Record Reviews

WLODEK PAWLIK ~ STRUNY NA ZIEMI POLSKIE RADIO 1395 (Barcode: 5907812243951) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry Recorded: 2011 Released: 2011 This is a beautiful album by Polish pianist / composer Wlodek PawlikFind albums by this artist, which presents a Jazz & Poetry project dedicated to the poetry of Jaroslaw IwaszkiewiczFind albums by this artist, one of the most renowned 20th Century Polish literary figures, although quite controversial on the convoluted Polish political landscape. Pawlik created sixteen musical settings to poems by Iwaszkiewicz, which are executed by a fabulous cast which includes vocalists Lora SzafranFind albums by this artist and Marek BalataFind albums by this artist, actor Robert WieckiewiczFind albums by this artist, bassist Pawel PantaFind albums by this artist, drummer Cezary KonradFind albums by this artist and percussionist Mikolaj WieleckiFind albums by this artist. The Jazz & Poetry idiom has always been one of great fortes of Polish Jazz and the beautiful Polish poetry seems always to magically inspire musicians and makes them to come up with their best work. This album is another example of this phenomenon and it is absolutely wonderful from start to finish. Pawlik seems to be completely comfortable with the short "song" oriented environment and weaves a series of beautifully melodic, expressive and impressive pieces, which are certainly among his strongest manifestations as a composer. The vocals and recitation are also superbly executed, with Szafran demonstrating again that she has but a few equals. A pity she does not record more, as her singing is always a source of heavenly pleasure. The instrumental quartet performs spotlessly, with Pawlik sensitive and lyrical phrases amicably and masterfully accompanied by the excellent rhythm section. Overall this is a classic example of the Jazz & Poetry idiom, which glorifies the Polish Culture in the best possible way. The combination of words and music is probably the most powerful tool to bring the best out of the Artists and the listeners. Of course the lyrics in Polish seemingly limit the audience to the Polish speakers, but honestly this album can move the hearts of listeners who do not understand a word of Polish by the sheer magic of its intelligence and intellectual content. Strangely this album made very little impact on the Polish scene at the time of its release. Some people probably can´t bury political hatchets even when it comes to Culture…

Updated: 10/10/2016Posted: 10/10/2016

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ZAKROCKI / OLAK / WIELECKI ~ SPONTANEOUS CHAMBER MUSIC FSR 2016/05 (Barcode: 5905279364059) ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is the debut album by Polish Improvised Music trio comprising of violinist Patryk ZakrockiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marcin OlakFind albums by this artist and percussionist Mikolaj WieleckiFind albums by this artist. Together they perform eight pieces, all of which are spontaneously improvised and the album is an exact presentation of the music as it was created during the recording session. The title seems to describe the music pretty accurately, as the intimate mostly acoustic ambience and the melodic proximity certainly belongs to what is considered as Chamber Music. Of course in this case the music is entirely improvised, as opposed to the Classical Chamber idiom, but music is moving ahead and definitions and borders of our musical terminology are changing on the fly. The pieces are also Chamber in their very nature, due to the fact that they have a relatively short duration and are based on intimate relationships between the three performers, who are "changing positions", i.e. constantly changing the focus of the music from one instrument to another. The level of interplay and telepathic communication between the musicians is truly astounding and this is immediately reflected in the music itself, which remains calm and non-aggressive / non-competitive at all times. Improvised Music does exist really only at the very moment it is creation and in the vast majority of cases completely loses its meaning and purpose the moment its over, which of course means that recording Improvised Music is an oxymoron of sorts. In some very rare cases however, Improvised Music is able to create a lasting, coherent, meaningful piece of music, which still makes sense after being recorded and then consequently played back. This is definitely one of such magical moments. It is important to know, however, that contrary to the brand Improvised Music is often trying to "sell" to the listener, there is nothing really revolutionary or innovative in this music, to be honest, regardless of how good it is. Improvised Music exists both in the Classical Music and Jazz idioms for many decades and experimentation and border crossing much bolder than the music recorded here have been achieved many times before. In fact in many respects this music is pretty conservative in most respects and for that reason it is more accessible to a much wider audience than most Improvised Music recordings. Overall this is a beautiful musical moment captured for posterity on this album, which many open-minded listeners should be able to enjoy. I encourage the people who usually avoid Improvising Music to try this one and perhaps discover an entire universe of music they have been missing earlier.

Updated: 27/10/2016Posted: 01/10/2016

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