Record Reviews

MOONGANG ~ TAXI ALLEGRO 024 (Barcode: 5901157049247) ~ POLAND ~ Blues-Rock Recorded: 2012 Released: 2012 This is the debut album by a young Polish Blues-Rock / Funk band MoongangFind albums by this artist, fronted by female vocalist Joanna KnitterFind albums by this artist, with harmonica player Roman BadenskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marcin WadolowskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Hubert SwiatekFind albums by this artist, bassist Karol KozlowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Piotr GoraFind albums by this artist. The album comprises of eleven original songs and one instrumental. The guitarist composed eight of the pieces, the vocalist two and the bassist and pianist contributed one each. Knitter wrote the lyrics to all eleven songs, ten of which are in English and one is in Polish. Obviously based on the Blues tradition, the music stretches out into other genres, like Rock, Funk and even occasionally Fusion. Almost all the tunes are up-tempo and have a very funky feel about them, which certainly tends to make the listeners dance or at least tap their feet. The instrumental performances are all quite excellent, especially the beautiful harmonica parts, which are the link to the Blues roots of this music, but also the guitar and electric piano solos are a delight. The rhythm section does an excellent job keeping the music moving forward and providing the funky feel. The vocalist has a worm, strong voice, which she uses cleverly and effectively and which is ideal for this kind of music. She has a great timing and phrasing and overall her performances are just what this music needs. Having said all that, there are some points about this album, which bother me personally, although most local listeners probably won´t mind them at all. I understand the desire of Polish bands to sound "international" and use English lyrics. The vocalist´s English pronunciation and accent are actually quite passable and are not a problem as such, but the lyrics are. Using slang and dirty words does not make lyrics more "native" English, does it? One does not have to even go beyond this very album to see that the sole song in Polish sounds so much better that all the others, in order to learn a lesson not to make the same mistake again, hopefully. But all in all this is an excellent debut album by a band with a lot of abilities and even more potential in the future. This band most probably kicks ass on the stage like few others and gives the audiences a great time. The album is great for driving, as I´ve experienced, making the long stretch of the road to pass unnoticed. Well done indeed!

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MARCIN WADOLOWSKI ~ BLUE NIGHT SESSION ALLEGRO 028 (Barcode: 5901157049285) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2013 Released: 2014 This is the second album by the Polish Jazz guitarist / composer Marcin WadolowskiFind albums by this artist, recorded in a quintet setting with saxophonist Wojciech StaroniewiczFind albums by this artist, vibraphonist Dominik BukowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Janusz MackiewiczFind albums by this artist and drummer Adam CzerwinskiFind albums by this artist, all seasoned players from the Polish Tricity region. The album presents ten original compositions, all by Wadolowski. Wadolowski can be also heard as a member of Elec-Tri-CityFind albums by this artist and MoongangFind albums by this artist. The music is all very melodic and kept within the mainstream Jazz conventions. All the tracks are relatively short, creating a sort of "songs" album, although of course entirely instrumental, in contrast to a typical Jazz recording, which focuses on the improvisational skills. Wadolowski simply decides to concentrate on featuring his skills as a composer and presenting his music rather than his and his quintets performing talents. There is basically absolutely nothing wrong with such approach of course. Nevertheless the album features very talented and skilled instrumentalists and although the framework and time limitations of this album allow rather modest contributions, those are all executed perfectly. Staroniewicz is a marvelous player and so is Bukowski, who uses recently more and more the xylosynth (a combination of xylophone and synthesizer, which sound really more like a keyboard and produces some very beautiful moments. The rhythm section is also perfect for the job, staying mostly in the background but providing a solid support for the soloist and doing it with grace and elegance. As to the leader, personally I prefer his work in a more electric / Fusion / Funky environment than playing gentle almost acoustic guitar, which limits his possibilities or perhaps exposes more his technical weaknesses, but overall his performance is also quite satisfactory. All in all we have here a pleasant well played album, which should satisfy most Jazz connoisseurs, with a slight tendency towards melodic and less complex musical forms. This album is quite ideal for a lazy evening with a glass of a wonderful cognac or very old single malt on ice.

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