Record Reviews

ATOM ACCORDION QUINTET ~ ATOM ACCORDION QUINTET REQUIEM 120 (Barcode: 5902547013411) ~ POLAND ~ Classical Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is the debut album by Polish ensemble Atom Accordion QuintetFind albums by this artist, which comprises of accordionist Rafal GrzakaFind albums by this artist and the renowned string quartet called Atom String QuartetFind albums by this artist (violinists Dawid LubowiczFind albums by this artist and Mateusz SmoczynskiFind albums by this artist, violist Michal ZaborskiFind albums by this artist and cellist Krzysztof LenczowskiFind albums by this artist). Together they perform four contemporary Classical compositions by young Polish composers: Mikolaj MajkusiakFind albums by this artist, Piotr WrobelFind albums by this artist, Krzysztof Lenczowski and Nikola KolodziejczykFind albums by this artist. While the works by the Majkusiak and Wrobel are single-piece compositions, the work by Lenczowski is a four-part Quintet and the work by Kolodziejczyk is three-part suite. The album was released simultaneously on two Polish labels: RequiemFind albums on this label Records and DUXFind albums on this label Records As much as I appreciate the need to expose young composers, which this album is all about, somehow I felt a bit disappointed when the music was over. Contemporary Classical music can be, and often is challenging and groundbreaking but this album has little of these qualities. The sound of accordion and a string quartet works together well but was already explored before, and although the musicians are top class, but the music itself just fails to make a strong impression. Even the music by Lenczowski, who writes wonderful music in the Jazz idiom, somehow does not present his usual excellence here, being simply too conventional, even if it is beautifully melodic and gracefully melancholic. An example of the lack of originality is the very last track on this album (by Kolodziejczyk), which sounds almost exactly like music by Astor PiazzollaFind albums by this artist with string quartet. Somehow the entire album invokes a kind of a déjà vu symptom. The album is supposed to offer, according to the enclosed booklet, an amalgam of Classical Music, Folklore and Jazz. There is Classical music in abundance, there are some Folkloristic motifs, but there is certainly no Jazz at all, as there is obviously no improvisation involved since all the music is strictly written. This of course is not a problem by itself, but simply an unnecessary confusion. Obviously the album has its positive sides as well: a profound European aesthetics, wonderful performances by all five musicians, who are obviously virtuosic players, an excellent recording and sound quality and elegant packaging that includes informative bilingual liner notes. Overall this is a well done and original presentation of contemporary Polish Classical Music, which can be enjoyed by many Classical Music connoisseurs anywhere in the world and serve as a wonderful calling card of Polish Culture.

Updated: 22/11/2016Posted: 22/11/2016

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BRASS FEDERACJA ~ GO, GO, TO BE ON TIME! REQUIEM / LYDIAN 2019/5 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 This is the debut album by Polish Brass ensemble Brass FederacjaFind albums by this artist, led by sousaphone player / composer Piotr WrobelFind albums by this artist, which also includes trumpeters Maurycy IdzikowskiFind albums by this artist and Marcin MalarzFind albums by this artist, trombonists Andrzej RekasFind albums by this artist, Bartek LupinskiFind albums by this artist and Szymon WojdakFind albums by this artist and drummer Maciek WojcieszukFind albums by this artist. Six additional brass players guest on one of the tunes. The album presents eight original compositions, all by Wrobel, and one arrangement of a standard. There is also a humorous hidden bonus track! Wrobel might be familiar to the Polish Jazz buffs as the sousaphone player of the fabulous Jazz Band Mlynarski - MaseckiFind albums by this artist, which also works without a bass player in its ranks. The music is on the Funky side of the Brass ensemble music spectrum, offering straight forward melodic themes, which serve as vehicles for all the brass mania around, spiced by wonderful soloing by the ensemble members. The entire sound of the ensemble works wonderfully with the unique sousaphone / drums "rhythm section", which adds full bodied bottom range and swings wonderfully. The music is somewhat similar to what the Brass Rock ensembles of the 1960s and 1970s were doing at the time, missing of course the guitar / keyboards / bass guitar Rocky side of things, but still being quite attractive to lovers of that idiom, which sadly disappeared from the face of the earth. The music displays an affinity to Traditional Jazz on some of the tracks, and an entire album of more Traditional Jazz oriented music might also work excellently – perhaps sometime in the future? Overall this is an absolutely delightful piece of music, very different from everything else appearing on the Polish Jazz scene and showing the limitless extent of the genre. It is full of originality and passion and is of course wholeheartedly recommended!

Updated: 13/08/2019Posted: 13/08/2019

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JAZZ BAND MLYNARSKI - MASECKI ~ NOC W WIELKIM MIESCIE LADO ABC C/26 (Barcode: 9788326826047) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2017 Released: 2017 This is a phenomenal album by the Polish ensemble called Jazz Band Mlynarski - MaseckiFind albums by this artist, co-led by vocalist / banjola player Jan MlynarskiFind albums by this artist and pianist Marcin MaseckiFind albums by this artist, which also includes three saxophonists / clarinetists: Tomasz DudaFind albums by this artist, Michal FetlerFind albums by this artist and Jaroslaw BothurFind albums by this artist, sousaphone player Piotr WrobelFind albums by this artist and drummer Jerzy RogiewiczFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine Polish songs, popular in the 1930s, predominantly composed and written by Polish Jews who were the core of popular music / cabaret / vaudeville in the swinging Warsaw, which had a large Jewish population at the time. All the songs were masterly arranged for the ensemble by Masecki. The music is a loving tribute to a period and a Culture that was wiped out off the face of the earth by the Holocaust, and later on by forgetfulness and ignorance, and as such it is an extremely important undertaking as far as preservation of the Polish / Jewish Culture is concerned. But of course the album is also a masterpiece of rejuvenation of musical tradition, bringing back to life the essence of early Swing, but also transforming the spirit of the music to contemporary idioms. Masecki´s arrangements, which are all far from being simplistic or trivial, brilliantly combine the tradition with modernism, and experienced Jazz connoisseurs will find plenty of unexpected hooks of his brilliance within the music. Mlynarski brilliantly revives the tradition of the crooners of the time, and his vocal theatrics are a delight, especially in view of the sense of humor his performances display. The rest of the musicians in the band all play brilliantly, bravely overcoming the seemingly simple music made devilishly difficult by the sophisticated arrangements. The use of the sousaphone in place of the bass is another bright idea, which contributes to the "vintage" sound aura. Since this album was released, the ensemble performs it live all over Poland with great success. I had the pleasure to hear one of the concerts and it was simply breathtaking and the reaction of the public was overwhelming. Evidently Culture is not dead yet, and people are still able to recognize it when they see / hear it face to face. Overall this is a superb album in every respect, taking the listener ninety years back into the past, using a musical time machine, into times long gone, but now not longer forgotten. This is a multilayered intellectual and emotional experience of rare quality and dedication. The album comes with extensive liner notes explaining the historical background of this music and a story about each of the nine songs. One can only wish that many such well prepared and devoted releases like this album could be made more often. Radiant stuff!

Updated: 31/03/2018Posted: 31/03/2018

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JANUSZ ZDUNEK ~ NUMERY SP 02/17 (Barcode: 5909876540045) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Funk Fusion Recorded: 2015 Released: 2017 This is an album by Polish trumpeter / composer Janusz ZdunekFind albums by this artist, recorded in an octet setting with six brass players (Zdunek on trumpet, trombonist Jaroslaw WaznyFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Bogumila LudwinskaFind albums by this artist, Mariusz GodzinaFind albums by this artist and Tomasz GlazikFind albums by this artist and tuba player Piotr WrobelFind albums by this artist) and rhythm section: bassist Ireneusz KaczmarFind albums by this artist and drummer Rafal BacaFind albums by this artist. The album presents eleven original compositions, all by Zdunek. One of the tracks features Rap style lyrics. The musicians on the album are old Zdunek´s cohorts from his Yass ensembles 4 SyfonFind albums by this artist and MarienburgFind albums by this artist and Rock group KultFind albums by this artist. The music is consistent with earlier albums by Zdunek, presenting more or less the same mixture of Jazz, Rock, Yass and Funk influences, which are almost danceable, played with great feeling of Groove and a Funky approach, but basically adding very little to the musical arsenal, which Zdunek presented already in the past, except perhaps for a few Klezmer influenced pieces. The large brass section could have been used to create a much richer and multilayered environment, but sadly it is mostly limited to playing long unisono lines behind Zdunek´s trumpet solos, which are not interesting enough to keep the listener on his toes. The rhythm section keeps the music moving forward in a hypnotic Funky Groove, which is really excellent, but after a while becomes somewhat repetitious. Overall this is a nice, listenable album with a lot of brass sounds and Groovy / Funky rhythms, which many listeners should be able to enjoy and perhaps even dance to. More entertainment that Art, but nevertheless definitely worth investigation!

Updated: 28/04/2017Posted: 28/04/2017

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