Record Reviews

MACIEJ MAZUREK ~ MY HOME V 024 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Pop Fusion Recorded: 2022 Released: 2023 This is the debut album by Polish guitarist / composer Maciej MazurekFind albums by this artist, recorded in a trio format with bassist Piotr MazurekFind albums by this artist and drummer Michal MalinskiFind albums by this artist. Percussionist Bartek PajakFind albums by this artist plays on three tracks and guitarist Artur LesickiFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Tomasz WendtFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Robert JarmuzekFind albums by this artist and vocalist Natalia LubranoFind albums by this artist guest each on one track. The album presents seven tracks, six of which are original compositions by Maciej Mazurek and one is co-written by Mazurek and Lubrano. The music was recorded at the excellent Monchrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy GruszeckiFind albums by this artist, offering a spotless sound quality. The music is all highly melodic, based on solid tunes, which serve as basis for the improvisations by the participating musicians. The steady rhythmic background has a Smooth Jazz tendency, but the guitar is rather more Fusion oriented with strong Blues ties. Altogether the music is a nice mixture of melodic tunes, which flow without challenging the listener’s gray cells, but offer a pleasant background listening experience. Overall, this is a nice debut by young musicians, who are still searching for their specific musical path, showing obvious talent, but lacking maturity. Still, guitar lovers should find this very entertaining and full of exciting licks.

Updated: 09/06/2023Posted: 09/06/2023

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KRZYSZTOF ZESLAWSKI / NATALIA LUBRANO ~ OSIECKA JAZZOWO MTJ 11735 (Barcode: 5906409117354) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry Recorded: 2016 Released: 2016 This is a Jazzy tribute to the iconic Polish poetess / lyricist Agnieszka OsieckaFind albums by this artist, who authored texts to countless Polish songs over many years, many of them ageless evergreens. A collection of thirteen songs which feature Osiecka´s lyrics is performed here by a quartet led by guitarist Krzysztof ZeslawskiFind albums by this artist which also includes keyboardist Lukasz PerekFind albums by this artist, bassist Wojciech BerganderFind albums by this artist and drummers Michal LasotaFind albums by this artist or Jaroslaw KorzonekFind albums by this artist. The vocals are performed by Natalia Lubrano. The songs were composed by some of the top Polish songwriters. The arrangements are all within very narrow swinging mainstream, only marginally Jazz related. The instrumental work is very solid, but not extraordinary, which is understandable in these limiting circumstances. There are a few guitar and keyboards solo spots, but nothing extraordinary. The vocal performances, which are supposed to be the focus of this album, are adequate, but not really exciting, which is a great pity. These are all brilliant songs and on this album they lose most of their luster and elegance, becoming sort of trivial. Overall this is a missed opportunity with good intentions but not so great end result. Of course this music can be enjoyed by many Polish fans of popular music, but Jazz fans will find this album lacking spark and purpose.

Updated: 06/02/2017Posted: 06/02/2017

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