Record Reviews

ZBIGNIEW NAMYSLOWSKI ~ LOLA GOWI 30 (Barcode: 786497164622) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1964 Released: 1996 This sensational album was the first Jazz recording made behind the Iron Curtain ever to be released in Western Europe. Considering all this happened in 1964 (with the Cold War raging between the West and the East) it was a truly momentous occasion. Saxophonist Zbigniew NamyslowskiFind albums by this artist, aged 25 at the time, as well as the other members of his quartet: pianist Wlodek GulgowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Tadeusz WojcikFind albums by this artist and drummer Czeslaw BartkowskiFind albums by this artist (all three aged 21) were representatives of the first generation of post-WWII Polish Jazz, which was developing with at a feverish paste in spite of the serious limitations of personal and artistic freedom prevailing in their country. Against all adds Polish Jazz was rapidly becoming a force, which could not be ignored, creating some of the most interesting and revolutionary music ever. Led by the great pianist / composer Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist, the Godfather of modern Polish Jazz, the scene exploded with talent and extraordinary inventiveness, which is splendidly documented by this album, among others. Just a year after this album was recorded Namyslowski would record with Komeda, his Mentor, as a member of his quintet the album "AstigmaticFind albums with this title", probably the most important Eastern European Jazz album ever made. But back to this wonderful recording; Namyslowski composed five of the eight pieces on this album, Gulgowski composed two others and one is a standard. His compositions are brilliant in every respect, superbly melodic and often incorporating folkloristic motifs, which was quite prophetic at the time. The level of musicianship is simply stunning and highly inspired, with the overall atmosphere reminiscent of John Coltrane albums, which is hardly surprising considering he was of course Namyslowski´s biggest influence. Listening to this album it´s almost impossible to believe that it was made almost 50 years ago – this music is completely resistant to time. I still remember listening to it, being just 13 years of age, and I´m still deeply moved every time I hear it again. A masterpiece in every respect and an essential piece of music, forever! Side Note: This album was originally released in UK on the Decca label and went quickly out of print. Over the years it became an extremely rare and sought after collectors´ item, especially in Poland. This CD edition is therefore a blessing!

CD 1 Remastered Essential Recommend To A Friend

VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ POLISH RADIO JAZZ ARCHIVES VOL.13 POLSKIE RADIO 1663 (Barcode: 5907812246631) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1963 Released: 2014 This is the thirteenth installment in the new series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland´s most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well. The material collected here presents a second volume of recordings made in 1963 during the sixth Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw. It starts with two lengthy tracks, both treatments of classic Jazz standards, by the legendary American saxophonist Johnny GriffinFind albums by this artist and his quartet. Prior to this recordings Griffin, like many of his Afro-American colleagues, moved to Europe, where Jazz was experiencing an explosive development and was considered an Art Form and racial discrimination was almost completely absent. The quartet includes fellow American pianist Kenny DrewFind albums by this artist, who settled in Europe a couple of years earlier, Dutch guitarist Wim OvergaauwFind albums by this artist and Dutch bassist Ruud JacobsFind albums by this artist. Followers of this series are of course aware of the fact that the eleventh volume already presents a double CD with material recorded by Griffin at the same festival with the same musicians. Personally I´d have preferred to have that release expanded into a triple CD set and have all the Griffin sessions together, but I´m not the series´ editor. Next come three tracks by the Danish trumpeter Allan BotschinskyFind albums by this artist and his quintet with American born saxophonist Ray PittsFind albums by this artist, who moved to Denmark in 1962, pianist Atti BjoernFind albums by this artist (name most probably miss spelt), bassist Benny NielsenFind albums by this artist and American drummer Robert Joseph (real name Robert Joseph Durham or Bobby DurhamFind albums by this artist as he was known to all – Polskie Radio should have known this, especially since I already made this comment / correction on the a.m. Griffin album – please read people! The music is all original and includes two compositions by Pitts and one by Botschinsky. It is typical bee bop, well played, especially by the leader who was a first rate trumpeter, but not extraordinary in any sense. The two tracks closing the album are the most interesting for the Polish Jazz fans and they present the Zbigniew NamyslowskiFind albums by this artist quartet with pianist Wlodek GulgowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Tadeusz WojcikFind albums by this artist and drummer Czeslaw BartkowskiFind albums by this artist, the same quartet that would record several months later in Britain the legendary album "LolaFind albums with this title", the first significant exposure of Polish Jazz behind the Iron Curtain. Both are original compositions by Namyslowski, the first would be the title track of the British LP and the second seems to be the only appearance of this composition on record. These are the initial steps of the first golden decade of Polish Jazz, and as such their documentation is priceless, as is the music. The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

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VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ POLISH RADIO JAZZ ARCHIVES VOL.14 POLSKIE RADIO 1664 (Barcode: 5907812246648) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1963 Released: 2014 This is the fourteenth installment in the new series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland´s most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well. The material collected here presents the third volume of recordings made in 1963 during the sixth Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw. In contrast to the two earlier volumes, this one presents only Polish Jazz musicians, and therefore is by far the most interesting and enlightening of the three. In many respects this album is a comprehensive review of the Polish Jazz scene at the time and presents the early days of the modern Polish Jazz at its pivotal stage of forming its own identity, as far as sound, atmosphere, character and unique stylistic aesthetics are concerned. The album includes just six tracks, by four different ensembles, playing expanded compositions, three of which cross the fifteen minutes duration time, a clear signal of creativity and improvisational freedom typical of modern Jazz. The ensembles are: Zbigniew NamyslowskiFind albums by this artist (saxophone) quartet with pianist Wlodek GulgowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Tadeusz WojcikFind albums by this artist and drummer Czeslaw BartkowskiFind albums by this artist (one track), Andrzej TrzaskowskiFind albums by this artist (piano) quintet with saxophonists Zbigniew Namyslowski and Michal UrbaniakFind albums by this artist, bassist Juliusz SandeckiFind albums by this artist (here misspelled as Julian) and drummer Adam JedrzejowskiFind albums by this artist (two tracks), Alek MusialFind albums by this artist (trumpet) quintet with vibraphonist Ryszard KruzaFind albums by this artist, pianist Wlodzimierz NahornyFind albums by this artist, bassist Wieslaw DamieckiFind albums by this artist and drummer Bogdan JopekFind albums by this artist (one track) and finally Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist (piano) quintet with trumpeter Tomasz StankoFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Michal Urbaniak, bassist Maciej SuzinFind albums by this artist and drummer Czeslaw Bartkowski (two tracks). Of the six compositions three are standards and three are originals, one by Trzaskowski and two by Komeda. Stylistically the music is quite similar, ranging from more traditionally based modern Jazz in case of the Namyslowski and Musial tracks to more advanced characteristic Polish Jazz material in case in of the music by Trzaskowski and finally most dramatically in the music by Komeda, which is already eons ahead of its time. The two Komeda tracks are the epitome of modern Polish / European Jazz, which clearly show a mature approach free of the restrictions imposed by the American Jazz tradition. These tracks are alone worth the price of the entire album, but of course the rest of the material is also quite excellent. The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

Updated: 02/12/2016Posted:

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VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ POLISH RADIO JAZZ ARCHIVES VOL.20 POLSKIE RADIO 1872 (Barcode: 5907812248727) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1964 Released: 2015 This is the twentieth installment in the new series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland´s most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well. The ten tracks collected here were recorded during the seventh Jazz Jamboree Festival, which took place between October 24 and 26 1964 in Warsaw. The music was performed by four different ensembles, which are: a quartet led by the German brothers Rolf KuhnFind albums by this artist on clarinet and Joachim KuhnFind albums by this artist on piano with Polish rhythm section consisting of bassists Tadeusz WojcikFind albums by this artist or Juliusz SandeckiFind albums by this artist (here misspelled as Julian) and drummer Andrzej DabrowskiFind albums by this artist (four tracks), a trio led by Hungarian bass virtuoso Aladar PegeFind albums by this artist with Polish pianist Wojciech KarolakFind albums by this artist and drummer Andrzej Dabrowski (also four tracks), a quintet led by Polish pianist / composer Andrzej TrzaskowskiFind albums by this artist with trumpeter Tomasz StankoFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Janusz MuniakFind albums by this artist, bassist Jacek OstaszewskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Adam JedrzejowskiFind albums by this artist (one track only) and finally a trio led by Dutch pianist Pim JacobsFind albums by this artist with his brother Ruud JacobsFind albums by this artist on bass and guitarist Wim OvergaauwFind albums by this artist (also one track only). Most of the music consists of standards and the only original material is one piece by Rolf Kuhn and the only track by the Trzaskowski quintet, which was composed by Stanko and which is absolutely the best and most interesting track on this album. The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

Updated: 02/12/2016Posted:

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VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ POLISH RADIO JAZZ ARCHIVES VOL.22 POLSKIE RADIO 1874 (Barcode: 5907812248741) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1964 Released: 2015 This is the twenty-second installment in the series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings from the radio vaults. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland´s most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well. The ten tracks collected here were recorded during the seventh Jazz Jamboree Festival, which took place between October 24 and 26 1964 in Warsaw. This is the third part of the Jazz Jamboree 1964 recordings. The music was performed by four different ensembles, which are: the Italian Flavio Ambrosetti All StarsFind albums by this artist (five tracks), led by saxophonist Flavio AmbrosettiFind albums by this artist with trumpeter Franco AmbrosettiFind albums by this artist, Swiss pianist George GruntzFind albums by this artist, Polish bassist Tadeusz WojcikFind albums by this artist and Swiss drummer Pierre FavreFind albums by this artist and three Polish Jazz ensembles, Krzysztof KomedaFind albums by this artist Quintet (one track) with trumpeter Tomasz StankoFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Michal UrbaniakFind albums by this artist, bassist Janusz KozlowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Czeslaw BartkowskiFind albums by this artist, Polish Jazz QuartetFind albums by this artist (two tracks) led by saxophonist Jan Ptaszyn WroblewskiFind albums by this artist with pianist Wojciech KarolakFind albums by this artist, bassist Juliusz SandeckiFind albums by this artist and drummer Andrzej DabrowskiFind albums by this artist and Zbigniew NamyslowskiFind albums by this artist Quartet (two tracks) with pianist Wlodek GulgowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Tadeusz Wojcik and drummer Czeslaw Bartkowski. This is by far the most interesting of the three volumes of the Jazz Jamboree 1964 recordings, as it presents the modern Polish Jazz about to explode into modernism, which will shape its destiny for generations to come. Stanko, Urbaniak, Wroblewski, Bartkowski are still active on the Polish scene, fifty years latter, carrying the fire which was first sparkled around the time these recordings were made. The Ambrosetti set is also interesting, as it allows a glance at two legendary Jazz figures: Gruntz and Favre, at their early days. Most of the music performed on this album is original. The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

Updated: 08/07/2020Posted:

CD 1 Digipak Remastered Recommend To A Friend