Record Reviews

STAN BORYS ~ …PISZE PAMIETNIK ARTYSTY POLSKIE RADIO 1323 (Barcode: 5907812243234) ~ POLAND ~ Special Products Recorded: 2010 Released: 2010 Polish singer / actor / composer / poet Stan BorysFind albums by this artist is one of the most flamboyant and iconoclastic figures on the local scene with almost five decades of artistic achievements behind him. He was a founding member (with guitarist Tadeusz NalepaFind albums by this artist) of the legendary group BlackoutFind albums by this artist, the first Polish Rock group to incorporate lyrics written by a poet, in this case by Bogdan LoeblFind albums by this artist. Following his departure from Blackout the group morphed into the no less legendary BreakoutFind albums by this artist, the great precursors of Blues-Rock in Poland, who continued to cooperate with Loebl as their exclusive lyricist, while Borys joined another group called BizonyFind albums by this artist. Since the early 1970s Borys embarked on a solo career, which continues to this very day. In 1975 Borys left Poland and immigrated to the US, but remained faithful to his deep cultural bonds with his native country. Since 2004 he returned to perform regularly in Poland, where he maintains a solid fan base, both as a singer and actor. Although mostly renowned for his musical activities, Borys was always deeply interested in theatre and poetry. His deep knowledge and profound understanding of literary works turn him into a unique voice of the Polish literary tradition, which is especially evident on this recording. In 1983 Stan Borys created a one-man-spectacle based on the poetry written by the 19th Century Polish poet Cyprian Kamil NorwidFind albums by this artist, one of the country’s greatest and most astounding literary forces, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the poet’s death. Five years later the spectacle was recorded and released on CD in the US. In 2010 Borys re-recorded his spectacle, which was finally released in Poland. The album consists of a series of Norwid’s poems recited by Borys, accompanied by ambient musical collages, as well as poems to which Borys composed full musical scores, which are sung by him. The overall effect is truly an electrifying and both deeply emotional as well as highly intellectual experience. The tormented, convoluted and diabolically complex Norwid’s poems suddenly become coherent and beautifully lucid thanks to the incredible interpretation and theatrical delivery by Borys, who masterly controls his voice and diction. It’s abundantly clear that Borys not only knows these poems intimately, but also feels deeply for the messages conveyed in them. For many, this might be the first opportunity to comprehend how prophetic these poems are, especially now. Although the political circumstances at the time when these poems were written are no longer a reality, the underlying values and principles of freedom (both individual and collective), humanity, honesty, idealism and even patriotism are still the building stones of any decent society, but alas they are still being hold in deep contempt by contemporary, post-modern society led by false prophets, crooked politicians, fanatic clergy and fools. Hundreds of years of enslavement and suffering by Poles, as expressed by Norwid’s masterly poetry, who in retrospect conveyed these messages more eloquently than any of his contemporaries, seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Therefore these poems, as presented by Borys, are filled with grief and tragedy, desperation and anxiety, perhaps even more so than originally intended. It´s interesting to follow the many parallels between these interpretations of Norwid’s work with the ones created by another Polish genius, NiemenFind albums by this artist. Niemen’s “obsession” with Norwid’s poetry was an integral part of his life’s work, which deserves to be regarded as one of the ultimate highlights of Polish cultural heritage. Stan Borys now joins Niemen on the pedestal of Polish seers, in many ways continuing the same mission of spreading the words of the Prophet. This album is a masterpiece of epic proportions and an invaluable addition to the Polish culture, although the question if it will be recognized as such by his fellow countrymen remains still open. Since the Bible teaches us that "no prophet is accepted in his hometown", I remain skeptical…

Updated: 25/06/2016Posted:

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STAN BORYS ~ IKONA POMATON 825646281428 (Barcode: 825646281428) ~ POLAND ~ Sung Poetry Recorded: 2014 Released: 2014 This is an album by veteran Polish vocalist / songwriter / poet Stan BorysFind albums by this artist, which presents eleven beautiful songs, performed by Borys, who in spite of his age seems to be completely untouched by time and displays his usual extraordinary charisma and artistic ability. Borys wrote the music of two songs present here and the lyrics of four others. On the other songs Borys uses mostly poems written by Polish poets such as Adam MickiewiczFind albums by this artist, Agnieszka OsieckaFind albums by this artist, Bogdan LoeblFind albums by this artist and others. The album was recorded in different studios in Poland and US and features different musicians, but presents a very consistent and tight contemporary sound and features excellent musicianship and polished production. Some of the songs are new arrangements of older songs by Borys and others make their debut on this album. As usual with Borys, he manages to achieve the best possible balance between excellent melodic themes and intelligent, moving lyrics, consistent with the uniquely Polish "Sung Poetry" idiom. Therefore the album stands above almost everything else recorded today on the Polish market in the Pop / Rock category, which sadly, as everywhere else in the world, is characterized by trivial music and moronic lyrics. Sadly for Borys and fans of quality music, such albums are completely ignored by the media, which seems to concentrate on turning the young generation into cultural zombies. Although this album presents, as already mentioned, a contemporary sound and production characteristics, musically it belongs to the Rock music, which ruled the world in the 1960s and 1970s, i.e. the "Golden Decade", when writing a song meant that the songwriter has something to say, both musically and ideologically. Therefore this music might have been written five decades ago, or from a different perspective preserves the quality of songwriting established then and now sadly forgotten. Each of the songs on this album has a solid melody, a memorable riff and tells a story with a moral. If we didn´t know better, Borys sounds five decades younger that his chronological age, which can be said about only a handful of other vocalist from that period who still perform today. How he does it is a miracle. Although the Polish lyrics limit the exposure of this album mostly to the Polish scene, many international listeners should be able to enjoy it, even those who are not Polish speakers. Great music is able to transcend language barriers, and this album is one of those rare universal creations. This album also proves that veteran artists should not by a priori dismissed and some of them definitely preserve the ability to stay contemporary and often shoe the young artists how great music is made. Albums like this one keep the faith that not everything is lost in Pop / Rock, and excellent contemporary music is possible, even if it has to be made by Masters, who already served the Art for many generations. A true gem!

Updated: 25/06/2016Posted: 25/06/2016

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EL GRECO ~ SING CUCKOO INSPIRAFON 02 (Barcode: 5903111259006) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry Recorded: 2011 Released: 2013 This is the debut album by Polish ensemble El GrecoFind albums by this artist, led by keyboardist / composer Joachim MencelFind albums by this artist, which also includes vocalist Jorgos SkoliasFind albums by this artist, DJ Wojciech DlugoszFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Mr. KrimeFind albums by this artist) who performs turntablism, bassist Andrzej SwiesFind albums by this artist and Austrian drummer Harry TanschekFind albums by this artist. The album includes ten tracks, eight of which are songs and the remaining two instrumental pieces. The eight songs are all composed by Mencel to lyrics by Polish poets (five of the songs, naturally sung in Polish) and literary texts in English (the remaining three, sung in English). One of the instrumentals is a group composition and the remaining one is by Gil EvansFind albums by this artist. This is obviously quite an ambitious project, well within the Jazz & Poetry realm, which seems to be a favorite of the Polish music scene. However, contrary to many splendid efforts in this area this album leaves me quite cold. It´s quite difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons for my opinion, but somehow the mixture of complex, sophisticated poetry with the rather simplistic music does not work for me. Anybody engaging in the poems of Cyprian Kamil NorwidFind albums by this artist must be aware of their masterly interpretation by the legendary NiemenFind albums by this artist or more recently by Stan BorysFind albums by this artist and in comparison the versions presented here seem to be quite pale. The music seems to be by and large based on blues themes, with a modernistic rhythm patterns emphasized by the turntablism. There is a limited space for serious improvisation and the atmosphere is more of an alterative Rock album than a Jazz album, which of course might be just what the ensemble (or the leader) wanted to achieve. The only thing that makes this album enjoyable as far as I´m concerned is the truly excellent work by Andrzej Swies, who emerges as the star of this particular project and without whom this music simply wouldn´t work at all. As usually the attempt to sing in English proves to be fatal. Overall this is not a bad album and many people will probably enjoy it, but I just can´t seem to be able to warm up towards it. Mea culpa!

Updated: 31/01/2017Posted:

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