Record Reviews

WOJCIECH MAJEWSKI ~ NIE BYLO LATA MTJ 11769 (Barcode: 5906409117699) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz & Poetry Recorded: 2015 - 2017 Released: 2017 This is an album by Polish Jazz pianist / composer Wojciech MajewskiFind albums by this artist, dedicated to poetry written by the relatively esoteric Polish poet / playwright Stanislaw GrochowiakFind albums by this artist. This ambitious and complex project involves an ensemble of Polish Jazz instrumentalists, a string quartet, a brass / woodwind section, six vocalists and two persons reciting poems. Some of the well known musicians appearing on this album are: saxophonist Henryk MiskiewiczFind albums by this artist, bassists Slawomir KurkiewiczFind albums by this artist and Pawel PantaFind albums by this artist, drummer Michal MiskiewiczFind albums by this artist, percussionist Krzysztof SzmandaFind albums by this artist and vocalists Janusz SzromFind albums by this artist and Stanislaw SoykaFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Stanislaw SojkaFind albums by this artist). The entire list is simply way too long to be listed. The album presents twenty one relatively short pieces, all linked together into a Jazz & Poetry suite. The music is a collection of Jazz songs which use the poems as lyrics and background / incidental music played under the recitation of the poems or between the songs. Mostly deeply melancholic and often outright gloomy, the music does ideally suit the texts, which of course is the essence of this project. As such it is a brilliant collaboration of music and words, which expresses the spirit of Grochowiak´s complex poetry. The songs are superbly performed by the vocalists invited by the composer and are all a continuation of the Polish lyrical Jazz & Poetry tradition. There is no doubt that Polish Jazz musicians create more Jazz & Poetry projects than any other country on earth, which reflects their sensitivity to Art Forms other than music. Music and words are of course both expressions of the innermost human feelings and the combination of the two is probably the most powerful means of human creativity. The love of the Polish language and Polish literary tradition is a strong characteristic of this and other similar projects. Although the language barrier seemingly limits the potential audience to Polish Language speaking listeners, the overall wealth and powerful musical content this album offers should be also of interest to people who do not know the language but can enjoy the music and absorb the Artistic atmosphere. Overall this is a wonderful piece of music artistry, clever, intelligent, sensitive and dazzling in its complexity. It will take a while for the listener to comprehend the multi-layered intricacy of this music and its many hidden treasures, but every effort invested in the listening process will pay back with hefty interest. Definitely most wholeheartedly recommended!

Updated: 10/02/2018Posted: 10/02/2018

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

STANISLAW SOJKA ~ BLUBLULA (POLISH JAZZ VOL.63) MUZA 1063 ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1981 Released: 2005 This is the 2nd album by the excellent Polish Jazz vocalist Stanislaw SojkaFind albums by this artist, who dominated the male vocal spot on the local scene since the early 1980s and is still very much active today. Always in the gray area between Jazz, Gospel, Blues, Rhythm And Blues and even Pop, Sojka is a first rate interpreter and lately also composer. His live performances are legendary and his versatility is awe inspiring. This early album finds him in a superb company of top Polish Jazz players: pianist Wojciech KarolakFind albums by this artist, bassist Zbigniew WegehauptFind albums by this artist and veteran drummer Czeslaw BartkowskiFind albums by this artist, a fantastic trio by any standard. He performs eight Jazz standards, but performed with flare and outstanding originality, using scat singing, playing with words and other improvisational techniques. This is a breathtaking performance, from start to finish, which every Jazz fan should be exposed to at some point. An absolute must!

Updated: 08/05/2023Posted:

CD 1 Digipak Remastered Recommend To A Friend

STANISLAW SOJKA ~ W HOLDZIE MISTRZOWI - LIVE UNIVERSAL 602537329854 (Barcode: 602537329854) ~ POLAND ~ Blues-Rock Recorded: 2013 Released: 2012 This is a live recording of a concert by veteran Polish Blues / Jazz / Rock vocalist Stanislaw SojkaFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Soyka) and his band, performing songs by Poland´s greatest ever singer / composer Czeslaw NiemenFind albums by this artist. Niemen composed all the nine songs performed here, three of which also have his lyrics and others are by other lyricists or poems written by Polish poets. Sojka also plays piano and the band comprises of seven players, including a brass section, and a guest guitarist Tomasz JaskiewiczFind albums by this artist, original member of the band AkwareleFind albums by this artist, Niemen´s first group, which recorded many of these songs originally. Considering Niemen´s legendary status on the Polish scene, any attempt to tackle his material is a priori a potentially perilous affair. No other Polish vocalist managed, in the decades that followed, to come even close to Niemen´s power of expression and vocal virtuosity. Therefore this album, although a tribute, faces enormous challenges, which unfortunately prove insurmountable even to such an experienced and talented artist as Sojka. Niemen´s songs needed to be rearranged quite radically in order to fit within Sojka´s vocal range. In addition the instrumental accompanied was updated, which distances the songs from their original Rock setting and places them into a comfortable middle-of–the-road relaxed Pop setting with slight Jazzy overtones. Overall the album sounds incredibly nice, which of course is its key problem; Niemen´s music might mean many different things to different people, but "nice" was never among them. The music is played perfectly and beautifully recorded, with a warm, clear sound quality, especially so for a live recording. The audio CD is accompanied by a DVD capturing the same concert, so the listener has a choice of just listen to or also watch the proceedings. Personally, I find little affinity for this project, which simplifies and even to some extent trivializes the original songs in my opinion, but I´m sure many others will find this a most pleasurable listening experience. Luckily I still have the original Niemen recordings to keep the memory alive and the fire burning.

CD+DVD 2 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

STANISLAW SOJKA / ANDRZEJ PRZYBIELSKI ~ SZTUKA BLADZENIA POMATON 724352593828 (Barcode: 724352593828) ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 1999 Released: 2000 This is an album by the Polish duo which comprises of the vocalist / pianist / violinist Stanislaw SojkaFind albums by this artist and legendary trumpeter Andrzej PrzybielskiFind albums by this artist. Sojka does not perform any vocals on this album and appears only as pianist and violinist. The album, recorded during two sessions held a couple of months apart, presents fifteen relatively short freely improvised pieces, not credited on the album´s artwork and therefore assumed to be co-composed by the duo members. Sojka and Przybielski cooperated on several recording projects over the years. The music is obviously a result of searching for new forms of expression, especially as far as Sojka is concerned, since he is mostly associated with Blues and mainstream vocal Jazz, in complete contrast to Przybielski, who was always associated with the Avant-Garde Polish Jazz movement, although he could play brilliant melodic music as well, when required to do so. Therefore the effort to bridge between the natural environments of the two players is an impossible task and the result fails to create any relevant results. Sojka is completely lost in the Improvising Music idiom and Przybielski is just playing along. Przybielski plays some brilliant trumpet passages, but they are completely detached from the piano and violin parts created by Sojka and sound completely out of place. Although the album´s title promises the listener to discover the art of wandering, in fact he is sadly exposed to the failure of senseless wandering. Although every piece of recorded music by Przybielski is a treasure chest, this album is probably the weakest effort he was ever involved with and as a result it is only marginally interesting.

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted: 03/05/2017

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

TIE BREAK ~ TIE BREAK (BOX SET) NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock-World Fusion Recorded: 1984 - 1995 Released: 2014 This incredible Box Set is a long overdue tribute and homage to Tie BreakFind albums by this artist, one of Poland´s most important ensembles in the country´s modern music history, a cult phenomenon known mostly only to insiders and a cradle of the Polish rebellious musical underground, which kept the flame of uncompromised Artistic expression burning for decades, while the rest of the scene was drowning in opportunistic nothingness and anticultural shite. Of course analyzing the importance of Tie Break is impossible without explaining the political, social, economic and historical background of Poland during the period spanning about three decades from the early 1970s to the late 1990s, which is the period when the ensemble was active in one form or another. However, as usual, a scope of a music review is definitely way too limited to even attempt such a challenging task, therefore my references to these subjects will be naturally limited. It is important to remember that these were the most tumultuous years for the Polish People, and amongst them Polish Artists, which saw a gradual but dramatic transformation from the darkest pits of Socialist Regime to a free Democratic society, a process of unparalleled National trauma and Social upheaval. Tie Break hails from Czestochowa, a provincial Polish town (which happens to be the birthplace of my Father), famous as one of Poland´s most important religious centers, with the Pauline Monastery of Jasna Gora and its Black Madonna painting drawing millions of Catholic pilgrims every year from the world over. Even during the darkest times of the Socialist Regime the town kept being flooded by pilgrims, to the dismay of the ruling party officials. In order to change the town´s image a huge steel mill and other industrial enterprises were constructed in the area, which caused a rapid expansion of the town (and of course massive pollution). In retrospect Czestochowa had its share of unholy activities, with dozens of Beat and Rock groups active in the city since the late 1960s, and the early days of Tie Break are largely a result of this background, leading to the formation of the ensemble in the late 1970s. Music was, after all, a most popular method of escapism for young people living at the time on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The need to escape reality was as strong in the case of deep economic depression in the West as it was in the case of oppressive ideology in the East. The group went through many personnel changes during its early days, but eventually the core crystallized around four musicians: trumpeter Antoni GralakFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Mateusz PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist, guitarist Janusz Yanina IwanskiFind albums by this artist and bassist Marcin PospieszalskiFind albums by this artist. The booklet accompanying this Box Set lists twenty three musicians, who cooperated with the ensemble for various periods of time over the years. The music of Tie Break was a completely unique and immediately recognizable amalgam of Rock, Funk, Jazz, Avant-Garde and World Music influences, which was light-years ahead of its time and kept developing constantly during the time of its existence. In parallel to their activities with Tie Break, the ensemble members also took part in other revolutionary enterprises on the local scene, like the legendary Free CooperationFind albums by this artist ensemble or the Young PowerFind albums by this artist ensemble, and appeared under different monikers playing more Rock oriented material, such as the SvoraFind albums by this artist group with vocalist Stanislaw SojkaFind albums by this artist or the WooBooDooFind albums by this artist group. And yet in spite of their obvious talents and brilliant music-making the musicians of Tie Break and the ensemble itself were left to vegetate on the very outskirts of the local scene, with obvious animosity and dislike from almost everybody connected to the music scene: media, record labels, press and even fellow Jazz musicians, especially those mainstream veterans who felt threatened by their innovative and uncompromising approach to music. Tie Break had to wait for over ten years to record their debut album, the eponymous live album recorded in 1988 and released a year later, and recorded only four proper albums altogether during their career. Although their music was mostly instrumental, they used sometimes lyrics in an imaginary gibberish language. Their fourth and last album was an outstanding Jazz & Poetry project, which featured the great vocalist of Greek origin, Jorgos SkoliasFind albums by this artist, singing poems written by the priest / poet Jan TwardowskiFind albums by this artist. Listening to the music of Tie Break brings on in retrospect the obvious influences that shaped the ensemble´s creations: first and foremost the improvisational freedom of John ColtraneFind albums by this artist, which seems to be the most significant ingredient linking the ensemble members, but there are also obvious shades of the late Miles DavisFind albums by this artist bands with their heavy Funk, as well as contemplative Indian music, tribal chants and other folkloristic elements. And of course above all there is the omnipresent spice of craziness, madness, artistic folly and zaniness, which turn the music from being just great into being divine. Some music critics credit Tie Break for being precursors of Yass, but personally I don´t support this line of thought. Yass was motivated mainly by protest and revolt against old ways (of Jazz), whereas Tie Break were simply inventing new Jazz in a most positive way they could think off, in complete disregard of commercialism, opportunism and fads of fashion, as appropriate for true anarchists, and as most anarchist they never achieved fame and fortune, but they managed to expand the borders of our culture more than most others, for which they deserve our eternal gratitude. This Box Set includes remastered versions of the four Tie Break albums and three additional CDs with archive and radio recordings by Tie Break, Svora and WooBooDoo. Beautifully packaged and accompanied by a gorgeous booklet with original artwork and in-depth interviews with Tie Break members, this is obviously a labor of love and finally a much deserved retrospective of one of Poland´s most meaningful musical contributors. This is an absolute must to any serious Polish Jazz or Polish Culture connoisseur.

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted:

CD 7 Digipak Box Set Remastered Bonus Tracks Essential Recommend To A Friend