Record Reviews

BARTOSZ HADALA ~ THREE SHORT STORIES NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 This is an album by Polish (resident in Canada) Jazz pianist / composer Bartosz HadalaFind albums by this artist recorded with an international team of musicians, which includes saxophonists Luis DenizFind albums by this artist and Kelly JeffersonFind albums by this artist, guitarist Eric St-LaurentFind albums by this artist, bass guitarists Brad CheesemanFind albums by this artist and Michael ManringFind albums by this artist, accordionist Joao FradeFind albums by this artist and drummer Marito MarquesFind albums by this artist. The album presents twelve original compositions, all by the leader, all excellently recorded with a clear sound quality and separation, worthy of Hi-Fi enthusiasts. The music is mainstream modern Jazz with a twist, with clear melodic themes and often unusual rhythmic meters, which at times delicately flirts with Funk and Fusion, but is all well-constructed and perfectly coherent, despite offering quite unusual sound and ambience. The music is distinctly different from the American Jazz tradition, and sounds fresh and inviting. Hadala plays both acoustic piano and keyboards, with great skill and sensitivity. St-Laurent, is a veteran with superb skill and great diversity. The saxophonists add fine solos on selected tracks. Manring plays a wonderful solo bass guitar prologue track and Frade adds accordion on the epilogue track. The rhythm section sounds very contemporary and vigorous and supports the team without being overbearing, handling the difficult rhythmic challenges with elegance. Overall, this is a fine modern Jazz album, with excellent compositions and superb musicianship, which should make every Jazz enthusiast happy and offer an interesting listening experience, often quite surprising and unlike the worn out mainstream Jazz patterns. Definitely worth to be discovered.

Updated: 02/01/2022Posted: 02/01/2022

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BARTOSZ HADALA ~ THE RUNNER UP PILOO 003 (Barcode: 859703475543) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2008 Released: 2010 This is the debut album (in the Jazz field) by Polish pianist / composer Bartosz HadalaFind albums by this artist, currently residing in Canada. The album was recorded with the help of six excellent Jazz musicians, playing in different settings: trumpeter Randy BreckerFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Ada RovattiFind albums by this artist, bassists Dave AndersonFind albums by this artist (electric) and Noriko UedaFind albums by this artist (acoustic), drummer Antonio SanchezFind albums by this artist and percussionist Kevin GarciaFind albums by this artist. The album includes nine original compositions by Hadala and one standard. The music is mainstream modern Jazz, with clear melody lines and classic instrumentation approach, which clearly places the album in the American rather than European Jazz category. It is perfectly executed, with many excellent solos and professionalism evident at every step. The compositions are truly first-rate, and are the strongest asset of this album. Hadala´s piano playing is absolutely wonderful, elegant and expressive but perhaps slightly too conventional for more advanced listeners. Nevertheless the overall level of the music and especially the compositions are praiseworthy. The album´s versatile settings, from a classic piano trio to a sextet, and the interesting compositions, which are excellent vehicles for the musicians´ improvisations, make it a pleasurable listening experience, highly recommended to mainstream Jazz connoisseurs. Hopefully Hadala will record another album soon, as his music is too good to be undiscovered.

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JECEK PELC ~ ON THE ROAD JACEK PELC RECORDS 006 (Barcode: 5908254159572) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Funk Fusion Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is a wonderful live album by Polish Jazz / Fusion drummer / composer / bandleader Jacek PelcFind albums by this artist, recorded in a quartet setting with saxophonist Maciej SikalaFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Bartosz HadalaFind albums by this artist (resident in Canada) and Italian bassist Maurizio RolliFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven tracks, six of which are original compositions by Pelc and one is an arrangement of a famous Pop song by the group SkaldowieFind albums by this artist, dedicated to the memory of the great Polish guitarist / composer Jaroslaw SmietanaFind albums by this artist, with whom Pelc played for many years. The music is a mixture of mainstream Jazz and Funk / Groove, with excellent melody lines and superb rhythmic approach. As such it is easily accessible to a wide range of Jazz and Fusion listeners, who enjoy sophisticated individual contributions by the band members, which are the highlight of this album. All four instrumentalists really play their hearts out, each contributing several outstanding solos and the quartet performs like a well oiled reliable mechanism, which never fails. Rolli is the great surprise on this album, as his virtuosic performances are simply breathtaking both when he plays his wonderfully structured solos and when he amicably accompanies his fellow band members. His electric bass performances are among the finest one can find anywhere on record in recent years. Pelc also does a great job behind the drums, playing very intensively but at the same time not overriding the other band members. He is one of the most melodic / musical drummers on the Polish Jazz scene, something I recently had an opportunity to witness in person. Overall this is an honest, extremely well played Jazz / Funk album, which is a great fun to listen to, and which will hopefully reach many fans of the genre around the world, as it truly deserves. It proves that the veteran Polish Jazz scene is still alive and kicking, contrary to the general media trend, which often tends to overlook or plainly forget these wonderful musicians. Fans of virtuosic electric bass playing and students of the instrument simply must grab a copy of this album to realize what this instrument can do in the right hands. Well done!

Updated: 04/10/2016Posted: 04/10/2016

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