Record Reviews

MALERAI / GOLDSTEIN / MASECKI ~ PREPARING TO DANCE – NEW YIDDISH SONGS MULTIKULTI MPT 011 (Barcode: 5907796319567) ~ POLAND ~ World Music & Folklore Recorded: 2013 Released: 2014 This is a live recording of a concert, which presents a cycle of nine songs composed by clarinetist / composer Michal GorczynskiFind albums by this artist with lyrics in Yiddish by the American poet Yermiyahu Ahron TaubFind albums by this artist. The cycle is performed by the MaleraiFind albums by this artist trio, which comprises of Gorczynski, violinist Dagna SadkowskaFind albums by this artist and cellist Mikolaj PaloszFind albums by this artist, vocalist Hanna GoldsteinFind albums by this artist and the enfant terrible of the Polish Avant-Garde Jazz scene, pianist Marcin MaseckiFind albums by this artist. Gorczynski is known to Polish Jazz followers as the member of the clarinet quartet IrchaFind albums by this artist led by Mikolaj TrzaskaFind albums by this artist and also as a member of the PoleFind albums by this artist trio. He cooperated with Masecki as a member of his ProfesjonalizmFind albums by this artist ensemble. The concert was recorded in 2013 during the 4th edition of the New Jewish Music Festival in Warsaw. This album is a very important statement of several realities concerning contemporary Jewish Culture. Firstly it proves that the Yiddish language is alive and kicking, not only as the lingua franca of Ashkenazi orthodox Jewish communities in Israel and the USA, but also as a form of expression of contemporary Jewish Culture, including poetry and literary prose, which are being created as we speak; this contrary to the popular opinion that the Yiddish language is practically dead and represents a wonderful heritage, which sadly is buried in the past. Secondly it once again emphasizes the incredible rebirth / resurgence / renaissance of the Jewish culture in Poland, especially in the Avant-Garde cycles of the young Polish Jazz community. To put things straight this is definitely not a Jazz album or Jazz music per se; the best form of describing it would be drawing a parallel to the glorious days of German cabaret of the decadent era created almost a century ago and best portrayed by the music of Kurt WeilFind albums by this artist. Gorczynski, perhaps subconsciously, uses similar musical / theatrical devices as classic cabaret, but brings them up to date by adding dissonance and free improvised instrumental passages as part of the arrangements of the songs. Masecki, who is the most Avant-Garde prone ingredient of this ensemble, plays the "grown up in charge" part, elegantly accompanying the vocals and displaying maximal restrain almost at all times. Goldstein´s vocals fit the musical setting well and she´s not afraid to "let go" and explore some vocal acrobatics, whenever appropriate. If only her Yiddish accent was a bit more authentic… Therefore, although not really Jazz, this music does have a lot of free spirited expressionism and improvisational elements in it, to become aesthetically related to Jazz. Although Taub comes from a strict orthodox Jewish background, the subject matter of his poetry is completely secular and universal, often full of psychedelic imagery and free associative connections. Gorczynski´s music is a superb vehicle for these poems to cross over into a new dimension, mixing music and words to create a new identity. Gorczynski and his team created an excellent piece of contemporary Art, which adapted heritage, tradition and contemporary artistic resources, amalgamating them into a class of its own. Overall, although this album does not make any revolutionary discoveries, it has enough merit to be called a bold, important step forward towards creating contemporary Jewish Culture as much as enriching the existing heritage. In a reality, in which most music is completely devoid of any ambition or artistic merit, this is a wonderful example of creativity and intellectually challenging spirit. Bravo!

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted:

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

MAYPOLE ~ THE REAL GEAR FAB 219 (Barcode: 645270021920) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1970 Released: 2005 1st album by excellent US (Baltimore) band MaypoleFind albums by this artist, which played Hard Rock with heavy Psychedelic influences, not far stylistically from Iron ButterflyFind albums by this artist. Featuring strong vocals and excellent instrumental work this album is an excellent example of the US scene at the time. Although obscure, this album is as good as anything recorded at the time and deserves to be re-discovered. Wholeheartedly recommended!

CD 1 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

POLE ~ RADOM KILOGRAM 029 (Barcode: 5907577284282) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2012 Released: 2014 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz trio PoleFind albums by this artist, which consists of clarinetists / flautist Michal GorczynskiFind albums by this artist (a member of Mikolaj TrzaskaFind albums by this artist´s quartet IrchaFind albums by this artist), guitarist / bassist / synthesizer player Piotr ZabrodzkiFind albums by this artist and drummer Jan Emil MlynarskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents five original pieces, all credited collectively to the three trio members. The music is mostly spontaneously improvised, with the clarinet stating some minor melodic motifs but most of the time the group improvisation is the name of the game. The clarinet´s sound and the melodic fragments it plays are clearly rooted in Jewish music, albeit more associatively so than deliberately. This of course anchors Pole as one of the ensembles taking part in the contemporary Jewish music renaissance, which is taking place in Poland today. Zabrodzki and Mlynarski are definitely less dominant, playing the role of a rhythm section, which of course in this setting has a completely different meaning than in conventional Jazz. The guitar provides mostly ambient background with no melodic contents, the base pulsations are in charge of the rhythmic progression, and the percussion sits on a separate musical plane, which develops in parallel to what the clarinet and guitar are doing, coming and going seemingly unattached. Overall the trio creates an interesting effect of togetherness, which strangely manages to manifest itself from the disjoined ingredients. It takes a while to get into this music, but in time it emerges as quite interesting amalgam of free improvisation, World Music motifs and rhythms and ambient background, which in most cases works out rather well. The album is rather short, running for just over half an hour, which either means the musicians consider this a complete statement or they ran out of steam. In any case it should be interesting to hear what they have to say next time around.

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend