Record Reviews

EDWARD CZERNY ORCHESTRA ~ POLISH RADIO JAZZ ARCHIVES VOL.16 POLSKIE RADIO 1666 (Barcode: 5907812246662) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1956 - 1966 Released: 2014 This is the sixteenth installment in the new series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland´s most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well. This album is a first in a series presenting music recorded by the Polish Radio Big Bands and presents the orchestra led by composer / arranger / bandleader Edward CzernyFind albums by this artist, one of the most active musical figures in Poland´s post-WWII history. Czerny, who was born in Zabrze, one of the Silesian industrial towns, received classical musical education in Berlin before the war. He managed to avoid being grafted into the German army due to a disability and spent the war in his hometown. Immediately after the war he became active forming and leading orchestras, first in Silesia and later on in Warsaw, where he moved in 1955. Among his various activities he was the conductor and artistic director of the Polish Radio Orchestra / Big Band for many years and recorded thousands of compositions for the radio, some of them his own. He retired from conducting by the mid 1970s and spent the rest of his life composing. He moved to Germany in 1981, where he died in 2003. Although Czerny was not a Jazz personality as such, he had a beautiful sense of Swing and a deep sympathy towards Jazz compositions, which he demonstrated in his wonderful arrangements of Jazz standards for his orchestra. Above all he was a superb orchestrator, which is evident in all his work. This album presents nineteen recordings made between 1956 and 1966 including mostly arrangements of Jazz / Swing standards by legendary composers like Glenn MillerFind albums by this artist, Stan KentonFind albums by this artist, Quincy JonesFind albums by this artist, Duke EllingtonFind albums by this artist and others. There are also four original compositions by Czerny. Interestingly two compositions by the Czech composer Karel KrautgartnerFind albums by this artist, who was another great bandleader / conductor active behind the Iron Curtain, are also included. Fans of vintage Jazz sound and swinging, danceable tunes should have a field day with this material, but it´s worth remembering that Czerny and his music influenced an entire generation of musicians, who were about to become the first Polish post-WWII wave of modern Jazz musicians, creating one of the most fascinating European Jazz scenes. The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

Updated: 01/08/2019Posted:

CD 1 Digipak Remastered Recommend To A Friend

LUDEK HULAN ~ JAZZ IN MY SOUL INDIES HAPPY TRAILS 774 (Barcode: 8595026677425) ~ CZECH REPUBLIC ~ Jazz Recorded: 1962 - 1964 Released: 2018 This is a reissue of the debut album as a leader by Czech Jazz bassist / composer and occasional vocalist Ludek HulanFind albums by this artist, one of the pioneers of modern Jazz in Czechoslovakia and a founding member of the Studio 5Find albums by this artist ensemble. The album compiles music that was recorded over a span of two years with various lineups, mostly with a trio which included pianist Rudolf RoklFind albums by this artist or guitarist Vladimir TomekFind albums by this artist and drummer Ivan DominakFind albums by this artist, or a quintet / sextet which added to the trio musicians like: trumpeter Richard KubernatFind albums by this artist, trombonist Artur HolitzerFind albums by this artist, clarinetist / saxophonist Karel KrautgartnerFind albums by this artist or flautist Zdenek ZikaFind albums by this artist. The album presents eleven tracks, ten of which are original compositions by Hulan and one is a standard. Three tracks, which were a part of a Jazz & Poetry project, include recitation. All the music is beautifully remastered and the album comes with extensive liner notes, extremely well researched and full of discographical information, sadly only in Czech language (which works fine for me, but probably less so for other enthusiasts who also might be interested). The music is all melody based modern mainstream Jazz, which moves between Bebop and Cool, with wonderfully structured harmonies and sophisticated multiple melody lines, which easily stand shoulder to shoulder with what was happening in Jazz across the pond. The performances also don´t disappoint and are a showcase of professionalism and talent, with perfect interplay between the musicians and excellent soloing. Hulan, who is the focus of this album, proves to be not only a wonderful composer, but also a virtuosic bassist, which is plainly evident from his performances captured herein. Hulan sadly managed to record only one additional album, called "Mila SpolecnostFind albums with this title" in 1977 before his tragically early departure before the age of fifty. For fans of European Jazz and its history, reissues of this kind are an absolute must, and the fact that this music is available on CD for the first time makes it a wonderful treasure. Brilliant stuff! My personal thanks to Jaromir KratochvilFind albums by this artist, the owner of Indies Happy TrailsFind albums on this label, for his friendship and the incredible job he is doing to keep this music alive! Side Note Since the 1950s Czechoslovakia had a highly developed Jazz scene, certainly in proportion to its population, which included many successful ensembles and even Big Bands, as well as Jazz clubs, festivals and publications, all this in spite of state censorship and political limitations. The similar situation existed since the 1960s as far as Rock (including Progressive Rock and Jazz-Rock Fusion) was concerned, resulting in many excellent, interesting and innovative ensembles. The music was relatively well documented by the three state owned record labels: SupraphonFind albums on this label (founded in 1927), PantonFind albums on this label (founded in 1968) and OpusFind albums on this label (founded in 1971 and based in Bratislava, created on the base of Slovak division of Supraphon). Following the "Velvet Revolution" in 1989, the state owned record labels were privatized, with Supraphon dominating the local market. However, Supraphon was quite reluctant as far as exploring its vast back catalogue is concerned, and this is where the small independent Indies Happy TrailsFind albums on this label Records, a reissue label dedicated to the preservation of the recorded legacy of Czechoslovak music, owned and run by the devoted enthusiast / historian Jaromir KratochvilFind albums by this artist, founded in 2007, comes in. Over the years the label released a plethora of brilliant music, reissuing long deleted LPs and extensively exploring the archives in search of bonus material. The quest of Indies Happy Trails is similar to what the GADFind albums on this label Records label, run by Michal WilczynskiFind albums by this artist, is doing for Polish music, with similar consistency and praiseworthy dedication.

Updated: 02/03/2020Posted: 02/03/2020

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend

KAREL VELEBNY ~ ZTRATA NALEZENEHO SYNA INDIES HAPPY TRAILS 732 (Barcode: 8595026673229) ~ CZECH REPUBLIC ~ Jazz Recorded: 1966 - 1967 Released: 2016 This is the fifth of a series of eight reissue / archival albums presenting the recorded legacy of one of the Godfathers of Czechoslovak modern Jazz, vibraphonist / pianist / saxophonist / composer / bandleader Karel VelebnyFind albums by this artist and his SHQFind albums by this artist ensemble. All the music is beautifully remastered and the album comes with extensive liner notes, extremely well researched and full of discographical information, sadly only in Czech language (which works fine for me, but probably less so for other enthusiasts who also might be interested). This album presents material captured during two recording sessions from April and September 1966. The seven tracks that were recorded during these sessions were released as a Various Artist compilation LP, with the two lineups that recorded this music enigmatically named "All Stars" and "Jazz Soloists" respectively, with the SHQ moniker being omitted, but with Velebny present. The different lineups on these sessions included Velebny, who played vibraphone, saxophone and piano, trumpeters Jaromir HnilickaFind albums by this artist and Laco DecziFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Jaromir HonzakFind albums by this artist, Milan UlrichFind albums by this artist and Evzen JegorovFind albums by this artist, trombonist Zdenek PulecFind albums by this artist, clarinetist Karel KrautgartnerFind albums by this artist, flautist Zdenek ZikaFind albums by this artist, guitarist Rudolf DasekFind albums by this artist, pianists Karel VejvodaFind albums by this artist and Karel RuzickaFind albums by this artist, bassist Jiri MrazFind albums by this artist and drummer Milan MaderFind albums by this artist, altogether a gathering definitely deserving the "All Stars" description. All the music is original with Velebny contributing three compositions and Krautgartner, Hnilicka, Mraz and Ruzicka each contributing one composition. Additionally this album also includes one side (ten tracks) of a LP dedicated to a Jazz & Poetry project, which features SHQ (Velebny, saxophonist Miroslav KryslFind albums by this artist, Pulec, Dasek, bassist Petr MarcolFind albums by this artist and Mader) accompanying actor Jan TriskaFind albums by this artist who recites fables by Vaclav HrabeFind albums by this artist, the most important representative of the Czech Beat Generation, who died tragically at the ridiculous age of twenty four. All the music was composed by Velebny. The music is all original and a giant step forward as far as Modern European Jazz is concerned, very advanced and complex, already using elements close to Free Jazz, multi-theme extended compositions, rapidly changing tempi and eschewing conventions, which dominated American Bebop. Although recorded just over a year of so after the second SHQ album was recorded, this music sounds as if coming from a different planet, being very similar to the revolutionary Polish Jazz, which was also exploding at the time in the "neighborhood". All the performances are simply stellar and this music sounds absolutely as fresh as it did at the time it was recorded and in retrospect one can but wonder how such a revolutionary music was allowed to be performed and recorded during some of the darkest hours of the Socialist regime and the Prague Spring and Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia being just around the corner. For fans of European Jazz and its history, the entire series is an absolute must, and the fact that most of this music is available on CD for the first time makes it an absolute treasure. Absolutely brilliant! My personal thanks to Jaromir KratochvilFind albums by this artist, the owner of Indies Happy TrailsFind albums on this label, for his friendship and the incredible job he is doing to keep this music alive! Side Note Since the 1950s Czechoslovakia had a highly developed Jazz scene, certainly in proportion to its population, which included many successful ensembles and even Big Bands, as well as Jazz clubs, festivals and publications, all this in spite of state censorship and political limitations. The similar situation existed since the 1960s as far as Rock (including Progressive Rock and Jazz-Rock Fusion) was concerned, resulting in many excellent, interesting and innovative ensembles. The music was relatively well documented by the three state owned record labels: SupraphonFind albums on this label (founded in 1927), PantonFind albums on this label (founded in 1968) and OpusFind albums on this label (founded in 1971 and based in Bratislava, created on the base of Slovak division of Supraphon). Following the "Velvet Revolution" in 1989, the state owned record labels were privatized, with Supraphon dominating the local market. However, Supraphon was quite reluctant as far as exploring its vast back catalogue is concerned, and this is where the small independent Indies Happy TrailsFind albums on this label Records, a reissue label dedicated to the preservation of the recorded legacy of Czechoslovak music, owned and run by the devoted enthusiast / historian Jaromir KratochvilFind albums by this artist, founded in 2007, comes in. Over the years the label released a plethora of brilliant music, reissuing long deleted LPs and extensively exploring the archives in search of bonus material. The quest of Indies Happy Trails is similar to what the GADFind albums on this label Records label, run by Michal WilczynskiFind albums by this artist, is doing for Polish music, with similar consistency and praiseworthy dedication.

Updated: 28/02/2020Posted: 27/02/2020

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend