquisitely intelligent and insightful. The entire band performs simply divinely, displaying obvious talents and sensitivity. Such combination of beautiful music performed as perfectly as here is indeed extraordinary. Therefore in retrospect this is simply one of the best Pop / Prog albums ever recorded in Poland and absolutely nothing recorded since comes even close to its perfection. It is completely untouched by time and constantly gets better in contrast to most music created today. It is an absolute must have for every lover of Polish music and no collection of Polish music will be complete without it. This expanded and remastered edition includes eight bonus tracks recorded by the Polish Radio, all of excellent quality, both sonically and musically. Perfection incarnate!

CD 1 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend