Record Reviews

MARCO ENEIDI STREAMIN` 4 ~ PANTA REI FOR TUNE 0047 (Barcode: 5902768701531) ~ USA ~ Jazz Recorded: 2013 Released: 2014 This is the debut album by American (resident in Austria) saxophonist Marco EneidiFind albums by this artist and his Streamin` 4Find albums by this artist quartet, which also includes three Polish Free Jazz / Improvised Music musicians: saxophonist Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Ksawery WojcinskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Michal TrelaFind albums by this artist. The album, which was recorded live, presents four extended pieces, co-credited to all four participants. As appropriate for an Improvised Music / Avant-Garde Jazz encounter, the music is highly energetic and expressive, with the participants trying to stay coherent and communicative towards each other. The double saxophone lineup allows for separate saxophone solos and a side-by-side dialog, which varies in intensity and tension from one moment to the next. The rhythm section is also allowed space to express its notions, but as usual remains in the background for most of the duration. It becomes pretty obvious that at least some of the themes used as the basis for the improvisation were annotated or rehearsed in advance, but of course, as usual in such circumstances, they are really a marginal issue in these proceedings. As I always emphasize, this kind of music is essentially meant to be a part of a live experience and is received in a completely different way by a live listener sitting in the audience than when listening to the recorded music. With the intimacy and immediacy gone, the listener is left with just one more Improvised Music album, which fails to leave a lasting impression. Of course these are very skilled and talented musicians and the music has its intrinsic value, but considering the vast amount of great new music becoming available on a daily basis, this gets pushed back into the low priority stack.

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted:

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GRAAL ~ CZARNE 13 FOR TUNE 0059 (Barcode: 5902768701630) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2011 Released: 2015 This is the sixth album by the cult Polish ensemble GraalFind albums by this artist, founded and led by the legendary trumpeter / composer / bandleader Antoni GralakFind albums by this artist, who is also known for his involvement in such pivotal Polish ensembles as Free CooperationFind albums by this artist, Young PowerFind albums by this artist, Tie BreakFind albums by this artist, Woo Boo DooFind albums by this artist, YesheFind albums by this artist and others. This album, recorded four years before it finally gets to be released, presents ten songs, all composed by Gralak and the ensemble with lyrics by the ensemble´s vocalist Jacek SzymkiewiczFind albums by this artist. Two radio edits of two of the songs on this album are added as bonus tracks. In addition to Gralak, who also plays tuba and Szymkiewicz, who also plays acoustic guitar, the other members of Graal are: trombonist Bronek DuzyFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Klaudiusz KlosekFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Aleksander KoreckiFind albums by this artist and Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, bass guitarist Locko RichterFind albums by this artist, drummers Ola RzepkaFind albums by this artist and Arek SkolikFind albums by this artist and finally tuba and trombone player Darek SprawkaFind albums by this artist; altogether ten musicians. The music of Graal is a strange amalgam of Rock and Jazz-Rock Fusion, with elements of cabaret and theatrics. The "songs" are often full of dramatic exclamations and theatrical displays of emotion, and the "free" lyrics add to the overall atmosphere of "controlled anarchy". The huge brass section sounds at times like a street marching band, or Balkan brass ensemble, or typical Brass-Rock section, constantly changing its ambiance. The sound is rather muffled and often creates an impression of a live recording. The rhythm section sets a groovy paste, with funky bass guitar in charge of the bottom parts and the drums keeping the mayhem in check. The lead vocals are always up front and the brass is always in the background, which makes the solo parts somewhat less prominent in the overall sound, but those are all well worth being discovered by careful listening. The solitary instrumental piece on this album is perhaps the most powerful glimpse to the essence of this ensemble, with the multilayered brass parts creating a mini-suite which is both beautifully organized and free at the same time; a wonderful example of contemporary music. Gralak has a gift of creating stuff, which is always unique and exists outside of the Polish Jazz / Fusion scenes, being a typical Lone Ranger. This music simply creates a universe of its own, which is incomparable to anything else happing on the local scene or anywhere else for that matter. Since this is a typical ensemble project, there are few displays of Gralak´s virtuosic ability as a trumpeter, but it is his leadership that holds this project together. Whether one loves or hates this music, one thing is sure: it´s impossible to say indifferent to it, which is already a huge achievement in comparison to most of the music created today. Gralak is one of those people who make the Polish music scene worth following and admiring!

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JANUSZ YANINA IWANSKI ~ YANINA FREE WAVE MTJ 10934 (Barcode: 5906409109342) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2011 Released: 2011 This is an excellent album by veteran Polish Rock and Jazz guitarist / composer Janusz Yanina IwanskiFind albums by this artist, recorded with a quintet which also includes saxophonists Lukasz KluczniakFind albums by this artist (alto) and Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist (soprano and tenor), bassist Marcin LamchFind albums by this artist and drummer Przemyslaw PacanFind albums by this artist. The album comprises of six original compositions, five of which were composed by Iwanski and one is a group composition. Three of the compositions are quite extensive and last between eleven and sixteen minutes. The last track on the album is dedicated to the memory of the great Polish trumpeter Andrzej PrzybielskiFind albums by this artist, who died shortly before the album was released and with whom Iwanski played in the past. The music is a unique cross-genre amalgam, which moves between Jazz-Rock Fusion, ambient / atmospheric improvised stretches and quite Free passages with the guitar and both saxophones improvising simultaneously. A strong melodic presence is felt throughout the entire duration, moving between the foreground and the background of whatever is happening in the course of the performance. Overall the album is mostly Free Jazz oriented and most of the time the group improvisation is the focus, although several simpler and more lyrical moments also materialize. Regardless of any attempts to categorize this music, it is quite elusive and listening to it is the only proper way to deal with it. The individual instrumental performances are all quite excellent, as all these musicians are obviously highly talented. Iwanski plays some superb guitar licks, which one expects to find only on albums by the top guitar players around. His tone is fairly unusual and clear and his work will surely make many guitar freaks extremely happy. Both saxophonists play with passion and conviction, both able to play unisono or play against each other like fighters in a ring. The rhythm section does a perfect job, keeping the music right on track. The bass is solid and steady and the drums strongly present and almost as aggressive as the soloists, which is exactly what this music needs. It´s a pity this album found only a limited audience, as it truly deserves to be heard by a lot of people, who listen to the different sub-genres of Jazz, as there is something for everybody herein. As all good music this is not easy-listening by any standard, but will definitely grow on the listener with consecutive listening sessions. Therefore people looking for challenging, innovative and highly absorbing new musical vistas should check this album out as soon as possible and as long as it can be found on the market, before it disappears into the great limbo, where all good music seems to be sucked into these days. Great stuff!

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WOJTEK MAZOLEWSKI QUINTET ~ POLKA AGORA 9788326813801 (Barcode: 9788326813801) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2013 - 2014 Released: 2014 This is the third album by Polish Jazz bassists / composer Wojtek MazolewskiFind albums by this artist and his quintet, which also includes Slovak trumpeter Oskar TorokFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Joanna DudaFind albums by this artist and drummers Qba JanickiFind albums by this artist and Michal BryndalFind albums by this artist. The album presents twelve compositions (one repeated twice), six of which are originals by Mazolewski, two are originals by Duda, one is credited to the entire quintet and three are covers. The music on this album was written over a long period of time and reflects the personal life of the leader and the touring experiences by his quintet, as well as their musical preferences. It is a mixed bag of various influences, including Jazz but not necessarily strictly connected with Jazz, as usual with Mazolewski´s albums. His tap-dance between Jazz and more popular Pop & Rock idioms seem to work miracles during the quintet´s live shows, which are extremely well attended by enthusiastic audiences, but it does not translate that well into albums, like this one, which are a mixed, unfocused bag. Of course these are top-notch players, especially Duda, who displays a remarkable ability to adopt her playing to the various musical environments present herein and sets her own voice in her compositions. The sound is smooth and likeable as is the music and overall this album is a lot of fun to listen to, but leaves very little of an afterthought. The album is beautifully packaged in a fancy digibook format, with great photos and Mazolewski´s reflections about the music. BTW the work "Polka" has a double meaning: a Folk dance (of Czech origin) and a Polish female person; a dichotomy Mazolewski explores in detail. I had a lot fun listening to this album but at the same time, as with all albums by Mazolewski, I feel a bit cheated, always getting a bit less than I hoped for. Some music simply does sound better live…

Updated: 05/01/2025Posted:

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WOJTEK MAZOLEWSKI QUINTET ~ SMELLS LIKE TAPE SPIRIT MYSTIC (PL) 163 (Barcode: 5903427874627) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2010 Released: 2010 This is the debut album by a Polish Jazz quintet led by bassist / composer Wojtek MazolewskiFind albums by this artist, who is a well known figure on the local scene way beyond the Jazz circles, mostly as a member of several Rock groups and later a founding member of the top Polish group Pink FreudFind albums by this artist. Obviously, this album presents an attempt to create a “serious” Jazz album in the splendid tradition of the Polish Jazz heritage, which in fact is by and large quite successful. Carefully composed, arranged and beautifully played, the album is mostly melancholic and lyrical, very melodic and full of internal tension, which is extremely effective. The quintet includes Slovak trumpeter Oskar TorokFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Joanna DudaFind albums by this artist and drummer Michal BryndalFind albums by this artist, all excellent and very sensitive players. The music was mostly composed or co-composed by Mazolewski, with one track credited to the entire ensemble and two tracks composed by the pianist. In his liner notes Mazolewski makes clear how he longed to return to the double bass and play Jazz again (he mostly plays electric bass) and explains how this music was influenced by the arrival of his first-born son. He also credits his partners in the quintet for contributing to the final result, and so he should, as it definitely is a group effort. Overall it is a beautiful album, which gives the listener a truly satisfactory listening experience, at least until the last (bonus?) track of the album, which states the obvious: “White men can’t jump and they can’t play reggae either”. Highly recommended!

Updated: 05/01/2025Posted:

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WOJTEK MAZOLEWSKI QUINTET ~ WOJTEK W CZECHOSLOWACJI MYSTIC (PL) 195 (Barcode: 5903427875198) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2011 Released: 2011 This is the 2nd album by the Polish Jazz quintet led by bassist / composer Wojtek MazolewskiFind albums by this artist, who is a well known figure on the local scene way beyond the Jazz circles, mostly as a member of several Rock groups and later a founding member of the top Polish group Pink FreudFind albums by this artist. The quintet includes Slovak trumpeter Oskar TorokFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Joanna DudaFind albums by this artist and drummer Michal BryndalFind albums by this artist, all excellent and very sensitive players. The music was mostly composed or co-composed by Mazolewski, with four tracks credited to the entire ensemble and one track composed by the pianist. One additional track was contributed by Polish DJ Maceo WyroFind albums by this artist, who participates in the recording with his electronic effects and another one is by famous Jamaican reggae artist Max RomeoFind albums by this artist. In contrast to the quintet’s previous album (“Smells Like Tape SpiritFind albums with this title”) this one is quite confusing. The confusion starts right with the album’s title (the Czechoslovak connection being a mystery) and continues throughout the album’s content, which includes several re-makes of compositions already present on the last album and new compositions, which are stylistically quite remote from earlier material. Of course the album has its moments and such high-class musicians can definitely play well, but the overall disorder, lack of direction or aesthetic unity makes it more difficult to enjoy. Of course it’s entirely possible that Mazolewski knows exactly what he’s doing and it’s only me missing the point? Investigate at your own risk!

Updated: 05/01/2025Posted:

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KUBA PLUZEK ~ CREATIONISM FOR TUNE 0138 (Barcode: 5906395808519) ~ POLAND ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2017 Released: 2018 This is the fourth album as a leader by the young (born 1988) Polish Jazz pianist / composer Kuba PluzekFind albums by this artist and his third recording with the same quartet, which also includes saxophonist Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Max MuchaFind albums by this artist and drummer Dawid FortunaFind albums by this artist. The album presents fifteen relatively / untypically short compositions, nine of which were composed by Pluzek, three were co-composed by him with Pospieszalski and another three were co-composed by all the members of the quartet, although "composed" has to be taken with a grain of salt, as in fact all except two of the pieces on the album are improvised and Pluzek "admits" to composing only two of the pieces, which appear towards the very end of the album. Pluzek, who first appeared on the Polish Jazz scene as a sideman in 2010 and recorded his debut album as a leader in 2012, took part in more than a dozen recordings since, which offer a chameleonic stylistic diversity, which could only mean either a complete lack of focus of an exceptional multi-layered musical talent, which in his case is definitely the latter. Even if one follows only his recordings as a leader, there is clear evidence that Pluzek is trying to cover an unlimited (stylistically) ground in his search for the genius loci of his musical universe. It is therefore not really surprising that Pluzek should arrive in his quest of exploration to the very source of music, as the album´s title suggests. The "primitivism" of sound before melody, harmony and rhythm took over, as he suggests in his comments about the music. One could of course say that the same process happened countless times before, when Jazz musicians abandoned the form in order to explore the source / spirit of music, moving from the traditional Jazz towards Free and Improvised Music, which in fact although commonly called Avant-Garde was in reality completely retro-garde. The music on this album offers the listener a sublime journey, which is propelled more by hints and suggestions rather than by actual directions. It is up to the listener to create the music in his head, based on the "primitives", supplied by the musicians, except, as already stated earlier, in the case of the two fully developed compositions appearing towards the finale, which could be envisaged as the "Let there be light" of the creation process. There is no doubt that Pluzek consistently paves his way towards a respected position on the crowded Polish Jazz piano scene and this excellent album is definitely a step in the right direction. Perhaps this is a closing chapter in the initial chapter of his career, which now passes towards the mature stage when he leaves the boisterous "twenties" behind. This album, recorded at the now already legendary Monochrom Studio, offers a spectacular sound quality in addition to the extraordinary music, and is of course wholeheartedly recommended to all Polish / European Jazz connoisseurs, who already know where truly great music comes from.

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted: 19/02/2019

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KUBA PLUZEK ~ FIRST ALBUM V 003 (Barcode: 5903111377021) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2012 Released: 2014 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz pianist / composer Kuba PluzekFind albums by this artist, recorded partly in a trio setting with bassist Max MuchaFind albums by this artist and drummer Dawid FortunaFind albums by this artist and partly as a quartet which adds saxophonist Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist to the trio. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Pluzek, three of which are parts of an extended three-part suite. After just a few moments it becomes immediately apparent that this is a very unusual album in every respect. The music is simply "different" from anything else one usually hears on a Jazz recording today. It is melodic, but the melody is often quite elusive; it is rhythmic, but the rhythm keeps changing constantly; it dresses up as modern mainstream, but in fact it is almost completely Free at times. All those factors create a confusing haze at the first exposure, but very soon it all begins to make a perfect sense. However, this music never rests and keeps an attentive listener on his toes at all times, as anything can and most probably will happen while this music evolves. The individual performances are all first rate, which is hardly surprising to people familiar with the Polish Jazz scene and previous recordings by the musicians involved, except the leader of course, who is a novice. Surprisingly it is the saxophonist that gets the most exposure and his convulsive solos fit the music perfectly. Pluzek plays along splendidly, arm in arm with the rhythm section, inserting complex chords and odd timed vamps, but he solos sparingly and when he does play solos, those are rather minimalistic as far as the number of separate notes present, being more chords oriented. Even on the trio pieces the bass and drums seem to bee actually often busier than the piano, which sort of "leads from behind". The bass / drums team plays a much more significant role in this particular music than usually in Jazz, as the music is mostly based on a vamping pattern that is held and driven by them. Both instruments are recorded with strong presence and high up in the mix, which also adds to the overall sonic "strangeness". They both do a splendid job for sure. It seems that the leader wanted to present a team effort rather than boast his ego, which is commendable and honorable. Overall this is a very impressive album, which of course is very rare these days, as it becomes more and more difficult to be unique, inventive and yes, impressive. Considering that we are talking about a debut, this is even more important. It is difficult to say if Pluzek will indeed become the great hope of Polish Jazz, as the PR material accompanying this album announces, but he certainly enters the ring with a bang; only time will tell, of course, but he deserves our best wishes. Well done indeed!

CD 1 Slipcase Recommend To A Friend

KUBA PLUZEK ~ FROOTS FOR TUNE 0129 (Barcode: 5906395808311) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2017 Released: 2017 This is the third album by young Polish Jazz pianist / composer Kuba PluzekFind albums by this artist, recorded in a classic quartet setting with the same musicians that played with him on his debut album: saxophonist Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Max MuchaFind albums by this artist and drummer Dawid FortunaFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten original compositions, presented as two individual tunes, one two part composition and two three part compositions; definitely an unusual approach to presenting music in the Jazz idiom. The music is very difficult to classify and embraces a plethora of cross-genre influences ranging between Reggae to Free Jazz, with the majority of the tunes just about fitting the mainstream Jazz category. But obviously Pluzek is not much concerned with the classification of his music and is here to make a statement, which is highly unusual and original. Rhythmically the music is uneven, often on the verge of falling apart and than returning back to the beat, sometimes featuring a repeated drone pattern, close to ambient music, and sometimes swinging almost "normally". The aural aspect of this album is also very bizarre, with the distorted electric piano sound dominating the music, dense drum parts up front in the mix, deep bottom bass and out of focus (between the channels) saxophone somewhere as if on a different plane. Altogether this is a weird sonic experience, which adds wonderful tension to the proceedings. The individual contributions are all stellar, as expected. Pluzek freely moves between musical moods, falling in and out of the melody lines, managing to be quite unexpected for the entire duration of the album. Personally I prefer his work on the acoustic piano, but his electric piano parts are more challenging. Pospieszalski manages to hold back his Avant-Garde tendencies and stays pretty conventional, playing several wonderfully structured solos. Mucha is all over the music with his superb bass parts, inserting some arco passages but mostly plucking his bass to the Max (pun intended). Fortuna plays some highly unusual drum parts, polyrhythmic and dense which are only partly concerned with keeping time and become an integral part of the music. Overall this is a challenging, unusual album, definitely one of the most interesting recordings done in 2017, which firmly established Pluzek´s position on the Polish scene as one of the youngsters to reckon with in the immediate future. Pluzek, an outspoken young person, who openly voices his opinions in the social media, often as a voice of opposition, dedicates one of the three part compositions to music critics, calling the piece by a clever twist of the little known word wihajster (subtitled "Piece For Critics"), which expresses his attitude towards the all knowing "music critics", a generalization which hopefully does not include yours truly…

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted: 21/01/2018

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FRANCISZEK POSPIESZALSKI ~ SECOND STEP NOT ON LABEL (Barcode: 5903771865210) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2021 Released: 2021 This is the third album as a leader by young Polish Jazz bassist / composer Franciszek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist and his second recording with his sextet, which here includes saxophonists Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist and Jedrzej LagodzinskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Grzegorz TarwidFind albums by this artist, multi-instrumentalist Wiktoria JakubowskaFind albums by this artist and drummer Szymon GasiorekFind albums by this artist. Barbara PospieszalskaFind albums by this artist plays piano on one track and a string quartet plays on two tracks. The album presents eight original compositions, all by the leader. The album was recorded at the Monochrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy GruszeckiFind albums by this artist. As usual with Pospieszalski, his music eschews all attempts of straightforward classification and encompasses many different influences, from contemporary Classical Music, via the Jazz tradition, Folkloristic fragrances and Avant-Garde tendencies, which altogether produce a unique amalgam, which is first and foremost his own. It is fascinating to follow the development of Pospieszalski in the last five years since the recording of his debut album and the crystallization of his stylistic tendencies, influenced undoubtedly by the years he studied music in Denmark, which is a melting point of the young European Jazz scene. The bond he forged there with Lagodzinski and Gasiorek, which resulted in the formation of the Love And Beauty SeekersFind albums by this artist trio seems to hold on, as these young people obviously share common musical vibes. In the liner notes accompanying this album Pospieszalski reflects upon the blind worship of everything “American”, in music and life habits alike, which is tragically so omnipresent among young Europeans, rather than following and developing the rich and beautiful European tradition that has so much to offer. I wholeheartedly share that point of view of course and the fact that Pospieszalski is open enough to talk about it, in addition to creating music which is deeply European in its essence, is highly commendable. Overall, this is a wonderful piece of music; bold, interesting, beautifully put together and executed, which fully justifies the hopes and belief in the young generation of Polish / European Jazz, that some of us share. There are only a few albums recorded each year that have so much to offer, and this one surely deserves to be heard by as many music lovers around the world as possible. Well done!

Updated: 07/09/2021Posted: 07/09/2021

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FRANCISZEK POSPIESZALSKI QUINTET ~ JAZZ.PL VOL.3 POLSKIE RAADIO 2417 (Barcode: 5907812247140) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2021 Released: 2022 This is the fourth album by Polish Jazz bassist / composer Franciszek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, recorded in a quintet setting with trumpeter Piotr DamasiewiczFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Grzegorz TarwidFind albums by this artist and drummer Bartosz SzablowskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents arrangements of four compositions by Charles MingusFind albums by this artist and one by Jack WalrathFind albums by this artist, all of which originate from the seminal Mingus albums “Changes OneFind albums with this title” and “Changes TwoFind albums with this title” released in 1975. The album was recorded live by Polish Radio during a series of concerts entitled Jazz.pl, hence the title. I have to admit that at the first glace it looked to me as a very cheeky idea to undertake a “face to face” with some of the Jazz “holy ground”: an absolute peak of Mingus career as composer and bandleader and classic American Jazz legacy. These young Polish cats will have to prove being worthy of even playing this music, let alone playing around with it. It is with great relief and satisfaction that I find this attempt to be successful and astonishingly creative. The quintet manages successfully to Europeanize the music, by adding many minor, by highly significant touches, which appear all over this music quite unexpectedly. These highly skilled musicians have a lot of fun on the way and show clearly that they are able to take these wonderful compositions to new places, which Mingus would have never even thought of, but I am pretty sure he would have approved of. I am sending this music to my Friend Jack Walrath to hear his input on it, and I can imagine his face when he listens to these interpretations. With all due respect to Franciszek Pospieszalski for the idea and initiative, the true hero of this album is obviously Tarwid, who is in charge of most of the modifications via his charmingly brilliant piano work, twisting the entire aesthetics of this music. But to be fair, all five of these young devils play superbly from start to finish. Overall, this is an absolutely marvelous album, which shows how a fifty years old music, as genius as it originally was, can be revitalized, expanded and subtly redirected, all by using European Jazz shticks and tricks, to became even more brilliant than originally conceived. I bow my head in awe and respect!

Updated: 03/03/2023Posted: 03/03/2023

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MAREK POSPIESZALSKI ~ GRA PIOSENKI, KTORE SPIEWAL FRANK SINATRA NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2015 Released: 2017 This is the debut album as a leader by Polish Jazz saxophonist Marek PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, recorded in a classic quartet format with Austrian pianist Elias StemesederFind albums by this artist, Polish bassist Max MuchaFind albums by this artist and German drummer Max AndrzejewskiFind albums by this artist. As the title suggests, the album presents eight songs, which are associated with Frank SinatraFind albums by this artist´s repertoire, all of them classic standards, which get a new interpretation herein. Pospieszalski, as followers of the Polish Jazz scene know, is associated with the Free Jazz / Improvised Music genre and this album follows these basic boundaries, as expected. Therefore the choice of the material is rather bizarre, to say the least. Having infinite possibilities including self composed or freely improvised music, re-inventing these almost "sacred" songs seems truly outlandish and misguided. Being intimately familiar with these songs and their wonderful interpretations by Sinatra, as much as appreciate freedom and exploration, this treatment seems to me as being disrespectful and unnecessary. A recent trend of re-composing, re-inventing, de-composing and otherwise transforming classic material is very interesting, but should have at least some self-constraint. The music itself is very interesting and well executed, with all participants being excellent musicians with an impressive record behind them. The music is full of wonderful freedom, which does not hinder the cooperation between the quartet members. It was wonderfully recorded at the RecPublica Studios by Lukasz OlejarczykFind albums by this artist and is an excellent example of contemporary European Free Jazz scene, which is flourishing and vital in every respect. Overall what might have been a great album with a different concept behind it turns out to be a wonderful chocolate cake with a mustard filling. Some things should stay untouchable…

Updated: 16/04/2017Posted: 16/04/2017

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