Record Reviews

OLO WALICKI ~ METALLA PRETIOSA OLO 004 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Classical Fusion Recorded: 2004 Released: 2004 This is an obscure but wonderful album by Polish Jazz bassist / composer Olgierd WalickiFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Olo WalickiFind albums by this artist), recorded in a highly unusual setting of a piano trio accompanied by a Classical brass quartet. The trio consists of Walicki with pianist Leszek MozdzerFind albums by this artist and German drummer Maurice de MartinFind albums by this artist. The brass quartet comprises of four players from the Gdansk Philharmonic. The ensemble performs a six-part suite composed and arranged by Walicki. The music is an unusual Jazz-Classical Fusion piece, which differs from most other attempts to create such cross genre projects. The six musical themes are highly melodic and lyrical, and with the added brass arrangements they all sound like Classical miniatures, but with a twist. There is a lot of humor in these pieces, some of it right in the open, the rest subtly hidden, but always there. This entire project is more a composing and arranging exercise than the usual Jazz oriented performance, as most of the truly interesting stuff happens when the brass is playing or Walicki plays arco. The piano trio parts a bit sugary; probably due to Mozdzer´s inclination to turn everything into honey (some may use a different word). The drummer is also quite exceptional, moving freely between Jazz, Rock and Avant-Garde / humorous ornamentations, all beautifully suitable to the music. Overall this is a zany and highly interesting piece of music, which differs from most other stuff and therefore is highly educational. In some respects the Zappaesque atmosphere of this music is quite brilliant. It might be of course dismissed as being frivolous and lacking respect, but in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Walicki keeps the listener in suspense till the very last moment of this album (I won´t spoil the surprise), when the tongue-in-cheek irony is fully revealed. In any case this is definitely an album worth hunting for and investigating.

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted:

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

OLO WALICKI / JACEK PROSCINSKI ~ LLOVAGE GUSSTAFF 1908 (Barcode: 5050580722286) ~ POLAND ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz duo LLovageFind albums by this artist comprising of bassist / composer Olo WalickiFind albums by this artist and drummer / composer Jacek ProscinskiFind albums by this artist, who both use also electronics in addition to their "native" instruments. The album presents seven original compositions, five of which are co-composed by the duo and two are composed by Walicki. Despite the seemingly limited scope of possibilities a basic rhythm section is able to utilize, this album proves that with a help of electronics and sampling, but more importantly talent and imagination, the duo is able to create a full fledged musical event. Although somewhat minimalistic and sketchy, the fact that the listener is left with the task of connecting the dots makes this music even more interesting. There is a limited melodic content in this music, and yet it somehow makes perfect sense, combining the acoustic bass / drums sounds with the ambient synthesized sounds, which compliment each other splendidly. The music moves slowly, somewhat hesitantly, which creates an element of internal tension and expectation, keeping the listen on edge but without any nervousness involved. This album is a great example of a steadily growing trend in European Jazz, which calls for combining contemporary electronics and other sound / recording techniques, many of which are based on utilizing the computer as a fully integrated instrument. This is happening not on the innovative Polish Jazz scene, but almost universally across Europe these days, and has a major impact on the "shape of Jazz to come", which can be hardly ignored today. Overall this is a bold, fascinating and aesthetically beautiful offering, which is a treasure chest which opens up with each consecutive listening session; definitely a part of the "less is more" approach, which works here perfectly. I presume that conventional Jazz lovers might have a hard time embracing this music, but I highly recommend giving it a try. For the open-minded listeners, who are already familiar with the numerous adventures of Ambient / Electronic Jazz explorations, this album is a must.

Updated: 21/02/2020Posted: 21/02/2020

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

IGNACY JAN WISNIEWSKI ~ DUOS HEVHETIA 0221 (Barcode: 8588005259026) ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2020 Released: 2021 This is an album by Polish Jazz pianist / composer Ignacy Jan WisniewskiFind albums by this artist, which presents a series of duos recorded with other Polish Jazz musicians: bassist Olo WalickiFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Olgierd WalickiFind albums by this artist), saxophonist Mikolaj TrzaskaFind albums by this artist, drummer Michal BryndalFind albums by this artist and vocalist Marcin JanuszkiewiczFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten original pieces, all of which are freely improvised. For “freely improvised music”, the music on this album is at times remarkably melodic and returns to the formats used by Wisniewski in his earlier recordings, which amalgamate elements of Jazz and Classical music with Avant-Garde vistas, being this time perhaps somewhat more radical, since the earlier music was definitely largely pre-composed. In any case, if all Improvised Music was as coherent, sensible and aesthetically pleasing as what can be heard here, my general cautiousness about the genre would have been way less intensive. This music is simply beautifully expressive and inviting, in complete contrast to most contemporary Improvised Music, with constant challenges, strange twists and turns and quite unexpected performances by the participants, like almost romantic saxophone parts by Trzaska and Cecil TaylorFind albums by this artist staccatos by the leader. The biggest surprise for me are the vocal performances by Januszkiewicz, whose earlier work I admit to not being familiar with. Due to his contacts with the theatre circles, as composer of music for spectacles, Wisniewski uses actors rather that Jazz vocalist in his projects (see / hear Kamil DominiakFind albums by this artist in “Kantata JazzowaFind albums with this title”), proving his perfect instinct as far as making such decisions. Januszkiewicz is absolutely stunning in his unconventional vocal approach and his parts are, for me, absolutely climatic. But to be fair all the participants contribute heartfelt roles in the entire project. Overall, this is one of the absolutely most wonderful Polish Free Jazz / Improvised Music recordings lately, which is rather unusual in its tameness, which perhaps is the source of its success. Presenting great musicianship, firmly managed by the leader, it proves that Improvised Music can be lasting and still innovate, which is happening very rarely lately. An absolute must to listeners, who are ready to be challenged. Hats off to all participants!

Updated: 01/10/2021Posted: 01/10/2021

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend