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

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

MARCIN JANEK / EXTRADITION QUINTET ~ MOVIN` ON ALLEGRO 042 (Barcode: 5901157049421) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2020 Released: 2021 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz saxophonist / flautist / composer Marcin JanekFind albums by this artist and his Extradition QuintetFind albums by this artist, which also includes trumpeter Piotr SzlempoFind albums by this artist, pianist Dominik KisielFind albums by this artist, bassist Pawel UrowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Maksymilian KreftFind albums by this artist. Veteran Polish Jazz saxophonist and the owner of AllegroFind albums on this label Records, which released this album, Wojciech StaroniewiczFind albums by this artist, guests on one track. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Janek. The music is all within the mainstream modern Jazz idiom, but the level of the compositions and the splendid performances turn it into a most enjoyable listening experience from start to finish. The quintet comprises of a mixed bag of musicians, as far as recording experience is concerned, but the seamless flow and diversity of these players speaks volumes as to the level of the young Polish Jazz scene, which of course is hardly a secret to those familiar with the scene. As already mentioned above, the level of the compositions is the most surprising element on this album, since each and every one of the seven tunes is an immediate candidate for sounding like a Jazz standard, creating a warm feeling of familiarity in the listener’s sub consciousness. The leader offers some passionate soprano saxophone soloing of snake-charming fluidity and no less impressive work on the tenor saxophone. Sadly, he plays the flute sparingly, which is a pity, as this beautiful instrument get sadly very little exposure lately. The rhythm section passes with flying colors, with Kisiel, an already proven charmer, providing excellent harmonic accompaniment, “almost veteran” Urowski is excellent, as always, and Kreft, whom I know from only one previous recording, is certainly a drummer worth watching. Overall this is a heartwarming album, which proves that the Jazz tradition is being well preserved by the young Polish players, and kept up to date with contemporary approach and that the new generation is able to compose wonderful European Jazz, which no inferiority complex. Well done by all of you Gentlemen!

Updated: 03/08/2021Posted: 03/08/2021

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

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

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

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

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend