Record Reviews

URSZULA DUDZIAK ~ SUPERBAND AT JAZZ CAFE LIVE POMATON 5099945712722 (Barcode: 5099945712722) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Funk Fusion Recorded: 2008 Released: 2009 This is a live 2CD album by Polish Jazz vocalist Urszula DudziakFind albums by this artist, recorded during a two-days residence at a Jazz club in a small town near Warsaw. She is accompanied by a quintet of young Polish Jazz musicians, which includes saxophonist Lukasz PoprawskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Tomasz KrawczykFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Jan SmoczynskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Daniel BielFind albums by this artist and drummer Artur LipinskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents eleven tracks, two of which are bonus radio edits of the full live tracks. The music includes five compositions by Michal UrbaniakFind albums by this artist, one each by Smoczynski and Larry CoryellFind albums by this artist and two arrangements of Classical pieces by Frederic ChopinFind albums by this artist. Most of the music was arranged by Smoczynski, who also was in charge of the recording with his brother Mateusz SmoczynskiFind albums by this artist. Dudziak performs using exclusively her famous vocalese, which of course is phenomenal as always, and the quintet accompanies her amicably with vigor and high energy. The music is strongly influenced by Funk, Groove and of course Fusion, which is ideal for Dudziak’s vocal improvisations and showcases her virtuosity in full. Despite the fact that this music was recorded over thirty years after Dudziak first exploded on the Jazz scene with her revolutionary vocal extravaganza, it seems that she is completely untouchable by time and still capable of stunning her audiences. I had of course the pleasure of hearing her perform more recently (2025) and she is still a ball of lightning. Overall, this is a great opportunity to hear Dudziak perform live, as there are very few live recordings by her out there. Also this album seems to be somewhat lost and quite a rarity, which is completely outlandish, as she has no equals on the world Jazz scene and truly deserves to be celebrated. If you can grab a copy, don’t dare to think twice!

Updated: 18/01/2026Posted: 18/01/2026

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ARTUR DUTKIEWICZ ~ HENDRIX PIANO PIANOART 5907760035028 (Barcode: 5907760035028) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2007 Released: 2010 This is the fourth album as a leader by Polish Jazz pianist / composer Artur DutkiewiczFind albums by this artist, recorded in a classic Jazz piano trio setting with bassist Darek OleszkiewiczFind albums by this artist (bassist Daniel BielFind albums by this artist plays on three tracks) and drummer Sebastian FrankiewiczFind albums by this artist as his partners. The music, as the title suggests, is a tribute to the legendary American guitarist / songwriter Jimi HendrixFind albums by this artist and presents nine instrumental arrangements of songs from his repertoire, seven of them composed by Hendrix and two composed by others. The album was recorded at the excellent Studio Tokarnia and was engineered by Jan SmoczynskiFind albums by this artist with spectacular sonic results This album was recorded at the same sessions which produced the previous album by Dutkiewicz, called "Niemen ImprowizacjeFind albums with this title", which pays tribute to the music of Czeslaw NiemenFind albums by this artist, the legendary Godfather of Polish Pop / Rock. Therefore these two albums share not only the recording dates but also basically the same musical concept, i.e. the transformation of Pop / Rock music into the mainstream Jazz environment. Of course the music of Hendrix, who was a major Rock star with a worldwide following, was already arranged and performed by many Jazz artists earlier, with varying results, some absolutely spectacular and other utterly worthless. Although seemingly words apart, Niemen and Hendrix shared one obvious characteristic: their deep affinity to the Blues, which Dutkiewicz cleverly exploits on both these albums, and uses this opportunity to highlight his own Blues chops. The fact that these two albums were recorded basically together and present a common concept obviously "asks for" a comparison, which I´d rather avoid, but unfortunately that is quite impossible. Personally this album works slightly less effectively for me than its companion, which probably has nothing to do with the music but my own perception of the music Hendrix created and I was fortunate to hear live on several occasions. I seem to be unable to free myself from the stunning guitar sound which my memory / brain stores under the Hendrix pointer. This music played by a piano, however well, simply does not cut it for me as well as it should. But of course this album shares many of the same beautiful qualities present on its companion: great performances, intelligent arrangements, wonderful interplay between the trio members and so on. It is a great piano trio album in every respect and an admirable tribute to the Genius of Hendrix. Obviously Jazz connoisseurs all over the globe should be able to enjoy this music without reservation.

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ARTUR DUTKIEWICZ ~ NIEMEN IMPROWIZACJE PIANOART 5907760035011 (Barcode: 5907760035011) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2007 Released: 2009 This is the third album as a leader by Polish Jazz pianist / composer Artur DutkiewiczFind albums by this artist, recorded in a classic Jazz piano trio setting with bassist Darek OleszkiewiczFind albums by this artist (bassist Daniel BielFind albums by this artist plays on one track) and drummer Sebastian FrankiewiczFind albums by this artist as his partners. The music, as the title suggests, is a tribute to the legendary Polish singer / songwriter Czeslaw NiemenFind albums by this artist and presents ten instrumental arrangements of songs from Niemen´s repertoire, eight of which were also composed by him and two which were composed by others. The album was recorded at the excellent Studio Tokarnia and engineered by Jan SmoczynskiFind albums by this artist with spectacular sonic results Niemen was always associated with Jazz and was a pioneer of the Polish Jazz-Rock Fusion movement, but he actually never quite crossed over into Jazz, and this album does it for the first time. Niemen´s songs, stripped of their dramatic vocals and poignant lyrics, can be hear here for what they really were; a superb amalgam of Blues soaked Rock, Rhythm And Blues, Soul, Groove and Folkloristic themes, which are all obviously quite timeless. Dutkiewicz took quite a risk here, as transforming Niemen´s music into a swinging Jazz environment might have trivialized it or even turned it into grotesque muzak. Luckily all this was cleverly avoided by the intelligent arrangements and highly sensitive performance, which simply transformed the music into a completely different plane. Many musical Icons seem to be simply untouchable, and most attempts, which try to utilize or update them, fail miserably. This is a rare example of a successful attempt of transplanting iconic music to a new environment without destroying the original. The trio´s performance is of course spotless, as nothing less should be expected from musicians of such class. The players concentrate on playing the music and there are no lengthy individual solo sports, which would be quite inappropriate here, but a wonderful togetherness and concise delivery. Intelligence, sensitivity and grace are the name of the game and the music is never trivial or banal. Listeners familiar with Niemen´s original performances of these songs will find this album quite fascinating of course, when trying the find the parallels and the divergences. But even people who never heard of Niemen (obviously beyond Poland´s borders) should find this to be an excellent piano trio album worthy of repeated listening.

Updated: 08/05/2023Posted:

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