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  | EMIL MISZK / THE SONIC SYNDICATE ~ SCRATCHES FOR 8 MUSICIANS
ALPAKA 023 (Barcode: 3663734142964) ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music
Recorded: 2021 Released: 2022
This is the third album by Polish Jazz trumpeter / composer / bandleader Emil MiszkFind albums by this artist, recorded live with his octet called The Sonic SyndicateFind albums by this artist, which comprises of top young Polish Jazz musicians: saxophonists Piotr CheckiFind albums by this artist (tenor) and Jakub KlemensiewiczFind albums by this artist (baritone), trombonist Pawel NiewiadomskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Michal ZienkowskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Mikolaj BasiukiewiczFind albums by this artist, bassist Konrad ZolnierekFind albums by this artist and drummer Slawomir KoryznoFind albums by this artist. The album presents four extended pieces, which are uncredited on the album’s artwork (open for speculation).
The music is essentially improvised, with just very few sketchy melodic themes and coherent continuity, at some occasions being more about a sonic atmosphere than music, as most people conceive it. It is fascinating to compare this album with Miszk’s earlier recordings since he first appeared on recording scene in 2014, including the two previous albums with the Sonic Syndicate, which shows a radical estrangement from melodic modern Jazz, gradually moving towards Improvised Music and Avant-Garde. Of course Miszk has every right to experiment and develop his music any way he sees fit, and his qualities are clearly obvious here, as they were in his earlier work.
The album, although being more about the ensemble sound that individual soloing, which is typical of European larger ensembles, allows all the members of the octet to show their chops, even in the highly unconventional environment of this music. At best, the ensemble sounds like a Big Band, but during the intimate improvisation moments the ensemble sound gets lost obviously, which is a pity. As a result, the music is very uneven and depends largely on the listener’s attention span and patience.
Overall, this is a courageous experiment, exposing the more experimental / searching facets of the young Polish Jazz scene, which refuses to stand still. The music might prove to be trying to an average Jazz listener, but the more open-minded and searching Jazz fans should find this album worth of their attention.
| | Updated: 16/07/2022Posted: 16/07/2022 | CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend |
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