Record Reviews

MICHAL KOBOJEK ~ THE OUTSIDE MANXIMUM 5908254159596 (Barcode: 5908254159596) ~ POLAND ~ Smooth Jazz Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is the second album as a leader by Polish saxophonist / composer Michal KobojekFind albums by this artist, recorded in a quartet setting with pianist Witold JaniakFind albums by this artist, bassist Wojciech PulcynFind albums by this artist and drummer Przemyslaw KuczynskiFind albums by this artist. Guitarist Marek KadzielaFind albums by this artist appears as a guest artist. The album presents eight original compositions, all by Kobojek. Kobojek´s career is mostly associated with the Polish Pop / Rock scene due to his cooperation with many top Polish artists / groups in that area. But obviously the Jazz streak has always been there as part of his musical personality. The music is, as expected, definitely on the lighter side of the Jazz idiom, somewhere near the Smooth Jazz concept, which, as I have stated many times, does not mean that the music is necessary inferior in any way to other Jazz styles, as this album overwhelmingly proves. The album is full of absolutely beautiful melodies, all of which manage to avoid the schmaltzy stigma of the bad side of Smooth Jazz. The music is romantic and beautifully lyrical and presents Kobojek as a gifted composer, who mixes feeling with professionalism. The performances are all highly professional, but relatively constrained without presenting any virtuosic solos or complex improvisations, which of course goes hand in hand with the album´s intended character. Kobojek plays with a sweet timbre and stays close to the melody lines, but his skills are obvious as is his feel for the music. Janiak plays excellent accompanying chord structures, exactly what is required in this case, inserting several nicely structured solos. The rhythm section is doing a superb job in the background, with Pulcyn, as always, being the Master of bass accompaniment. Overall this is a very good straightforward Smooth Jazz album, full of great melodic music, which does not make any compromises as far as the quality is concerned. Listeners, who are Romantics at heart, regardless of their age, should find this album exactly what they need to make their day (or night).

Updated: 12/05/2017Posted: 12/05/2017

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KAROLINA KOWALCZEWSKA ~ CHIARA NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Classical Fusion Recorded: 2014 Released: 2014 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz pianist / composer Karolina KowalczewskaFind albums by this artist, recorded with a core trio consisting of bassist Maurizio RolliFind albums by this artist and drummer Jozef EliashFind albums by this artist, which is joined on various tracks by saxophonists Mariusz MielcarekFind albums by this artist, Adam WendtFind albums by this artist and Michal KobojekFind albums by this artist, a couple of vocalists, a violinist, a choir and even a symphonic orchestra (sampled mind you) arranged by Leszek KulakowskiFind albums by this artist on the opening track. The album presents eight original compositions, all by Kowalczewska, with one of them being repeated twice as the opening and closing track. Kowalczewska is clearly flirting with both the Classical and Jazz idioms, a perilous game, which is rarely very successful. The music ranges from forms like a concerto for orchestra and sax, via a choir psalm and saxophone trio (with a lot of almost free blowing) which slowly degrades to a bluesy ballad in which the trio supports a lengthy saxophone solo, a series of mainstream quartet pieces, three vocal tracks and a sax quartet to round things up: altogether an unimpressive hodgepodge of musical ditties lacking any coherence or sense of direction. Yes there are some nice melodic themes and nice sax solos but in all honesty there is nothing here which deserves special attention or something that wasn´t played endless times before at best and at it´s worst moments this albums sounds like a junior high school band, completely amateurish. I am truly sorry but this stuff is really embarrassing and releasing this material for the world to hear is a major misjudgment of quality, which should be avoided at all cost.

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KRZYSZTOF SCIERANSKI ~ NIGHT LAKES POLSKIE RADIO 1713 (Barcode: 5907812247133) ~ POLAND ~ Smooth Jazz Recorded: 2012 Released: 2014 In the liner notes attached to this album Polish Jazz electric bass virtuoso Krzysztof ScieranskiFind albums by this artist confesses that his initial dream was to become a guitarist and the fact that he became Poland´s bass guitar legend is, as often happens in life, a matter of circumstances and of course the fact that his brother already played guitar. One way or another, the audiences had the pleasure of enjoying his superb performances for four decades now. This album is primarily a realization of a dream where Scieranski could play guitar in addition to his already legendary bass routine. He is accompanied on this album by a core trio: saxophonist Michal KobojekFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Michal LyczekFind albums by this artist, drummer Przemyslaw KuczynskiFind albums by this artist and a few other musicians. Two tracks (the opening and closing ones) also include vocals. The album presents twelve original compositions, all by Scieranski. The music is a mixture of relatively uncomplicated Smooth Jazz tunes, ranging between Jazz-Rock Fusion and almost Popish signatures, all very melodic and well structured harmonically. The tunes are definitely much more solid than most if not all the material found on Smooth Jazz recordings. There is something for everybody here and all of it is slick and pleasurable, so I wouldn´t be surprised if this album becomes very popular indeed among listeners of all ages and musical persuasions. The performances are all excellent from start to finish. These are all highly skilled and professional musicians and one should expect nothing less than technical perfection. Absurdly, although Scieranski plays some great guitar licks, it is his bass playing that is the most impressive, especially when he uses the fretless bass. He actually plays guitar on only about half of the tracks. To summarize this is an excellently executed Smooth Jazz album, which includes a collection of tunes that are much stronger that the usual stuff one finds on that type of releases. Scieranski is a virtuoso by any standard and this album is simply another proof of the fact that he is simply great in any environment. And yes, he can play the guitar as well, which nobody can deny! Music for fast red cars, long haired blondes and sunny beaches… California here we come!

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