Record Reviews

PIOTR LEMANCZYK ELECTRIC BAND ~ INHERITED DREAM NOT ON LABEL (Barcode: 198004805995) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2022 Released: 2023 This is the second album by Polish Jazz bassist / composer Piotr LemanczykFind albums by this artist under the Electric BandFind albums by this artist moniker, this time as a basic trio with guitarist Marcin WadolowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Tomasz LosowskiFind albums by this artist, expanded to a quartet with the addition of pianist Leszek MozdzerFind albums by this artist. Vocalists Hanna-Sosnowska-BillFind albums by this artist and Natalia Capelik MuiangaFind albums by this artist guest each on one track. The album presents eleven original compositions, ten composed by Lemanczyk and one co-composed with Mozdzer. In the last few years Lemanczyk seems to prefer the (six strings) electric bass guitar over the acoustic bass, and his recordings become consistently more Fusion oriented, leaving Jazz behind. This album continues this new direction and offers a series of melodic compositions, performed by the quartet, with the electric bass at the very epicenter of things. Lemanczyk is a great virtuoso beyond any doubt, and the only question remains if this is enough to keep things to hold water. There is no doubt that Wadolowski refined his guitar playing over time and he adds some excellent soloing on this album and Losowski is a superb drummer with great experience and technique, who keeps this album rhythmically together. But Mozdzer seems to have kidnapped the music completely, adding his piano parts, which are hardly appropriate to the Fusiony environment, with his usual “as many notes per second as humanly possible” approach. Mozdzer’s lyrics to the song he co-composed with Lemanczyk don’t help to clear the confusion as well. As a result, the music loses its focus time after time and sadly the album, despite its potential, does not manage to create a cohesive musical massage. Overall, although offering some amazing bass guitar performances by the leader and great support by the guitarist and drummer, the album succumbs to overproduction and studio manipulation, lack of artistic vison and way too many piano notes. I miss the old Lemanczyk…

Updated: 06/04/2023Posted: 06/04/2023

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TOMASZ LOSOWSKI ~ ACOUSTIC TRIO SOLITON 420 (Barcode: 5901571094205) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2015 Released: 2015 Veteran Polish drummer Tomasz LosowskiFind albums by this artist is mostly acknowledged for his work in the Pop, Rock and Fusion fields, but this album is his first attempt to play straight Jazz. In order to do so he asked his old friend, the excellent bassist Piotr LemanczykFind albums by this artist and a young saxophonist Szymon LukowskiFind albums by this artist to join him and together they recorded eight original compositions, seven of which were composed by Lemanczyk and one by Lukowski. The resulting acoustic trio delivers a set of excellent pieces, featuring the saxophone as the main soloing instrument, solidly supported by the rhythm section. Lemanczyk also plays several of his amazing bass solos, which are perfect as always, and the leader, avoiding any pyrotechnics and usually completely unnecessary drum eruptions, sticks to the basics and pushes the trio ahead rhythmically, always with taste and elegance. Saxophone trios are often quite difficult and perilous undertakings, but in this case everything works as the proverbial "dream". The beautiful melodic themes, performed and improvised upon by the lyrical and clean sounding alto saxophone are a true pleasure to listen to. There is a lot of freedom, space and mutual respect among the trio members, which allows for personal expression as well as tight communication between the players. Overall this is quite a surprisingly successful album, which manages to avoid all the traps of mainstream Jazz, being unpredictable, passionate and technically proficient. Definitely a piece of music well worth discovering and wholeheartedly recommended!

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TOMASZ LOSOWSKI ~ FUSIONLAND SOLITON 501 (Barcode: 590157109501) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is the third album as a leader by veteran Polish Jazz drummer Tomasz LosowskiFind albums by this artist, who is also a member of the excellent Orange TraneFind albums by this artist ensemble. Following a straightforward Jazz album released a year earlier, this album returns to the Jazz-Rock Fusion idiom, similar to his debut album recorded thirteen years earlier. The album presents ten original compositions, all by Losowski, recorded with the help of several musician friends in various lineups, which feature Losowski on drums and keyboards. The music is an excellent collection of melodic Funk / Groove / Fusion tunes, which are all perfectly executed by Losowski and his cohorts. This is definitely "good time" music, which is being presented here with no false pretenses or misconceptions and as such, delivers exactly what is promised to the max. It is great to see Losowski presenting this music proudly and with no inferiority complex, as he can certainly be very happy with the result. Although the music is oriented towards a wide audience, it is not making any compromises as far as the levels of composition and execution are concerned. The music is full of passion and great harmonic beauty and Losowski delivers superb, often very complex rhythmic support, which is nothing short of virtuosic. Overall this album proves that seemingly simple music can be made with flair and taste and not be an insult to the listener´s intelligence. For Fusion / Funk fans this is definitely something worth checking out, but this album also sounds great in a car while driving or at home while relaxing with a bottle of cold beer in ones hand. In short, cool stuff!

Updated: 24/09/2016Posted: 24/09/2016

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ORANGE TRANE ~ FUGU SOLITON 347 (Barcode: 5901571093475) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2013 Released: 2014 This is the fourth album by the Polish Jazz ensemble Orange TraneFind albums by this artist, and the second album by its second incarnation now called Orange Trane Acoustic TrioFind albums by this artist, which consists of vibraphonist Dominik BukowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Piotr LemanczykFind albums by this artist and drummer Tomasz LosowskiFind albums by this artist. The album includes ten tracks, nine of which are original compositions: seven by Lemanczyk and two by Bukowski, and one is a standard. The music of Orange Trane is a beautiful amalgam of Jazz, contemporary Classical and World Music influences, performed with incredible virtuosity and impeccable taste. Bukowski plays vibraphone, marimba and xylosynth – a synthesized version of the xylophone, Lemanczyk plays both acoustic and electric basses and Losowski plays a wide array of percussive instruments; together they create a magic atmosphere of intimate acoustic music which is full of mystery, with scents of ancient times and far away places. The whole album is like a soundtrack of an imaginary voyage, with each track enfolding a new panorama. The intimate acoustic setting emphasizes each individual sound and the sheer virtuosity of these performances, which are truly amazing. Personally Lemanczyk, who also composed most of the music, is the most impressive performer, with breathtaking solos and superb control of his instruments, but his colleagues also stand shoulder to shoulder with him, contributing equally well. Bukowski sets the main melodic themes, using a wide array of sounds between completely acoustic and electronically generated and Losowski drives the whole affair rhythmically, but gently enough to be in sync with the rest of the music. This is intelligent, delicate and elegant music, which is a true pleasure to listen to, and which stimulates the intellectual parts of the listener´s brain at the same time, a rare commodity these days. Although perhaps not groundbreaking, it is definitely graceful and unique, deserving to be heard by as many music connoisseurs as possible. Well done indeed!

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ORANGE TRANE ~ INTERPERSONAL LINES SOLITON 526 (Barcode: 5901571095264) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is the fifth album by the excellent Polish Jazz ensemble Orange TraneFind albums by this artist, which consists of vibraphonist Dominik BukowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Piotr LemanczykFind albums by this artist and drummer Tomasz LosowskiFind albums by this artist. On this album two players are featured as guest musicians: the British saxophonist Soweto KinchFind albums by this artist and the young Polish saxophonist Jakub SkowronskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven pieces, five of which are original compositions (four by Lemanczyk and one by Bukowski) and two are compositions by legendary Polish Jazz figures: Zbigniew SeifertFind albums by this artist and Andrzej KurylewiczFind albums by this artist, included here as the band´s tribute to the older generation of Polish Jazz pioneers. The band continues its musical path faithfully, playing modern Jazz at the highest possible standard, characterized by the virtuosic vibraphone parts by Bukowski, no less virtuosic bass playing by Lemanczyk, who consistently delivers superb lines as only he can and is completed by the energetic and elegant drumming by Losowski. The addition of the two saxophonists expands the overall sound of the band, but does not change dramatically the character of the music. As usual, Lemanczyk also delivers his lovely compositions, which serve as ideal vehicles for the members of the ensemble to carry their individual statements. The collection of his compositions for Orange Trane, his solo albums and other recordings emerges as one of the most consistent bodies of Jazz compositions on the Polish scene, for which he deserves much more recognition than is actually awarded to him. The greatest asset of Orange Trane is the consistency of their work, which does not try to show off or amaze the listeners but rather concentrates on keeping the musical excellence and deliver honest, straightforward musical message. There is a certain minimalism and introversion involved in their musical delivery, which often emphasizes the "less is more" principle. Overall this is another great addition to the Orange Trane legacy, which over time achieved the symbol of quality, which does not disappoint. Well done gentleman, again!

Updated: 26/09/2016Posted: 26/09/2016

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QUARTADO ~ QUARTADO NOT ON LABEL ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2014 Released: 2014 This is the debut album by young Polish Jazz ensemble QuartadoFind albums by this artist, which consists of keyboardist Jan RejnowiczFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marcin WadolowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Karol KozlowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Tomasz LosowskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents ten original compositions, eight of which are by Rejnowicz and one each are by Wadolowski and Losowski. The music can be generally classified as Jazz-Rock Fusion, but it certainly has quite an unusual approach, mixing the standard Fusion tricks of the trade with Latin rhythms, Jazzy acoustic piano passages and many other devices, which sets the quartet apart from most of their competition. The level of the compositions is quite surprising, with solid melodic and harmonic ideas rather than the usual Fusion chord progressions which only purpose is to serve as a basis for endless doodling. The personal contributions are all impressive, with the rhythm section driving the music forcefully forward. The bass has a very thick sound and the drums are very busy, and although together they are well synchronized, personally I think that the rhythm section is too dominant and comes way to forward in the mix, which causes a listening fatigue after about half the album, actually hurting the listeners ears. The overall sound is not great either, sounding muddy and condensed as if recorded in a tiny box, which is a great pity as this album could have sounded infinitely better. Rejnowicz, who wrote most of the music, comes up as a gifted composer, but his playing is not sensational and fails to make a unique personal statement, probably due to the fact that he is still very new at it. However, Wadolowski, who has been very busy in the last few years and participated in quite a few recordings, is the absolute star of this album, playing his heart out and sounding really good from start to finish. His solos are inventive and well developed, obviously making hordes of young guitarist to cringe with envy. It is truly satisfying to follow a musicians for a period of time and see (or rather hear) his progress and development. Overall quite a nice debut with many fine moments and a lot of potential, just take it a bit easy next time around and channel the testosterone elsewhere.

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QUARTADO ~ QUARTADO 2 SOLITON 938 (Barcode: 5901571099385) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2019 Released: 2019 This is the second album by Polish Fusion quartet QuartadoFind albums by this artist, which comprises of keyboardist Jan RejnowiczFind albums by this artist, guitarist Marcin WadolowskiFind albums by this artist, bassist Karol KozlowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Tomasz LosowskiFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight original compositions; four by Rejnowicz, two by Wadolowski and one each by Kozlowski and Losowski. The music continues exactly where the debut left off, with the same Fusion feel based on highly melodic compositions and full of typical Fusion riffs, which have been around for the last fifty years, which means that this album might have been recorded anytime between 1970 and now and nobody would be able to pinpoint the recording date. This of course proves that Fusion is one of the most stable (or stale is one wants to be nasty) Jazz idioms out there. Having said that, this music is really quite excellent as far as Fusion is concerned, full of great tunes, excellent playing and "positive energy", as the quartet states on the album´s cover. The technical level of the performances is much better than on the debut, especially the keyboards, which offer a diverse sonic kaleidoscope of instruments between acoustic and electric pianos, organ and synthesizers. The soloing is solid and very well structured this time. The only pity is that the keyboards completely dominate the proceedings, and the role of the guitar is sadly much less prominent. Wadolowski is obviously a growing force on the Polish guitar scene and his playing is significantly superior, which is an asset the quartet could have explored more efficiently. The rhythm section does a perfect job all the way through, doing exactly what is expected in the Fusion environment, i.e. keep the beat steady and the groove swinging. Overall this is a splendid Fusion album, perfectly in the middle of the Fusion mainstream, which should keep most of the fans of the genre perfectly happy. It is certainly as good as anything produced by American Fusion bands that are still around, if not better than most. Highly recommended to Fusion-heads the world over!

Updated: 09/08/2019Posted: 09/08/2019

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