Record Reviews

QUARTADO ~ QUARTADO NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2014 Released: 2014 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz ensemble QuartadoFind albums by this artist, which consists of keyboardist Jan RejnowiczFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marcin WadolowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Karol KozlowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Tomasz LosowskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten original compositions, eight of which are by Rejnowicz and one each are by Wadolowski and Losowski. The music can be generally classified as Jazz-Rock Fusion, but it certainly has quite an unusual approach, mixing the standard Fusion tricks of the trade with Latin rhythms, Jazzy acoustic piano passages and many other devices, which sets the quartet apart from most of their competition. The level of the compositions is quite surprising, with solid melodic and harmonic ideas rather than the usual Fusion chord progressions which only purpose is to serve as a basis for endless doodling. The personal contributions are all impressive, with the rhythm section driving the music forcefully forward. The bass has a very thick sound and the drums are very busy, and although together they are well synchronized, personally I think that the rhythm section is too dominant and comes way to forward in the mix, which causes a listening fatigue after about half the album, actually hurting the listeners ears. The overall sound is not great either, sounding muddy and condensed as if recorded in a tiny box, which is a great pity as this album could have sounded infinitely better. Rejnowicz, who wrote most of the music, comes up as a gifted composer, but his playing is not sensational and fails to make a unique personal statement, probably due to the fact that he is still very new at it. However, Wadolowski, who has been very busy in the last few years and participated in quite a few recordings, is the absolute star of this album, playing his heart out and sounding really good from start to finish. His solos are inventive and well developed, obviously making hordes of young guitarist to cringe with envy. It is truly satisfying to follow a musicians for a period of time and see (or rather hear) his progress and development. Overall quite a nice debut with many fine moments and a lot of potential, just take it a bit easy next time around and channel the testosterone elsewhere.

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

QUARTADO ~ QUARTADO 2 SOLITON 938 (Barcode: 5901571099385) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 This is the second album by Polish Fusion quartet QuartadoFind albums by this artist, which comprises of keyboardist Jan RejnowiczFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marcin WadolowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Karol KozlowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Tomasz LosowskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight original compositions; four by Rejnowicz, two by Wadolowski and one each by Kozlowski and Losowski. The music continues exactly where the debut left off, with the same Fusion feel based on highly melodic compositions and full of typical Fusion riffs, which have been around for the last fifty years, which means that this album might have been recorded anytime between 1970 and now and nobody would be able to pinpoint the recording date. This of course proves that Fusion is one of the most stable (or stale is one wants to be nasty) Jazz idioms out there. Having said that, this music is really quite excellent as far as Fusion is concerned, full of great tunes, excellent playing and "positive energy", as the quartet states on the album´s cover. The technical level of the performances is much better than on the debut, especially the keyboards, which offer a diverse sonic kaleidoscope of instruments between acoustic and electric pianos, organ and synthesizers. The soloing is solid and very well structured this time. The only pity is that the keyboards completely dominate the proceedings, and the role of the guitar is sadly much less prominent. Wadolowski is obviously a growing force on the Polish guitar scene and his playing is significantly superior, which is an asset the quartet could have explored more efficiently. The rhythm section does a perfect job all the way through, doing exactly what is expected in the Fusion environment, i.e. keep the beat steady and the groove swinging. Overall this is a splendid Fusion album, perfectly in the middle of the Fusion mainstream, which should keep most of the fans of the genre perfectly happy. It is certainly as good as anything produced by American Fusion bands that are still around, if not better than most. Highly recommended to Fusion-heads the world over!

Updated: 09/08/2019Posted: 09/08/2019

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

RAMA 111 ~ RAMA 111 (SWINGING TRICITY VOL.2) SOLITON 101 (Barcode: 5901549899733) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1968 - 1987 Released: 2012 This is the second installment in the excellent archival series documenting Polish Jazz created in the country´s Tricity on the Baltic Sea, one of the important centers where Polish Jazz thrives and over the years produced numerous first-rate musicians and superb bands. The series presents material, which in most cases never previously appeared in any form and therefore is of immense historic importance. This chapter presents the Rama 111Find albums by this artist ensemble, which is now almost completing five decades of musical activity, having toured extensively worldwide. The group was founded in 1966 and exists to this very day, but unfortunately never managed to record even one album under their name (they did record with the Polish Jazz vocalist Marianna WroblewskaFind albums by this artist), which sadly was the fate of many Polish Jazz artists during the Socialist regime. However they did record for the Tricity Polish Radio station in Gdansk, where all of the material included on this album comes from. Rama 111 changed musical directions over the years and in retrospect covered a wide range of styles, from modern mainstream, via Jazz-Rock-Fusion, Swing and even Dixieland. The recordings included on this album originate mostly in the early to mid-1970s, and present primarily their Jazz-Rock side, although the Jazzy side is much more dominant than the Rock elements. It was founded by keyboardist Jan RejnowiczFind albums by this artist and over the years featured the following musicians present on this album: saxophonists Przemek DyakowskiFind albums by this artist, Maciej FlontFind albums by this artist and Tadeusz PetrowFind albums by this artist, trumpeters Piotr NadolskiFind albums by this artist and Boguslaw SkawinaFind albums by this artist, pianist Andrzej NowakFind albums by this artist, bassists Eugeniusz KadyszewskiFind albums by this artist, Roman SkurzynskiFind albums by this artist and Aleksander SliwaFind albums by this artist and drummer Andrzej SliwaFind albums by this artist. The group performed both their original compositions, mostly by Rejnowicz, which were truly excellent, as well as their arrangements of Jazz standards, also mostly by Rejnowicz, which were unique and elaborate. The radio recordings have excellent sonic quality and the overall level of performances is superb. This is another great piece of Polish Jazz history, which should definitely be told and preserved as part of the country´s Cultural Heritage. Kudos to Marcin JacobsonFind albums by this artist for creating this series and keeping it going!

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend