Record Reviews

SLAWEK DUDAR ~ INSIDE CITY LUNA 337 (Barcode: 5900672923377) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2013 Released: 2014 This is the debut album as a leader by Polish Jazz saxophonist / composer Slawek DudarFind albums by this artist, recorded by his quartet, which also includes pianist Robert JarmuzekFind albums by this artist, bassist Adam KabacinskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Wojciech BulinskiFind albums by this artist. A couple of guest musicians: vocalist Jacek ZamieckiFind albums by this artist and guitarist Artur LesickiFind albums by this artist participate on selected tracks. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Dudar. Musically the album presents the lighter side of the Jazz spectrum, somewhere between mainstream, Jazz-Rock Fusion (when the guitar is present) and Smooth Jazz, but in contrast to most albums released with such characteristics it is a solid and valuable contribution, especially due to the excellent compositions, which are all surprisingly diverse, melodic and far from being trivial or banal. Actually some of these tunes are truly outstanding to be honest. Dudar has a nice tone and plays with self-confidence and a lot of feeling. He manages to stay within the Jazz framework and not cross over to the Smooth Jazz vocabulary (or lack of it), which is often the case. Jarmuzek plays some splendid piano parts, very supportive and always displaying great taste. His contributions keep the album solidly on the Jazz ground. The rhythm section, especially the drums, although perfectly executed and technically fine, is a bit too Rocky for my taste, but that is a minor point. The album has a very good sound quality, balance and ambience, which in addition to the fine music makes it a most pleasant listening voyage. For me this music is "sunny" and perfect for a ride on a shore in our kind of weather. Sometimes the morose Polish melancholy is simply too much, and this album manages to avoid it almost completely, except for the last tune, which is a beautiful ballad dedicated to the EST trio – not surprisingly. Very well done gentlemen!

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MACIEJ MAZUREK ~ MY HOME V 024 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Pop Fusion Recorded: 2022 Released: 2023 This is the debut album by Polish guitarist / composer Maciej MazurekFind albums by this artist, recorded in a trio format with bassist Piotr MazurekFind albums by this artist and drummer Michal MalinskiFind albums by this artist. Percussionist Bartek PajakFind albums by this artist plays on three tracks and guitarist Artur LesickiFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Tomasz WendtFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Robert JarmuzekFind albums by this artist and vocalist Natalia LubranoFind albums by this artist guest each on one track. The album presents seven tracks, six of which are original compositions by Maciej Mazurek and one is co-written by Mazurek and Lubrano. The music was recorded at the excellent Monchrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy GruszeckiFind albums by this artist, offering a spotless sound quality. The music is all highly melodic, based on solid tunes, which serve as basis for the improvisations by the participating musicians. The steady rhythmic background has a Smooth Jazz tendency, but the guitar is rather more Fusion oriented with strong Blues ties. Altogether the music is a nice mixture of melodic tunes, which flow without challenging the listener’s gray cells, but offer a pleasant background listening experience. Overall, this is a nice debut by young musicians, who are still searching for their specific musical path, showing obvious talent, but lacking maturity. Still, guitar lovers should find this very entertaining and full of exciting licks.

Updated: 09/06/2023Posted: 09/06/2023

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MAREK NAPIORKOWSKI / ARTUR LESICKI ~ CELULOID V 009 (Barcode: 5903111377076) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2014 Released: 2015 This is the fifth album as a leader (or co-leader in this case) by Polish guitarist / composer Marek NapiorkowskiFind albums by this artist, one of the most respected musicians on the local scene. This time Napiorkowski teams up with another Polish guitarist / composer Artur LesickiFind albums by this artist, and as a duo they deliver a series of wonderful tunes, dedicated, as the title suggests, to the Polish Cinema and the music associated with Polish Cinematic Art. The album´s nine tracks feature music from six classic Polish movies (or TV series), composed by such luminaries as Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist, Tomasz StankoFind albums by this artist, Wojciech KilarFind albums by this artist, Andrzej KurylewiczFind albums by this artist and others, directed by no less iconic figures such as Roman PolanskiFind albums by this artist, Andrzej WajdaFind albums by this artist and others. Both Napiorkowski and Lesicki contribute one original composition each, with the title tune (by Napiorkowski) repeated twice. The intimate and delicate duet setting creates a truly magical atmosphere, with the perfect balance between the acoustic and touches of electric sound, melody and improvisation, lyricism and inspiration. In fact this is definitely one of the best guitar duo albums I had the pleasure to listen to ever since I can remember. It is a perfect example of a case when two musicians simply amalgamate into one completely symbiotic and integral musical unit. Although obviously at some moments one of the players does play the lead and the other accompanies him, interchangeably of course, they are at all times simply one instrument, producing a coherent and fused soundscape. The music selections as well as the original compositions are all beyond reproach and the affectionate and intelligent treatment applied by the musicians awards everything such great music deserves: respect, love and personal involvement. Although seemingly basic and simple, the resulting music is full of intricacies that can be revealed only by very attentive and open-minded listening, which this exquisite album truly deserves. It is such a pleasure to see Napiorkowski move forward and try new things on his musical path. Compared to the complexity and sophistication of his previous album "Up!Find albums with this title" the intimacy and modesty of this album might appear as strikingly different, and yet Napiorkowski manages to preserve the quality and total dedication in full, regardless of the external form of his work. There are but a few musicians around with such class. In short this is simply a gem of an album, which enchants and uplifts spiritually from the very first to the very last note delivered. Superb sound quality and production turn it into a superb aesthetic treasure, which should not leave any listener unmoved. Hats off to both magicians!

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