Record Reviews

WOJCIECH KAMINSKI ~ OPEN PIANO (POLISH JAZZ VOL.66) MUZA 1066 (Barcode: 5907783420665) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1981 Released: 2006 This album by veteran pianist / composer Wojciech KaminskiFind albums by this artist presents the versatility of the Polish Jazz scene, which at all times presented the entire scope of Jazz music, from Ragtime to Avant-Grade, all of them on a very high artistic level. Kaminski was active on the local scene mainly in the traditional Jazz circles, co-founding such splendid ensembles as Ragtime Jazz BandFind albums by this artist and Old TimersFind albums by this artist. He felt most comfortable playing Jazz, which ranges from Ragtime, through Dixieland and into Swing and selected some of the absolutely best local players at the time to accompany him on this album: trumpeter Henryk MajewskiFind albums by this artist, trombonist Zbigniew KonopczynskiFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Zbigniew JaremkoFind albums by this artist, Janusz ZabieglinskiFind albums by this artist and Wladyslaw HalikFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marek BlizinskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Janusz KozlowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Jerzy BartzFind albums by this artist. Kaminski composed five of the ten compositions on this album (the remaining five include four standards and one composition by Zabieglinski). The level of performance is absolutely excellent all the way through and every Jazz fan should be able to enjoy this music for what it stands for: quality and fun! Recommended!

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RAGTIME JAZZ BAND ~ RAGTIME JAZZ BAND (POLISH JAZZ VOL.07) MUZA 1007 (Barcode: 5907783420078) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1966 Released: 2006 The Traditional Jazz (a.k.a. Trad) is a term describing several Jazz sub-genres, which were stylistically developed mostly in the early 20th Century, and includes a plethora of quite distinct types of music including Ragtime, New Orleans, Dixieland and others. With the development of modern Jazz in the 1950s, a parallel movement of "returning to the roots" swept the Jazz world and a plethora of Trad groups appeared everywhere, including of course the lively Polish Jazz scene. Trad was especially popular with Polish students, and most Polish Trad group originated in the various Universities around the country. Ragtime Jazz BandFind albums by this artist, formed by cornet player Wladyslaw DobrowolskiFind albums by this artist in 1962, comprised of student from Warsaw. The septet lineup crystallized rapidly and the group gained popularity first around Poland and later also abroad. It was considered as one of the best Trad bands on the Polish scene and this is their only album. The group managed to enlist the help of excellent Swedish trumpeter Hans CarlingFind albums by this artist, turning the group into an octet for most of the tracks included on the album. The music is all original, composed by the group´s members and is absolutely brilliant from start to finish, definitely as good as any such music played at the time around the world. In retrospect it´s a real gem and a proud evidence of how good the Polish Jazz scene was at the time. Recommended!

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