Record Reviews

CRACOW JAZZ COLLECTIVE ~ NO MORE DRAMA FOR TUNE 0093 (Barcode: 5902768701692) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2014 Released: 2016 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz ensemble Cracow Jazz CollectiveFind albums by this artist, an octet led by pianist / composer Mateusz GawedaFind albums by this artist, one of the most notable upcoming Polish Jazz musicians in recent years. The rest of the ensemble consists of other young and upcoming Polish Jazz musicians: trumpeters Cyprian BaszynskiFind albums by this artist and Dominik MietlaFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Marcin SlusarczykFind albums by this artist, Slawomir PezdaFind albums by this artist and Bartlomiej PrucnalFind albums by this artist, bassist Piotr PoludniakFind albums by this artist and drummer Dawid FortunaFind albums by this artist. The album presents three expanded compositions, all originals by Gaweda. The music embodies an amazing amalgam of contemporary Modern Jazz, which moves stylistically between swinging melodic themes and collective group improvisation with elegance and grace. The sound of the octet is typical of much larger ensembles and is no less powerful than a Big Band at times. The arrangements, which call for unisono brass parts and almost Rock like rhythmic riffs, create a fat sound, which is extremely effective. All these contribute to the fact that this is one of the most quite recordings on the Polish scene lately. The extended pieces offer plenty of opportunity to show the individual talents of the ensemble members, which are all very impressive, but also emphasize the ability of the musicians to sub-divide the lineup into sections, which play in a variety of combinations from unisono to individual improvised statements. The majority of the music is however very "well behaved" and follows strictly wonderfully arranged scenarios. This album reveals a much lesser known side of Gaweda, who so far is mostly known as a piano virtuoso of highly individual style, who plays mostly Free Jazz and Improvised Music, whereas here he symbolizes the Jazz tradition not only as the composer and arranger but also as a player, which can be followed through out this album. Perhaps the fact that this music was recorded a couple of years before it was released, portrays Gaweda at that time, which is not what he does now, but I certainly hope he will make more music as majestic and skillfully arranged as this one in parallel to his explorations of the Free realms. There is little doubt as to the fact that music is such complexity on one hand and perfect execution on the other is the proof of the incredible level of the young generation of Polish Jazz musicians, who are slowly taking over the local scene into their capable hands. In fact it is so good that it should studied by other young musicians as a model of what Jazz is all about. Definitely a shining gem of an album!

Updated: 15/07/2016Posted: 15/07/2016

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MUARIO LANZA / CLAPTON FOX ~ LOVE TIME SJ 037 (Barcode: 5912596066702) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Pop Fusion Recorded: 2018 Released: 2018 This is the debut album by Polish duo comprising of guitarist Muario LanzaFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Mariusz OrzelowskiFind albums by this artist) and resident in London vocalist Clapton FoxFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Robert KaniepienFind albums by this artist). They are accompanied by trumpeter Dominik MietlaFind albums by this artist, bassist Dominik GrabFind albums by this artist and drummer Lukasz KurekFind albums by this artist. The album presents twelve songs, all co-composed by Orzelowski and Kaniepien with lyrics (in English) by Kaniepien. The album consists of basically simple Pop songs with Jazzed up arrangements, which sadly fail to arise much interest in the long range. Even the Jazzy / Ambient atmosphere wears out after a few songs and pretty soon it all becomes way too similar to retain the listener´s attention. The instrumental work is pretty solid, with the acoustic guitar parts being the best asset of the album. The rhythm section is solid, but uninspiring. The trumpet parts are nice, but after a while even those become repetitious. At times the album sounds like an Ambient Gypsy Jazz project, but once the vocals arrive, the charm is lost. The vocals are the weakest part of the entire project, sung behind a wail of echo and reverb and hardly audible most of the time, with a very limited vocal range and complete lack of excitement. Overall this project sadly leaves me completely cold. If the vocal parts could be removed, the rest would be passable and even enjoyable, but presented as is, it is quite a pain to listen to. Sorry guys…

Updated: 11/01/2019Posted: 11/01/2019

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SOUND PACK ~ ON AIR SJ 045 (Barcode: 5912596066801) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 This is the debut album by the Polish Jazz vocal quartet The Sound PackFind albums by this artist, led by Marcin WawrzynowiczFind albums by this artist, which also includes three female singers: Joanna Swiniarska-SzebeszczykFind albums by this artist, Katarzyna MirowskaFind albums by this artist and Malgorzata BiniekFind albums by this artist. They are accompanied by a splendid instrumental septet, which comprises of trumpeter Dominik MietlaFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Marcin KaletkaFind albums by this artist, trombonist Lukasz RakalskiFind albums by this artist (who was in charge of the excellent instrumental arrangements), guitarist Gabriel NiedzielaFind albums by this artist, pianist Boguslaw KaczmarFind albums by this artist, bassist Michal KapczukFind albums by this artist and drummer Przemyslaw JaroszFind albums by this artist (who was also in charge of the album´s mix). The vocal arrangements were supplied by veteran Polish Jazz musician / arranger Aleksander MazurFind albums by this artist (more about him later). The album presents ten Jazz standards, nine of which are evergreens known to every Jazz fan around the world and one originates in Poland. The album was recorded at the excellent Monochrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy GruszeckiFind albums by this artist offering the usual splendid sound quality. To anybody familiar with Polish Jazz this album immediately brings on the obvious association with the legendary and phenomenal Polish Jazz vocal quartet NOVIFind albums by this artist, which clearly also sets an incredibly tough and perhaps even unfair standard of comparison. After just a few seconds into the music the association becomes a reality, which is not entirely surprising considering the fact that Mazur worked with NOVI on one of their later albums and was involved with arranging for vocal groups for years. Therefore rather than comparing this album with those made by NOVI, I´d like to say that it is good to see (well, hear) finally someone who dares to stand up to the challenges and continue the Polish Jazz vocal quartet legacy. The album offers excellent vocal arrangements and up to date instrumental approach, which allows for soloing by the individual players. All the performances, vocal and instrumental as one, are first rate and represent the fabulous level of the young Polish Jazz generation. The bluesy guitar parts by Niedziela and lyrical piano parts by Kaczmar are my personal favorites, but again everybody performs splendidly. The vocal parts deliver both lyrics and vocalese with the same level of harmonic perfection. Some critical notes, however, are also in order: the choice of material is a tad too obvious / trifling, which can be forgiven considering this is a debut outing, and hopefully will be improved on future recordings. Although the singing of lyrics in English is not particularly ostracizing here, the sole song in Polish is an example of how things could be done better? Overall this is a splendid debut offering, which is a true pleasure to listen to from start to finish and a delightful experience for Jazz vocal group connoisseurs. Looking forward for the next album already, well done Ladies and Gents!

Updated: 13/02/2023Posted: 26/10/2019

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