Record Reviews

AREK CZERNYSZ ~ BREATH BCD 45 (Barcode: 5906881885451) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2018 Released: 2019 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz accordionist / composer Arek CzernyszFind albums by this artist recorded in a trio format with bassist Filip ArasimowiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Antoni WojnarFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Czernysz. In the contemporary music world the accordion became almost completely neglected and its glorious past is by now utterly forgotten. In Jazz accordion was always a rarity and of course it is even more so today, but an accordion trio with bass and drums is just about unheard of. The physical difficulty involved in playing the instrument, the technique and rigor required to master it and of course the complete absence of sex appeal the instrument radiates are just some of the reasons why very few young musicians want anything to do with it. Therefore Czernysz a priori deserves respect and praise for accepting the challenge. The music Czernysz composed for this album was obviously created with accordion in mind and suits the trio perfectly. It offers a wide range of stylistic influences obviously Jazz but also many World Music elements, some hints of Blues and of course the omnipresent Polish lyricism and melancholy present on almost every album made in Poland. He also cleverly avoids exploring the palpable accordion temptations like Tango, Polka and various folkloristic areas clearly associated with the instrument, creating his own musical ambience that shows no signs of imitation. In fact the music is certainly way more mature that what one might expect from such young composer. As a player Czernysz obviously shows a lot of talent and potential, but his performance lacks the polish and virtuosity that come with time and experience. Having said that the music is perfectly executed in every respect, it only lacks certain brilliance that is simply not here just yet but will definitely appear soon, perhaps even on his next album. I hope this does not sound discouraging in any way, as it is not meant to be; all I am saying at this point is that when Czernysz will add virtuosity to his performance, he will be unstoppable. The rhythm section does a splendid job shoulder to shoulder with the leader. As already mentioned above a bass / drums accompaniment to accordion does have a limited precedence and a tight cooperation as displayed on this album is definitely praiseworthy. Overall this is an exciting, bold debut album which offers splendid compositions, fine performances and a novelty effect of hearing accordion in a fresh musical environment. It is definitely wholeheartedly recommended and absolutely worth being discovered!

Updated: 22/06/2019Posted: 22/06/2019

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PAULINA PORSZKE ENSEMBLE ~ ADDAPTACJA NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz keyboardist / vocalist / composer Paulina PorszkeFind albums by this artist recorded with a seven piece ensemble with second keyboardist Jan JareckiFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Aleksander KaminskiFind albums by this artist and Michal Jan CiesielskiFind albums by this artist, cellist Weronika KulpaFind albums by this artist, bassist Filip ArasimowiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Maksymilian KreftFind albums by this artist. Except for the two saxophonists and the bassist, the rest of the players have no previous recording experience as far as I know. The album presents five original compositions, one in two parts, all composed by Porszke. From the very onset of the music it becomes immediately apparent that this is a completely original and idiosyncratic piece of music, unlike almost everything that the Polish Jazz scene produced in 2020. Although obviously Jazz oriented, the music is all over the place (in the best meaning of the aphorism), touching on contemporary Classical Music, Free Improvisation, solid melodic themes and at times heartbreaking expressionism and even Romanticism. Such diversity might be a sign of a lack of focus and coherency, but in this case the opposite is true, since although the music is based on cross-genre pollination, it has unifying determination and above all Artistic / aesthetic depth, rarely achievable by such young musicians as Porszke. The complex and challenging music is spectacularly executed by the ensemble. Although there are many inspiring individual statements herein, it is the ensemble performance that is the true forte of this recording. The individual soli are usually short and concise, obviously purposely so, as the leader / composer wishes to present a specific collective ensemble sound and ambience rather than feature the individual statements. Porszke´s use of wordless vocalese deserves a special mention, and is another refreshing facet of the music. It is great to see that some of the representatives of the new generation of European Jazz realize that Jazz music is no longer a simplistic couple of chords theme, 4/4 rhythmic structure and "let´s go" approach. Jazz is becoming more and more Artistic, sophisticated, expressive, intellectual, emotional and above all personal, similar to what one can hear on this album. This music is obviously deeply personal and Porszke uses it as a vehicle to express her innermost experiences, exactly as other true Artists do regardless of what Art Form they utilize to express themselves. It is almost "frightening" to think that if this is Porszke´s debut album, what she will come up with next. Personally I can´t wait to hear it, but on second thought just take your time young Lady…I keep my fingers crossed!

Updated: 07/01/2021Posted: 07/01/2021

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IRKA ZAPOLSKA QUARTET ~ PERCEPTION OF PRECEPTION NOT ON LABEL 5904933517718 (Barcode: 5904933517718) ~ POLAND ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2021 Released: 2023 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz vocalist / songwriter Irka ZapolskaFind albums by this artist. The album was recorded in a classic vocalist / piano trio setting with the vocalist supported by pianist / composer Dominik KisielFind albums by this artist, bassist Filip ArasimowiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Maksymilian KreftFind albums by this artist. The album presents five tracks, all of which are original “songs” co-composed by Kisiel and Zapolska, four with lyrics by Zapolska (in English) and one based on excerpts from “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland” by Lewis CarrollFind albums by this artist, translated into Polish. Two of the tracks are over then minutes in duration. There is absolutely nothing conventional about this album and it is strikingly original. There is almost no straightforward music per se herein, just fragments of sounds and hints of melodies, the vocals are a combination of recitation and free style / improvised singing / vocalese, in short this is a brilliantly fresh Avant-Garde, which is almost unheard of on the Polish Jazz scene since decades. I should have expected this just from the appearance of the name of Kisiel on the cover, who in the last few years managed to produce some of the most original and outstanding music on the Polish scene, but this album still caught me completely unprepared and left me speechless. The quartet is basically improvising on everything possible while creating this album: the sounds and the silences, the words and syllables, the rhythms and a-rhythms and all the sounds produced by the voice and the instruments – absolutely everything is twisted and amended from the norm, not surprisingly similar in spirit to the fashion of the brilliant writings by Carroll. I am not crazy about Polish singers using lyrics in English, but in this case accent and pronunciation are meaningless anyway, so this can be easily forgotten. In some cases, the songs start off almost “normally”, with a blink of a melody and harmony, only to be dispersed all over the place and forgotten in the process. The most beautiful thing about this music is the fact, that the crazier it gets, the better it sounds, shaking some profound conceptions about music in general and Jazz in particular. It takes a truly brilliant mind to conceive this music and some giant balls / ovaries to bring it to life. In these shallow times, where everything is about hype and appearances, young musicians creating such profound music are perhaps the last rays of hope as far as music is concerned. Overall, this is an absolutely stunning, magical, unconventional and meaningful piece of music, definitely one of the best Jazz related albums on the Polish / European scene that I had the immense pleasure to listen to in a very long while. It is probably a one of a kind strike of luck, so I am not even hoping anything like this can be repeated again, but one can always dream…

Updated: 31/03/2024Posted: 31/03/2024

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PATRYCJA ZINIEWICZ ~ LIST DO CZARNEGO ANIOLA NOT ON LABEL (Barcode: 5900378715047) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 This is the debut album by Polish vocalist Patrycja ZiniewiczFind albums by this artist recorded with a classic Jazz piano trio comprising of pianist Jan JareckiFind albums by this artist, bassist Filip ArasimowiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Kacper SkolikFind albums by this artist. Three other musicians guest on selected tracks. The album presents thirteen songs, associated as the title suggests (Eng. “Letter To The Black Angel”), with the repertoire of iconic Polish vocalist Ewa DemarczykFind albums by this artist, nicknamed “Black Angel”, who died a few months after this album was recorded. Anybody familiar with Polish Culture is of course aware of the unique status achieved by Demarczyk, which sets her apart from everything that happened on the Polish Cultural landscape, high and above on an unreachable pedestal. Her phenomenal interpretation of Polish Poetry and idiosyncratic vocal style, combined with music that was composed (in most cases) specifically for her, is absolutely untouchable and beyond any attempt of being mimicked. The question if her repertoire can be interpreted remains open. Before anything else can be said, the sheer audacity displayed by Ziniewicz by her attempt to tackle this unsurmountable task must be admitted – she surely has “big balls” (gender aside), the question is if that is sufficient. Ziniewicz certainly does not attempt to impersonate Demarczyk, and offers her own interpretation of these songs, which are very far from Demarczyk’s theatrics and extremism. The general idea is to Jazz up these songs, but surprisingly the transformation into Jazz is only partial, and is directly evident on just a few of the songs. That creates an impression of going halfway, rather than presenting a coherent concept. Another problem is the fact, that most of these songs, once performed by Demarczyk in her highly eccentric way, become icons in themselves, and any attempt to perform them will immediately call for a comparison, which of course in impossible. Lofty Angels, Black, Blue or any others are simply best left alone. Ziniewicz is a very gifted vocalist, that goes beyond saying, with an obvious zets, a strong voice with an impressive range, obviously appropriate for the musical stage. She is still very young and will surely crystalize her own stylistic finesse. But Demarczyk did not sing songs from musicals; she was even beyond cabaret or sung poetry, with which she was associated for a lack of a better term, she was simply herself, a mixture of an Angel and a Devil in the flesh. The piano trio sounds the best when the musicians start to swing and even manage to insert an occasional solo, but for the rest of the way they remain pretty unremarkable – professional and technically highly proficient, but nothing special. Overall this album leaves me undecided and with a lot of unanswered questions. These are magnificent songs and the lyrics are pearls of Polish Poetry, so what is here not to like. Is this music as good as the original? Surely not, that is, as already sated, simply impossible. Is it worth listening to? Sure thing, it is even enjoyable if one manages to free oneself from hearing the original in the back of one’s mind. Was this a wise decision? Personally I doubt it, as with all the courage and effort, the task was sadly underrated and proved to be too daunting. But thank you young Lady for trying and for looking up to the best. I am already curious to hear your next album, just don’t give up and remember… this is a long journey up the hill. God bless!

Updated: 21/03/2021Posted: 21/03/2021

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