Record Reviews

INFANT JOY QUINTET ~ NEW GHOSTS FOR TUNE 0029 (Barcode: 5902768701319) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2013 Released: 2014 This is the debut recording by the Polish Improvised Music ensemble Infant Joy QuintetFind albums by this artist, which consists of British (resident in Warsaw) saxophonist Ray DickatyFind albums by this artist, and Polish musicians: saxophonist Jan MalkowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Ksawery WojcinskiFind albums by this artist and drummers Michal KasperekFind albums by this artist and Dominik MokrzewskiFind albums by this artist. Harmonica player Laura WaniekFind albums by this artist appears as a guest artist. The album presents three extensive improvisations, one of which is almost half an hour in duration, all credited to all the quintet members. With a double saxophone / double drums lineup the quintet presents a solid showcase of concentrated group improvisation, which keeps a pretty steady level of intensity from the very first seconds the music starts to play till the very end, leaving almost no place for individual expression. The "wall of sound" effect hints (in addition to the album´s title) as to the intention of the musicians to pay tribute to the legendary Albert AylerFind albums by this artist, which is only partly successful. Wojcinski, who is left alone in the "center" of this music, manages to keep the havoc in check, and his energetic, but well structured bass pulsations save the entire proceedings from disintegration. Collective improvisation is of course based primarily not on the ability of the musicians to play but rather on their ability to listen to what the other ensemble members play. On this album it often appears as if the mutual listening is secondary. Overall this is a typical Improvised Music meeting, all a spur of the moment, completely unique and unrepeatable. As such it has its merits and is worth listening to, but there is hardly any groundbreaking, innovative or extraordinary statement being made here. It is important to listen to such music live but on record it loses its charm considerably.

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LIGHT STAR GUIDING ~ LIGHT STAR GUIDING NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Ambient Fusion Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 This is the debut album by Polish quartet called Light Star GuidingFind albums by this artist, which comprises of British (resident in Poland) saxophonist Ray DickatyFind albums by this artist and Polish guitarist Mikolaj PoncyljuszFind albums by this artist, bassist Staszek CzyzewskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Dominik MokrzewskiFind albums by this artist. Vocalist Maniucha BikontFind albums by this artist appears on one track. The album presents six original pieces, which are not credited on the album´s artwork and are assumed to be co-composed by the quartet members. The members of the quartet are usually associated with the Polish Avant-Garde / Improvised Music scene, but the music on this album is overtly contemplative and surprisingly melodic, bordering on contemporary Classical chamber music, with some Jazz and Rock influences. The pieces develop slowly and gradually increase the intensity and tempo, moving towards a climax and then stop abruptly. There is a lot of trancelike repetition and ambient mood, and the overall effort is more about atmosphere than actual content. It is difficult to separate the pre-composed and the improvised parts, but there is not much individual soloing and most of the time the quartet plays in unison and perfect harmony, rather than freely improvising. There are some obvious conceptual similarities between this music and the music of the RdzaFind albums by this artist ensemble, which also includes Dickaty and Mokrzewski. Although instrumentally Rdza is a big ensemble and LSG is a quartet, the approach is quite related and they both represent a relatively new stream in Polish Jazz, which combines ambient / trance experiments with Jazz tradition. Overall this is definitely an interesting listening experience, which requires patience and piece of mind to get into, but is eventually very rewarding. There is not that much happening within the music, but the mood and ambience are tantalizing and keep the listener mesmerized for the entire duration. Warmly recommended and surely worth checking out!

Updated: 14/08/2020Posted: 14/08/2020

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RDZA ~ YASS IMPROVISATION MZM 9 ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 This is the debut album by Polish Improvised Music duo RdzaFind albums by this artist, which comprises of bassist Jaroslaw MajewskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Jacek BuhlFind albums by this artist. For the recording session, which produced this album, they invited a group of musicians with whom they cooperated previously on various occasions: vocalists Antonina NowackaFind albums by this artist and Mamadou BaFind albums by this artist (alias Goo), clarinetist Piotr MelechFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Ray DickatyFind albums by this artist, Jan MalkowskiFind albums by this artist and Jedrzej LagodzinskiFind albums by this artist, flautist Maksymilian GwincinskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Jakub KrolikowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Slawek JanickiFind albums by this artist and drummer Dominik MokrzewskiFind albums by this artist – altogether a fourteen musicians strong Improvising Music orchestra. The album presents seven pieces, all credited to the entire crew of participating musicians. The music, although representing the Avant-Garde spontaneously Improvised Music genre, is quite unique, mostly due to the fact that it was created by a large ensemble in contrast to the usual rather intimate Improvised Music settings. The incredible power of such a large ensemble, the diversity of musical ideas and the wide range of instruments (including vocalese) is extremely effective and happens so rarely, that this album is an immediate focus of interest. Of course one has to remember that such experiments have already been tried successfully both across the pond and in European Jazz in the late 1960s, but are sadly very rare these days. This album is a wonderful example of Avant-Garde / Improvised Music recording that manages to retain the magic of the live performance and change into a musical capsule, which can be listened to repeatedly, discovering new layers with each new listening session. There are many superb individual performances here, although usually very brief, and above all wonderful ensemble cooperation, which absolutely rules here. Overall this is definitely one of the best if not the best Improvised Music album on the Polish scene in 2019. I´d like to point out to my Polish colleagues who write about music, what music with BIG balls is all about, regardless of the horn power involved – if an example is necessary. An absolute must to Free / Improvised Music orchestral music connoisseurs!

Updated: 14/08/2020Posted: 20/01/2020

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WARSAW IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA ~ CSW 14_03_2015 FSR 2016/08 (Barcode: 5905279364127) ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is the debut album by Warsaw Improvisers OrchestraFind albums by this artist, a loose gathering of about fifty musicians living in or around Warsaw, twenty nine of which (I count thirty names) participate in this live recording, which resulted in three long freely improvised pieces. The orchestra was conducted on two of these pieces by British, resident in Warsaw, saxophonist Ray DickatyFind albums by this artist and on the third one by violinist Patryk ZakrockiFind albums by this artist, and the compositions are credited to all the participants. The music is quite predictable, as similar attempts to create music by large improvising ensembles were already tried in the past many times. If fact the term "music" is principally applicable here only due to the fact that the participants are using musical instruments (or human voice), but otherwise does not describe what most people recognize as music. Improvised music is complex enough when created by an intimate solo / duo / trio format, but when attempted by such a large gathering, even when not all the musicians are plying at once, is simply too much. However, listeners interested in sound experimentation and imaginary soundscapes would probably be able to listen to this album with interest. There are moments of tension and buildup, intense climaxes and long quiet passages, so there is at least dynamics and evolution, which defuses boredom. But ultimately this all does not add to a musical statement, as such. As much as I love experimentation, this particular album seems to be an attempt to create quality by quantity, which simply fails. As usual in such cases, it was probably great fun to record this music and perhaps also listening to it while being recorded, but sadly after it was transferred to a piece of plastic, it lost all of its charm and wind. I can hardly imagine anybody listening to this at home more than once. Of course this is, as always, only me…

Updated: 19/12/2016Posted: 19/12/2016

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