Record Reviews

GRIT ENSEMBLE ~ KOMEDA DECONSTRUCTED RECART 0015 (Barcode: 5908285287145) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2014 Released: 2015 This is a debut album by young Polish Jazz septet called Grit EnsembleFind albums by this artist, led by bassist Patryk PilasiewiczFind albums by this artist, with trumpeter Kacper GrzankaFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Maciej SokolowskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Krzysztof DysFind albums by this artist (Jakub KrolikowskiFind albums by this artist on one track), vibraphonist Piotr RakowskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Piotr ScholzFind albums by this artist and drummer Andrzej KoniecznyFind albums by this artist. As the title suggests, the music played on this album was composed entirely by the Godfather of Polish Jazz, pianist / composer Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist and includes compositions which were originally written as film scores, Komeda´s most famous contribution to Polish Culture, beyond the strict Jazz milieu. The album presents nine tracks, seven of which are the ensemble´s interpretations of Komeda´s compositions and the additional two are remixes of two of the tracks. Any attempt to deal with Komeda´s music is a priori a perilous enterprise for numerous reasons, the most obvious one being that it has been attempted previously on hundreds of albums by thousands of Polish and foreign musicians, including the best ones out there. Therefore being original and saying something innovative about the music of Komeda is almost impossible today and works only in truly exceptional cases. When combined with a pretentious album title like in this case, the album is controversial, at least to me, before listening to even one note of its music. Sadly listening to the music justified my reservations, at least to some degree. I think I am familiar with the term "deconstruction" in the musical sense, and honestly there is not a trace of that process in the music presented on this album. In fact in most cases the original melody is stated quite straightforwardly without even much improvisation and the following free form passages seem hardly related to the themes, definitely not being deconstructions, not to mention the remixes, which simply make no sense to me at all. Nevertheless the music presented on this album has its merits and is definitely worth listening to; it simply does not fulfill what is promised on the album´s cover. Of course the musicians involved in this project are all excellent performers, and do altogether a splendid job. Dys, who is one of the most impressive upcoming performers on the local scene, demonstrates his exceptional abilities all along, with the rest of the crew following suit. Perhaps taking on Komeda´s music was simply "a bridge too far" in this case? It takes a certain maturity, life´s experience and perspective to handle such lofty tasks. I imagine that the same ensemble playing original compositions by its members might be able to produce a very impressive result, as there is certainly a lot of talent and passion involved. Therefore I do look forward to hear more musical projects by this ensemble in the future.

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KASIA OSTERCZY ~ TRAVEL ELEGY AUDIO CAVE 2020/009 (Barcode: 5908298549070) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz vocalist / composer Kasia OsterczyFind albums by this artist recorded in a trio setting with saxophonist / clarinetist Kuba MarciniakFind albums by this artist and guitarist Piotr ScholzFind albums by this artist. It is a Jazz & Poetry project, which presents eight original compositions, all by Osterczy, two instrumentals and six songs with lyrics by Polish poetess Wislawa SzymborskaFind albums by this artist translated into English by Stanislaw BaranczakFind albums by this artist and Clare CavanaghFind albums by this artist. The album was recorded at the excellent Monochrom Studio and engineered by Ignacy GruszeckiFind albums by this artist. Form the first moment I took the album in my hands I was taken aback by the concept; why would a Polish singer perform Polish poetry in the English language? Tragically my worst fears turned out to be justified. For the entire duration of the album I was not able to understand a single word pronounced by the singer, that for several reasons: Firstly the usual problem of pronunciation, accent and delivery that all Polish singers have while singing in English, which is a true plague of the Polish vocal Jazz scene in particular and music scene in general. This madness has been going on for decades and sadly is only spreading. Secondly the arrangements, which call for the vocals to be accompanied unisono by the guitar or clarinet, hide the vocal parts making them in many instances hardly even audible. The shrill guitar sound and the high pitch of the vocals have a devastating result when heard together. Thirdly the very idea of singing Polish poetry in English, other than possibly popularizing Polish Culture for non-Polish speaking audiences, is truly absurd. At least a text with the translated poems should have been included in the packaging? It is, after all, not a case where this album will be heard by millions of listeners outside Poland, is it? There are of course some positive aspects to this album: the music is ambitious and interesting, the musicians are certainly able, and even the vocals are fine as long as they are vocalese only. It makes me truly sad to think that this project might have achieved a completely different result if Osterczy had stuck to the beautiful original texts in Polish and the balance / separation between her voice and the accompanying instruments was different… oh well, a great pity.

Updated: 04/09/2020Posted: 04/09/2020

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PIOTR SCHOLZ ~ SUITE: THE ROAD RECART 0019 (Barcode: 5908285287183) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2016 Released: 2016 This is the debut album as a leader by Polish Jazz guitarist / composer / conductor Piotr ScholzFind albums by this artist, which presents a five-part suite for Jazz Orchestra. The music is performed by the Poznan Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra (PJPO), conducted by Scholz, which includes thirteen excellent players, most notably Krzysztof DysFind albums by this artist on piano. The music is an ambitious attempt to combine the contemporary Classical and Jazz idioms, which overall works quite well. The melodic themes arranged for the entire range of the orchestra, including vocalese, flow smoothly and feature numerous solos parts by the orchestra members. The music does not cross the boundaries of the mainstream expressionism, but keeps developing steadily and is able to keep the listener interested throughout the entire piece. The question remains if this music could have not been performed by a small ensemble, like a quintet for example, and if the orchestral arrangements add anything substantial to the musical content. But that is beyond the point here. But of course it is commendable that young Polish Jazz musicians / composers are still interested in the Big Band / Orchestral forms, which have been grossly neglected in the last few decades, after flourishing in the early days of the Jazz idiom. Therefore this effort by Scholz is an important part of the young Polish Jazz scene, which witnesses an incredible renaissance of the genre. Hopefully his orchestra will continue to exist, perform and make additional recordings in the future. Overall this is a pleasant album, which explores the realms of orchestral Jazz, and as such deserves to be heard and praised. Scholz still has to travel a bit on "the road" before he reaches his destination, but it is actually the travel that matters and not the final goal, as some wise men say. In the meantime well done!

Updated: 22/09/2016Posted: 22/09/2016

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PIOTR SCHOLZ ~ BIRDS FROM ANOTHER PLANET AUDIO CAVE 2021/012 (Barcode: 5908298549315) ~ POLAND ~ Big Band Jazz Recorded: 2020 Released: 2021 This is the second album as a leader by Polish Jazz guitarist / composer Piotr ScholzFind albums by this artist, which returns to the Big Band / Orchestral Jazz format, same as the debut. This time the album presents a seven-part suite (on seven tracks) composed by Scholz and performed by a seventeen musicians strong Big Band, conducted by Scholz, who resigns the guitar post this time to Dawid KostkaFind albums by this artist. The music again attempts to combine the Classical and Jazz idioms, with the compositions based, as Scholz explains in the album’s artwork, on seven symmetrical scales (of limited transposition, also called modes) as defined by the 20th Century French composer Oliven MessiaenFind albums by this artist. One might speculate as to the fact of how many listeners are familiar with these highly technical musicological terms, so the true test of the music must be left to laics, who listen to music emotionally / aesthetically rather than intellectually / academically. The album’s title hints as to Messiaen’s passion for ornithology. There is no doubt that this highly ambitious piece required a lot of work and dedication from the composer, as well as effort from the performing musicians, which are all greatly commendable. The resulting music becomes highly dependent on the listener’s openness to unusual scales and harmonies, patience and perhaps musical experience, but it does present an unusual challenge, especially to Jazz listeners, who might find this music beyond their comprehension / likability. This attempt to combine Jazz with modern Classical music is typically European in nature, taking the rusted Jazz tradition to new vistas, which of course is a positive trend, although sometimes with varying success. Scholz is certainly to be congratulated for his attempt to discover new ground and invest so much work and energy in this project. Overall, this is a very ambitious and interesting cross-genre project, which might require an effort in order to digest it, at least at first, but offers an intellectual depth worth pursuing.

Updated: 19/12/2021Posted: 19/12/2021

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WEEZDOB COLLECTIVE ~ KOMEDA, OSTATNIA RETROSPEKCJA NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2020 Released: 2020 This is the third album by Polish Jazz quintet Weezdob CollectiveFind albums by this artist, which comprises of harmonica player Kacper SmolinskiFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Kuba MarciniakFind albums by this artist, guitarist Piotr ScholzFind albums by this artist, bassist Damian KostkaFind albums by this artist and drummer Adam ZagorskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents eleven original compositions, two by Marciniak, four by Smolinski, one by Kostka, two by Scholz, one by Zagorski and finally one co-composed by Kostka and Zagorski. The text (in Polish) included on the album was written by Tomasz LachFind albums by this artist and recited by Mariusz ZaniewskiFind albums by this artist. Date and place of recording are not specified on the album´s artwork. As the album´s title suggests, this is yet another project related to the legendary Godfather of Polish Jazz, pianist / composer Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist. Despite the fact that Komeda´s name and music was over time abused, misused and mistreated obsessively countless times, the temptation to gain attention is obviously stronger than decency and good taste. The pretext this time is the text written by Lach, Komeda´s adopted son, which consists of a series of reflections about his adoptive father, incorporated into the music written by the members of the ensemble, creating sort of radio sketch, a popular form of radio broadcast before television took over. The music is series of unrelated composition, which have nothing to do with Komeda´s music per se and if the intention was to create at least am atmospheric similarity, it fails to do so as far as I am concerned. These rather forgettable themes have simply no coherent continuity and although played in the background of the text being recited, offer little, if any, relation to the text itself. The members of the ensemble are obviously well schooled and experienced musicians; hopefully they will make better decisions in the future. Overall this album not only does not pay any tribute to Komeda´s name and status, but is a rather cynical and opportunistic venture, with no Artistic merit. Combined with a murky sound quality and incorrect balance between the music and the recitation, it is even difficult to listen to.

Updated: 04/01/2021Posted: 04/01/2021

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WEEZDOB COLLECTIVE ~ STAR CADILLAC WEEZART 001 (Barcode: 5907529223987) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2018 Released: 2018 This is the second album by Polish Jazz quintet Weezdob CollectiveFind albums by this artist, which comprises of harmonica player Kacper SmolinskiFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Kuba MarciniakFind albums by this artist, guitarist Piotr ScholzFind albums by this artist, bassist Damian KostkaFind albums by this artist and drummer Adam ZagorskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents twelve original compositions, three by Marciniak, four by Smolinski, four by Scholz and one by Zagorski. The music is all within mainstream Jazz, based on melodic compositions, which are rather forgettable. The highly unusual sound, which is created as a result of the harmonica playing up front and soloing extensively, and the lack of piano, which is usually supporting the harmonic foundation, is largely unnerving and is obviously an acquired taste. The concocted Sci-Fi background story of space travel and electronic effects used to “enhance” the music don’t help either. Overall, this album, although recorded by professional musicians, is not an enjoyable listening experience, in fact it was pretty difficult to listen to it in its entirety. Definitely not my cup of tea, but that is just my subjective opinion.

Updated: 12/10/2022Posted: 12/10/2022

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