Record Reviews

PRZEMEK DYAKOWSKI ~ LUDMILA ALLEGRO 047 (Barcode: 5901157049476) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2022 Released: 2023 This is an album by veteran Polish Jazz saxophonist / composer / bandleader Przemek DyakowskiFind albums by this artist, recorded in a sextet setting with saxophonist Wojciech StaroniewiczFind albums by this artist, organist Artur JurekFind albums by this artist, vibraphonist Dominik BukowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Janusz MackiewiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Maksymilian KreftFind albums by this artist, and featuring the vocalist Joanna KnitterFind albums by this artist. The album is a tribute to the Polish vocalist Ludmila JakubczakFind albums by this artist, who died tragically in 1961, being just twenty-two years old, and presents Jazzed up interpretations of songs from her repertoire. The music is all within the mainstream Jazz / Swing idiom, perfectly executed by this excellent and highly experienced team. Knitter also delivers her usual soulful and warm vocals, which are always great fun to hear without being a tad pretentious. The main purpose of this album is to bring back some first class songs created by best Polish composers and lyricist at the time, which lost nothing of their charm and quality over time, emphasizing the old saying that “they don’t write songs like this anymore”, which is sadly more and more truthful as the time flows by. Overall, this is a nice, pleasant and somewhat educationally nostalgic album by a first class group of Polish Jazz musicians, which is a great fun to experience and reminiscence about the good old days. Warmly recommended to listeners who like their Jazz to Swing ;)

Updated: 10/08/2023Posted: 10/08/2023

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PRZEMEK DYAKOWSKI ~ SWING! ALLEGRO 032 (Barcode: 5901157049322) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2015 Released: 2015 This is a live recording of a concert that celebrated the 80th Birthday Anniversary of the veteran Polish Jazz saxophonist Przemek DyakowskiFind albums by this artist. The music, recorded at Radio Gdansk, was performed by a group of Dyakowski´s friends, which included, in addition to him of course, vocalist Joanna KnitterFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Wojciech StaroniewiczFind albums by this artist, vibraphonist Dominik BukowskiFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Artur JurekFind albums by this artist (who also arranged all the songs), bassist Janusz MackiewiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Tomasz SowinskiFind albums by this artist. A few guest musicians also took part in the proceedings. The album presents eight songs (and a bonus track with vocalese by Hanna BanaszakFind albums by this artist), seven of which are originals: two each by Staroniewicz and Knitter, and one each by Dyakowski, Bukowski and Mackiewicz. Knitter also wrote the lyrics (in English) to all these original songs. The last song is a standard. The music is exactly what the album´s title promises: a set of songs kept within the mainstream Jazz tradition, all of which sound as if they were well known Jazz standards, which of course means that they are all beautifully crafted to the highest standard. The performances are also excellent, executed with flair and obvious professionalism, spiced with many beautiful solos. The relaxed atmosphere and good sound make the music flow smoothly from one song to another, with an overall effect of joyous occasion and great fun had by all the musicians present Knitter manages to pass the test of singing in English, which usually has a disastrous result on Polish Jazz albums. Her pronunciation, although obviously non-English, is charming enough and highly musical, which makes the overall result comparable to other great non-native English language singers. Her singing here and her warm timbre fit the general concept of the music like a glove. Her lyrics are also quite excellent, so she comes out of this recording definitely on the winning side. Overall this album is definitely as good, if not better, than most American mainstream / Swing albums, and the original music herein is way better, which of course means that Polish Jazz is not inferior anymore to anything from across the pond.

Updated: 12/02/2016Posted: 12/02/2016

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JOANNA KNITTER ~ ARETHA ALLEGRO 041 (Barcode: 5901157049414) ~ POLAND ~ Blues-Rock Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 This is an album by Polish vocalist Joanna KnitterFind albums by this artist and her band called Blues & Folk ConnectionFind albums by this artist, which comprises of keyboardist Artur JurekFind albums by this artist, guitarist Krzysztof PaulFind albums by this artist, bassist Adam ZuchowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Piotr GoraFind albums by this artist. As the title suggests, this s a tribute album to the American Soul / Rhythm And Blues Diva, singer / songwriter Aretha FranklinFind albums by this artist. The album presents thirteen songs either written by or associated with Franklin’s repertoire. Normally I’d have dismissed such enterprise without even giving it a listen; I mean Polish vocalist singing classic / untouchable songs, probably with a terrible Polish accent and accompanied by a bunch of anonymous musicians. But luckily for me I have heard several earlier recordings by Knitter and decided to give the album a chance, which turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. Of course there is nothing innovative or original as far as the music is concerned, but Knitter is an incredible vocalist, with a lovely husky / throaty voice, which she uses very effectively, her accent is not bad at all and her feel for the Blues / Soul is pretty astonishing, as if she was born Black at heart. And to top things up, the guys in the band turn out to be ass-kicking instrumentalist, who can play great guitar licks, soulful Hammond and piano accompaniment and the rhythm section pushes the music strongly forward. In short this is a great Blues / Soul album, which stands proudly shoulder to shoulder with anything recorded across the pond, and with the American music market’s head deeply stuck up the Hip Hop behind, this music sounds more American than anything made in the America these days. In short, as usual, never dismiss an album before you hear it, as nice surprises can happen. Hats off to Knitter for making my ass dance in the chair when I listened to this album, which I hope will happen to everybody listening to it. I surely appreciate to courage to face this challenge – you did well Lady!

Updated: 08/05/2023Posted: 09/08/2021

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LESZEK KULAKOWSKI ~ LOVE SONGS NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry Recorded: 2016 Released: 2017 This is a beautiful album by Polish pianist / composer Leszek KulakowskiFind albums by this artist, who shows herein yet another facet of his multitalented persona, this time as a songwriter. The album presents ten songs composed and arranged by Kulakowski to the lyrics by Polish poet Zbigniew KsiazekFind albums by this artist, all of them being love songs in the good old meaning of the idiom. The songs are performed by vocalist Joanna KnitterFind albums by this artist, accompanied by a classic piano trio with Leszek Kulakowski at the piano, his son Piotr KulakowskiFind albums by this artist, who plays bass and drummer Tomasz SowinskiFind albums by this artist, and by the Progress Chamber OrchestraFind albums by this artist. Saxophonist Tomasz GrzegorskiFind albums by this artist and guitarist Maciej GrzywaczFind albums by this artist guest on a couple of tracks. The music is everything one might expect from nontrivial love songs: exquisite melodies, sophisticated harmonies, unforeseen twists and highly developed swing, which keeps the songs flowing one after another, arriving at the album´s last song way sooner that one might expect. Combined with the intelligent lyrics and vigorous execution, these songs are a true delight. Of course these songs have very little to do with contemporary popular music, which of course is meant as a compliment. They belong to the era when songs had a melody, a message and some aesthetic values, in short the era when all great Jazz standards were written. In many respects these songs belong to the same "standards" category, and the fact they are new and unknown only make things more interesting, as any new material of such quality is truly scarce these days. As far as Polish Jazz is concerned, these songs continue the tradition of Jazz & Poetry, which flourished in the 1960s, and are a warm reminder of those days as well as a most welcome continuation of that tradition. Kulakowski turns out to be a romantic at heart, which is perhaps one more good reason why I like him so much both as a musician and a human being and honored to be his friend. Overall this is an inspired collection of beautiful love songs, excellently executed by all participants, which creates moments of blessed tranquility and joy, which help the listener to survive the hellish barrage of noise which passes for music in the world we now live in.

Updated: 30/03/2017Posted: 30/03/2017

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MOONGANG ~ TAXI ALLEGRO 024 (Barcode: 5901157049247) ~ POLAND ~ Blues-Rock Recorded: 2012 Released: 2012 This is the debut album by a young Polish Blues-Rock / Funk band MoongangFind albums by this artist, fronted by female vocalist Joanna KnitterFind albums by this artist, with harmonica player Roman BadenskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marcin WadolowskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Hubert SwiatekFind albums by this artist, bassist Karol KozlowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Piotr GoraFind albums by this artist. The album comprises of eleven original songs and one instrumental. The guitarist composed eight of the pieces, the vocalist two and the bassist and pianist contributed one each. Knitter wrote the lyrics to all eleven songs, ten of which are in English and one is in Polish. Obviously based on the Blues tradition, the music stretches out into other genres, like Rock, Funk and even occasionally Fusion. Almost all the tunes are up-tempo and have a very funky feel about them, which certainly tends to make the listeners dance or at least tap their feet. The instrumental performances are all quite excellent, especially the beautiful harmonica parts, which are the link to the Blues roots of this music, but also the guitar and electric piano solos are a delight. The rhythm section does an excellent job keeping the music moving forward and providing the funky feel. The vocalist has a worm, strong voice, which she uses cleverly and effectively and which is ideal for this kind of music. She has a great timing and phrasing and overall her performances are just what this music needs. Having said all that, there are some points about this album, which bother me personally, although most local listeners probably won´t mind them at all. I understand the desire of Polish bands to sound "international" and use English lyrics. The vocalist´s English pronunciation and accent are actually quite passable and are not a problem as such, but the lyrics are. Using slang and dirty words does not make lyrics more "native" English, does it? One does not have to even go beyond this very album to see that the sole song in Polish sounds so much better that all the others, in order to learn a lesson not to make the same mistake again, hopefully. But all in all this is an excellent debut album by a band with a lot of abilities and even more potential in the future. This band most probably kicks ass on the stage like few others and gives the audiences a great time. The album is great for driving, as I´ve experienced, making the long stretch of the road to pass unnoticed. Well done indeed!

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