Record Reviews

ASIA CZAJKOWSKA ~ PIANISSIMA NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2016 - 2023 Released: 2024 This is the 2nd album by Polish vocalist / songwriter Asia CzajkowskaFind albums by this artist. Ten years in the making, the album presents a very unique project of recording songs with nine different pianists, all hailing from the beautiful Polish medieval town of Torun, the city of Nicolaus Copernicus, but also of music. Finally, the result is in, nine songs by nine pianists / composers: Sebastian ZawadzkiFind albums by this artist, Bartosz StaszkiewiczFind albums by this artist, Mateusz SobiechowskiFind albums by this artist, Bogdan HolowniaFind albums by this artist, Michal MaciudzinskiFind albums by this artist, Tomasz LewandowskiFind albums by this artist, Andrzej FrolowFind albums by this artist, Igor NowickiFind albums by this artist and Jacek CichockiFind albums by this artist. Czajkowska wrote the lyrics to five of the songs and co-composed one of them. On all the songs Czajkowska is accompanied by the respective composer playing acoustic piano. Although not Jazz per se, the overall musical setting of the album combines many genres with strong Jazzy undertones and the vocals use techniques familiar within the Jazz idiom. But it is entirely up to the listener to decide what king of aesthetics this music sets out for him. What is most important of course is the fact that the quality of the music and the performances are all absolutely brilliant from start to finish and the dedication, energy and determination involved in creating this album are all impeccable. One has to admit that the days when a singer appears on stage supported just by a skilled pianist are long time over, and today singing without a wall of synthesizers and a loud band behind is almost unthinkable. Therefore, Czajkowska shows a lot of courage doing it here without any hesitation, proving she has all the skills necessary to pull it off, as well as the talent to do it with class. Of course the fact that all nine songs are wonderfully composed and the lyrics are intelligent, helps to make the entire project such a success. Overall, this is a truly delightful album, full of great songs, performed with heartfelt dedication, good taste and obvious talent. Czajkowska manages to confront the difficulty of singing accompanied just by a piano, doing it elegantly and confidently. The dedication needed to complete such a long-term project is admirable and the result is a wonderful example of calmness, good taste and grace in a world of havoc we live in. You did well my Lady, hats off!

Updated: 23/03/2024Posted: 23/03/2024

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JACHNA / CICHOCKI / UROWSKI / KRAWCZYK ~ THE RIGHT MOMENT REQUIEM 099 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2014 Released: 2015 This is the debut album by a Polish Jazz quartet comprising of trumpeter Wojciech JachnaFind albums by this artist, pianist Jacek CichockiFind albums by this artist, bassist Pawel UrowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Mateusz KrawczykFind albums by this artist. The quartet performs nine original compositions: three by Cichocki, two each by Urowski and Jachna and another two co-composed by all four members of the quartet. Saxophonist Wojciech Piorkowski guests on one track. The music is a typical contemporary modern Polish Jazz, somewhat more "conventional" than what one might expect from such names as Jachna and Urowski, but nevertheless excellent. This musical environment serves as a perfect opportunity to hear Jachna play more melodically than on most of his recordings, showing one more of his excellent qualities as a trumpeter. The atmosphere of this recording and the music bring a fond memory of the modern Polish Jazz period of the 1960s, especially the revolutionary Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist and Tomasz StankoFind albums by this artist recordings. All the tunes herein have the same melancholic touch of Polish lyricism, which was so archetypal of that period, and which makes them sound quite "retro". It is difficult to say if this effect was intentional, but regardless of the actual intentions, the "spiritual" similarity is very apparent. The performances are, as expected, excellent from start to finish and although Jachna´s trumpet is the most evocative instrument, all four members of the quartet are superb instrumentalist and the quartet plays together like a dream, even when the music gets to be complex and demanding. Cichocki, whom I have not heard earlier, is especially impressive as a newcomer and I certainly hope to hear a lot more of him in the future. Overall this is a superb album, which definitely stands among the best achievements of the current year, even if it is not especially innovative or groundbreaking. Such music continues a tradition that is worth preserving invigorates it and refreshes it with new creative powers. These still relatively young musicians are already the main creative power of the Polish Jazz scene, and the next generations are already puffing on their necks. These are good times for Polish Jazz and it´s great to be alive while they last!

Updated: 28/05/2020Posted:

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WOJCIECH JACHNA SQUAD ~ AD ASTRA AUDIO CAVE 2025/004 (Barcode: 5908298549926) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2024 Released: 2025 This is the 3rd album by Polish Jazz ensemble Wojciech Jachna SquadFind albums by this artist led by trumpeter / composer Wojciech JachnaFind albums by this artist and including also keyboardist Jacek CichockiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marek MalinowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Rafal GorzyckiFind albums by this artist. The album presents six tracks, three original compositions by Jachna two by Gorzycki and one is an adaptation of a composition by Polish Classical composer Karol SzymanowskiFind albums by this artist. This new version of the ensemble was reduced to a quartet, leaving out a bass player, and the “new” drummer is an old collaborator of Jachna, since the days of the fabulous Sing Sing PenelopeFind albums by this artist ensemble days, and his presence has a major influence on the sound and ambience of the music. The music is almost entirely acoustic, with the exception of the electric guitar and synthesizers, which come up front momentarily, and strongly influenced by modern Classical music elements and Free Improvisation, which results in a much more demanding outcome than the two previous albums. As mentioned before, Gorzycki’s compositions and his dominant drumming give the music a somber, dense effect. Jachna’s trumpet parts are as fabulous as always, and he never fails to grab the attention of the listener, but his role is someway less central and leading on this album, with much more space given to the other three members of the ensemble. The balance between the instruments is also somewhat shifted towards the heavy drumming, which might sound a bit “unearthly” at first. This album definitely needs several listening sessions in order to embrace its unique qualities. It is very interesting to see the ensemble developing and changing the direction, especially when this leads towards a more ambitious and demanding results, but might also present a challenge to listeners, who are expecting something else, based on earlier exposure. For me personally this new direction is all for the good of course. Overall, this is a very interesting, captivating effort by Jachna and his colleagues, going back to his more Avant-Garde days of the mid-2000s, updated of course by the experiences gained since. It might surprise some of the listeners, but please give it some tome and open-mindedness and everything will work splendidly. Well done!

Updated: 11/03/2025Posted: 10/03/2025

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WOJCIECH JACHNA SQUAD ~ EARTH AUDIO CAVE 2022/002 (Barcode: 5908298549407) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2021 Released: 2022 This is the second album by the Polish Jazz ensemble Wojciech Jachna SquadFind albums by this artist led by trumpeter / composer Wojciech JachnaFind albums by this artist and including also guitarist Marek MalinowskiFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Jacek CichockiFind albums by this artist, bassist Pawel UrowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Mateusz KrawczykFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven original compositions, two composed by Urowski, two co-composed by all five members of the ensemble and one each by Jachna, Cichocki and Malinowski. The music seems to follow a somewhat different path than the debut album, being distinctly tamer and well-behaved than the debut. Lyrical melodic themes, gentle melancholic trumpet parts, synthesizer / moog ambient harmonic background layers, Fusiony guitar and steady rhythmic pulse are definitely not what one expects to hear on a Jachna album, but everybody has the freedom to change and evolve, and Jachna definitely does not need to prove anything to anybody anymore, being a master of his own music destiny. Of course here and there the music features some less polite moments and even almost free improvisations, which are a link to the familiar past, especially so on the group co-composed improvisation pieces but also partly in the other pieces. Personally I find this to be the most ambitious aspect of this album, but of course Jachna has already proved himself well beyond any doubt in that specific direction. Overall, this is, as always, an excellent album, probably the most accessible Jachna recording ever, but without any compromises aesthetically, artistically or creatively. The Squad manages to establish a distinctive sound and ambience as an ensemble, which of course is no less important. Despite the fact that this music more caresses than bites, it is still amongst the finest on the Polish Jazz scene. Well done!

Updated: 24/02/2022Posted: 24/02/2022

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WOJCIECH JACHNA SQUAD ~ ELEMENTS AUDIO CAVE 2020/005 (Barcode: 5908298549025) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2019 Released: 2020 This is the debut album by the Polish Jazz ensemble Wojciech Jachna SquadFind albums by this artist led by trumpeter / composer Wojciech JachnaFind albums by this artist and including also guitarist Marek MalinowskiFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Jacek CichockiFind albums by this artist, bassist Pawel UrowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Mateusz KrawczykFind albums by this artist. Four of these musicians (except for Malinowski) recorded already an album together five years earlier, called "The Right MomentFind albums with this title". The album presents seven original compositions, three composed by Jachna, two co-composed by all five members of the ensemble and one each by Cichocki and Malinowski. During the last decade (2010s) Jachna emerged as one of the leading representatives of the young (but rapidly maturing) Polish Jazz musicians, leading and taking part in many projects, which cover a diverse stylistic range between modern mainstream to advantageous avant-garde, managing to sound equally convincing regardless of the circumstances. The fact that his name appears on about thirty albums released during that period is no less than astonishing. This album seems to fall somewhere in the middle of the range, based on strictly composed and melodic themes on one hand, but being widely open to momentary free improvisation excursions. The addition of the guitar added new colors and influences like Blues and even Fusion, albeit subtle enough to be distinguishable primarily by a trained ear. The overall sound of the ensemble is brighter and spacier than on the a.m. album and noticeably more electric, with the addition of synthesizer and electric guitar sounds. Jachna´s trumpet parts, superb as always, seem to gradually gong more and more mellow and lyrical, loosing the rough edge that characterized his early days, which for me works all for the best. He is an absolute Master of minimalist expression and manages to create a remarkable amount of tension within relative brief solo parts. But the rest of the ensemble players all perform beautifully as well, emerging as ideal partners to the leader and contributing impressive soloing and collective performances and excellent rhythm section backbone support, which is inventive and contributes essentially to the entire musical fabric. It is truly satisfying to see Jachna and his partners evolving and exploring, continuously producing wonderful albums on the way. Overall this is a most impressive and deeply moving album, another great achievement for Jachna and his colleagues and a superb addition to his extensive recorded legacy. For all lovers of Polish / European Jazz this is an absolute must!

Updated: 28/05/2020Posted: 28/05/2020

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